Hewitt, a future Hall of Famer, gained fame by playing without a helmet during his time with the Chicago Bears and Eagles prior to his retirement in 1939. By the time he returned in 1943 with the Steagles, the NFL had passed a rule requiring all players to wear helmets so Hewitt played that season in a headgear although he complained every day when he fastened his chin strap. He was the highest-paid player on the team at $400 per game.

"I still remember the first day of practice," said Wistert, who later became captain of the Eagles' championship teams in 1948 and '49. "I walked on the field and there was Bill Hewitt smoking a cigarette. I couldn't believe it. Bill was a legend at (the University of) Michigan. He was part of the reason I went there. To see him smoking a cigarette on this rundown field with trash and broken glass strewn around, it was such a letdown. I thought, 'This is pro football?'"

In truth, it was a facsimile of pro football, the best the two teams could do under the circumstances. The other teams were able to make a go of it without merging but even the best teams such as Chicago and Green Bay were a patchwork of military rejects (4-Fs) and recycled veterans. The Bears talked the legendary Bronko Nagurski out of a five-year retirement and he helped lead Chicago to the championship.

The league did what it could to help the Steagles. For example, it convinced Washington to sell Roy Zimmerman to the Steagles for a bargain price so the team would have a decent quarterback. Zimmerman was Sammy Baugh's backup in Washington which meant he wasn't going to play much there so the league figured it would be to everyone's benefit if he went to the Steagles.

Zimmerman didn't have a very good year – he completed just 34 percent of his pass attempts with nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions – and he wound up splitting time with a little left-handed rookie from Brooklyn College named Allie Sherman who later would become head coach of the New York Giants.

The Steagles got off to a shockingly fast start winning their first two games – 17-0 over the Brooklyn Dodgers and 28-14 over the Giants. In the opener, the Steagles held the Dodgers to -33 yards rushing. It is still the only game in franchise history that the Eagles – or in this case, Steagles – held an opponent to negative yardage.

Reality set in the following week when the Steagles faced the Bears in Chicago and lost, 48-21. They lost again the next week to the Giants, 42-14. They were able to tread water the rest of the season, hovering around .500. Their best player was halfback Jack Hinkle who rushed for 132 yards on 13 carries in a 27-14 win over Washington on November 28.

Hinkle finished the season with 571 yards but he lost the rushing title by 1 yard to Bill Paschal of the Giants. It was later claimed Hinkle should have finished ahead of Paschal but he was cheated out of a 37-yard run when the official scorer credited the yardage to another player. How could that happen, you ask? It was a rainy day, the uniforms were muddy, so no one could see the numbers. It seems fitting somehow.

The next year the Eagles decided to go their own way. Most people believe Neale refused to spend another year working with Kiesling. Whatever the reason, the Eagles ended the partnership, used their top draft pick on halfback Steve Van Buren and surged to a 7-1-2 record in 1944. The Steelers merged with the Chicago Cardinals, forming a team that became known as the Car-Pitts (pronounced Carpets) because it didn't win a game (0-10).

"That was the worst team ever," Rooney said. "The Steagles were world beaters compared to that team."