A star wide receiver on one of the more significant teams in NFL history was blind in one eye. The center was partially deaf. And another key lineman helped construct parts for the atomic bomb weekdays during the season before heading to practice at Fairmount Park in West Philadelphia each night.

When the Eagles and Steelers merged to form the Steagles in 1943, the team's goal was to keep the NFL afloat and help capture normalcy on the homefront as war raged in Europe.

But it wasn't easy, said Matthew Algeo, a radio journalist who authored "Last Team Standing: How the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles -- The 'Steagles' -- Saved Pro Football." The jumbled squad didn't include the type of highly-paid, uber-athletic stars fans see today, Algeo said.

And before the modern day Eagles (2-0) and Steelers (2-0) square off Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, Algeo wants people to keep that in mind. He wants football fans to understand the 1943 Steagles were unlike any other team to enter the record books.

"Most of these guys were there because they were not able to serve in the military," Algeo said. "A lot of them were classified 4F, which was unfit for military service. A lot of them had ulcers, perforated eardrums."

Somehow, though, the Steagles and the NFL thrived during World War II. The NFL's first merged squad posted a 5-4-1 record in its only season of existence, finishing one game back of first place in the Eastern Division.

And they helped steady the NFL in a time of flux.

The league lacked players in 1943, because so many joined the military. The Steelers only had seven under contract for the season before joining forces with the Eagles, Algeo said. That's why the NFL owners decided the Steelers and Eagles should merge, despite the tension it caused in the Keystone State.

The Steagles didn't get along at first, as competitive tempers overwhelmed the desire for unity. Not to mention, the two co-head coaches, tasked with promoting camaraderie, couldn't stand each other when the season began.

Eagles coach Greasy Neale wanted to follow George Halas' lead by using the innovative T-formation. He hoped to play with a quarterback who could chuck the ball downfield.

Steelers coach Walt Kiesling, meanwhile, thought it was unmanly to throw passes and run fakes.

Even the two fanbases had lingering reservations. The Steagles played four home games in Philadelphia and just two in Pittsburgh. Plus, the team wore green and white uniforms instead of black and gold.

"Pittsburghers who supported the Steelers in the old days have the right to complain over the way Philadelphia hogged the merger," Pittsburgh Press sports editor Chester L. Smith wrote in a 1943 column.

But one thing helped ease the strain: The Steagles won games.

They jumped out to a 2-0 start and finished with a 4-1-1 record at home. The Steagles led the league in rushing, according to Pro Football Reference, while Tony Bova, the receiver blind in an eye, had a team-best five touchdown catches.

As the season wore on, the two coaches smoothed over their relationship by separating responsibilities. Neale took over as coach of the offense and Kesling directed the defense. Both wound up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And, for one season, they helped an odd combination of players find a semblance of stability and success.

"If the Steagles had been a terrible team, I think I would have found much more dissent from Steelers fans about the merger," Algeo said. "Once fans realized that this was a winning team, they kind of changed their attitude and became very supportive."

The growing fandom was a trend around the league, Algeo said.

During World War II, many Americans on the homefront had to work long hours and spend six days a week in factories. Most everyone, however, had Sundays off. And with worry looming over American families, football provided an outlet.

The league might have folded if the Steelers and Eagles hadn't joined forces to form an eighth team, Algeo said. Yet NFL attendance rose during the war.

"It provided entertainment on those Sunday afternoons, especially in the fall after baseball ended, because there was nothing else to do," Algeo said. "All the trolleys ran to all the ballparks. At the time, the NFL teams used Major League ballparks. So all this helped the league survive."

The Steagles players weren't just contributing to the war efforts with their play on the field, though. Steelers owners Art Rooney and Bert Bell and Eagles owner Alexis Thompson required their players to work in wartime industries during the week.

Philadelphia was a hub for shipyards, while Pittsburgh produced much of the steel used in World War II. Offensive guard Ted Doyle worked in Pittsburgh and constructed parts for the atomic bomb, though he didn't know it at the time, Algeo said.

The work schedules and distance between teammates created logistical problems.

But the Steagles made things work. According to Algeo, the team was able to use a field in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park for night-time practices. It had lights because a Negro League baseball team played games there.

The late practices allowed Steagles players time to get to the field after working from about 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Algeo said. Some from Pittsburgh rode the train across the state regularly.

It took some finagling, but the Steagles remained on firm ground. They had to. Owners knew the NFL could face a downward spiral if the league suspended play for a significant amount of time during the war.

"People don't remember this, but another league came into existence in '46: The All America Football Conference. That's who gave us the Baltimore Colts and the San Francisco 49ers," Algeo said. "The [NFL] came very close to suspending operations for a year or two during World War II, and if they had, it would have been much more difficult to defeat the rival leagues that came up after.

"So, it don't think it's an exaggeration to say that by merging the Eagles and Steelers, they were keeping the league alive. The NFL really, really saved itself during WWII."

The challenges facing the Steagles stood out to Algeo when he covered a reunion event in 2003 for NPR. Not a huge football nut, Algeo said he always considered himself a moderate Eagles fans and wanted to explore the history of the merged franchises.

By the time he published the book in 2006, Algeo had interviewed the nine living members of the Steagles. Ten years later, none are left. Al Wistert, an all-pro tackle, died in March at the age of 95. He was the last remaining Steagle.

And as he looks back on his research, Algeo's biggest takeaway wasn't simply that the team revived the NFL or lifted American morale during a devastating war.

It's that many of the players who accomplished those things were the ones unallowed to make an impact through more conventional wartime methods.

"These guys were not able to contribute in the military, but in some small way, they were able to contribute by keeping this game alive," Algeo said. "It was a tough game. It was a tough game, especially for some of the guys with disabilities. They deserve a lot of respect."

-- @AaronKazreports