Former NFL Player and Head Coach Marion Campbell Dies at Age 87

Former Philadelphia Eagles two-way player and head coach Marion Campbell died Wednesday in Plano, Texas, at the age of 87.

Alex Smith of the team's official website reported the news Sunday.

"Marion Campbell will be missed by the Eagles community but also remembered for his spirited impact on our game," Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said, per Smith. "Like Chuck Bednarik, he was a great two-way player during a special era in NFL history. He played with the type of toughness that our town so deeply admires."

Campbell played for Philadelphia from 1956 to 1961 and was a first-team All-Pro on the Eagles' 1960 NFL championship team. As Smith indicated, Campbell played most of that year with torn ligaments in his ankle, which required painkilling shots before games and during halftime breaks.

He began his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers in 1954. Although he was a fourth-round draft pick out of Georgia in 1952, Campbell served in the United States Army before going to the NFL, per CSNPhilly.com's Reuben Frank.

Campbell's coaching days began as a defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons from 1969 to 1974, and he was the head coach from 1974 through 1976. Campbell then called defensive plays for the Eagles from 1977 through 1982, becoming Philadelphia's head coach thereafter until 1985.

As an assistant on Dick Vermeil's staff in 1980, Campbell oversaw a defense that led the Eagles to Super Bowl XV, where Philadelphia lost to the Oakland Raiders.

Per Smith, Philadelphia's 3-4 defense yielded the fewest points in the NFL during Campbell's six-year tenure as its coordinator.

After a brief time away from the NFL, Campbell returned to Atlanta for a second stint as the Falcons head coach from 1987 to 1989. His last stop came at his alma mater, Georgia, where he was the defensive coordinator in 1993.

Campbell is survived by his wife, Ilda June Roberts Campbell; his sister, Doris Joe Campbell; his two children and their spouses, Scott (and Cindy) Campbell and Alicia (and Preston) Freeman; and his four grandchildren.

Information courtesy of the Eagles' official website unless otherwise indicated.