A few thoughts about Pete Pihos, one of pro football’s first great pass-catching tight ends. After a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Pihos died Tuesday in a nursing home in Winston-Salem, N.C., at age 87.
Pete Pihos was one of the best all-around players in N.F.L. history. He excelled on offense, defense and on special teams for the Philadelphia Eagles’ championship teams of the late 1940s. On the field, probably his most important contribution was in demonstrating the potential of the tight end in the passing game. From Ditka to Mackey all the way to Tony Gonzalez, it all started with Pete Pihos and the generation shaped by war.
Pihos grew up in Chicago and was a two-time all-American end and fullback at Indiana. The Eagles selected Pihos in the fifth round of the 1945 draft (41st over all) knowing he would not be able to join them until he finished his military service. “I can wait for a player like Pihos,” said Philadelphia’s coach, Greasy Neale. (Ray Didinger and Robert Lyons, “The Eagles Encyclopedia,” Temple University Press, 2005)
During the war, Pihos served 14 months in Europe under General Patton. Many years later, he described his experience in football terms. “In the infantry I wasn’t in the backfield”, he said. “I was up in the front.” (NFL Films, “The Complete History of the Philadelphia Eagles, 2004)
Over his nine-year career, from 1947 to 1955, Pihos made first-team All-Pro five times and was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his last six seasons. He missed only one game, in 1949, and finished with 373 receptions for 5,619 yards and 63 touchdowns (61 receiving, 1 by fumble recovery, and 1 by punt return). Pihos was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1970.
The Eagles won the Eastern Division title in Pihos’s first three seasons. In the 1947 playoff game against the Steelers to determine the division winner, Pihos blocked a punt that set up the first touchdown in a 21-0 victory. In 1948, the Eagles won the N.F.L. championship with a 7-0 win over the Chicago Cardinals in a blizzard at Shibe Park. The next year, they won it again, defeating the Rams in Los Angeles, 14-0. Steve Van Buren, the Hall of Fame running back, had a championship game record 196 yards rushing, and Pihos caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tommy Thompson.
In those early years, Pihos, like many others, played both ways. He was a tight end on offense and a defensive end and linebacker on defense. Then, the tight ends were designated as “right ends.” They usually lined up in the attached position, next to the right offensive tackle.
At 6-1 and about 210 pounds, Pihos wasn’t very big, and he wasn’t particularly fast, either. He made up for it with intelligence, toughness and determination. He ran precise routes, which he often adjusted depending on the position of the defenders, and he had great hands. A teammate, defensive back Russ Craft, said that Pihos “had those big paws, and he could catch a ball in a crowd better than anyone I’ve ever seen.” (Didinger) Pihos led the Eagles in receptions in eight of his nine seasons. He was also an effective blocker, especially for Van Buren in that 1949 championship game.
One of the most productive plays in the Eagle offense during that time was the tight end screen pass. It soon became known as the Pihos screen. Here, he simulated a block on the defensive end for about two beats. Then he faced the quarterback and made the catch with his back to the defense, usually in the middle of the field. After that, he would turn, pick up his blockers, and take off downfield like the fullback he once was. “Pihos is like a bull,” Neale said, “When he gets his hands on the ball, there isn’t much the defense can do. He just runs over people.” (Didinger) The Rams also used this screen effectively with Hall of Famer Elroy Hirsch.
By 1950, Pihos was used mostly on offense. But in 1952, Philadelphia’s new coach, Jim Trimble, decided to move Bud Grant, the Eagles’ No. 1 draft pick in 1950 (and later the Hall of Fame coach of the Minnesota Vikings), from defensive end to tight end. Pihos moved over to defensive end and, again, made first team All-Pro. Paul Zimmerman, in “The New Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football,” remembered seeing Pihos and the Eagles’ other defensive end, Norm Willey, sack Giant quarterbacks Charlie Conerly and Fred Benners 13 times for 118 yards lost at the Polo Grounds that year.
When Grant jumped to the Canadian league in 1953, Pihos went back to his old position and led the the N.F.L. in receptions, 63, yards receiving, 1,049, and in touchdown catches, 10. He led the league in receptions in 1954 and again in 1955.
After the 1955 season, Pihos surprised the Eagles by announcing his retirement at 32. At the time he cited his disappointment that Trimble had been replaced as coach, and the pull of family and business interests. In a 1981 interview, though, he said he was also influenced by a chance meeting with another famous athlete:
I ran into Joe DiMaggio once in Atlantic City. He said ‘Pete, when you retire, make sure you retire on top. Things will be better for you. Don’t retire as a has-been.’ I always remembered that. I could’ve played longer but I chose to retire on top. (Didinger)
Andy Barall writes about pro football history for The Fifth Down.
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