All-time Eagles great Maxie Baughan, who made five Pro Bowls in six seasons with the Eagles, died Saturday in his adopted hometown of Ithaca, New York, according to the Eagles. He was 85.
Baughan starred at Georgia Tech and was the Eagles’ 2nd-round pick in 1960. He became an immediate starter at linebacker and had three interceptions for the NFL Champions and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Gail Codgill of the Lions.
Baughan was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2015. He’s also in the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame, the state of Georgia Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
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Baughan and Eagles great Al Wistert are both among 12 finalists for consideration for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024 in the Seniors category. The Seniors Committee on Wednesday will select up to three Seniors for final consideration for the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik – a seven-time Pro Bowler — is the only linebacker in franchise history to make more Pro Bowls than Baughan.
The only other Eagles to make more Pro Bowls than Baughan are Brian Dawkins, Jason Peters, Reggie White, Fletcher Cox, Jason Kelce, Donovan McNabb and Pete Pihos.
After the 1965 season, the Eagles traded Baughan to the Rams in exchange for defensive tackle Frank Molden, linebacker Fred Brown and a future draft choice. Molden played only one year for the Eagles. Brown played three seasons but started only six games.
NFL
Baughan made four more Pro Bowls (and a second 1st-team All-Pro) during his five years with the Rams. His nine total Pro Bowls are 7th-most in NFL history among linebackers, behind only six Hall of Famers – Ray Lewis, Junior Seau, Derrick Brooks, Joe Schmidt, Mike Singletary and Lawrence Taylor.
Baughan began his coaching career at Georgia Tech in 1972 and 1973 before returning to the NFL for one last season with Washington in 1974. After retiring for good, he had stints as an NFL defensive coordinator from 1975 through 1979 on Ted Marchibroda’s Colts staff and under Monte Clark from 1980 through 1982 with the Lions.
He was head coach at Cornell from 1983 through 1988 and returned to the NFL in 1990, spending two years on Jerry Burns’ Vikings staff, four years with Sam Wyche in Tampa and three more years with Marchibroda with the expansion Ravens from 1996 through 1998.
Baughan had settled in Ithaca, where his son Matt is head golf coach at Cornell.
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