Editing Chuck Bednarik (section)

== 1960 Championship ==

The 1960 NFL Championship, in which the Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers 17-13, represented Bednarik's finest hour. At age 35, playing both ways when necessary because injuries had depleted the roster, he performed at levels that younger players could not match. His presence anchored a team whose talent was modest compared to the Packers dynasty they faced, his leadership compensating for advantages in personnel that Green Bay possessed.<ref name="didinger"/>

The game's final play, when Bednarik tackled Jim Taylor at the eight-yard line and held him down as the clock expired, became the iconic image of his career. His refusal to release Taylor until certain that time had run out—drawing complaints from the Packers runner—embodied the competitive intensity that his career had demonstrated. The photograph of Bednarik celebrating over the prone Taylor represents Philadelphia football at its most triumphant, the moment when toughness and determination defeated superior resources.<ref name="macnow"/>

The championship, the Eagles' last until 2018, assumed legendary status as decades passed without repetition. Bednarik's role in that success connected him to Philadelphia's football identity in ways that subsequent generations of players, despite individual achievements, could not match. The championship belonged to him as much as to anyone, his performance enabling victory that the franchise would not repeat for more than half a century.<ref name="didinger"/>