Top 10 best undrafted free agent signings by the Eagles

Bucko Kilroy, an undrafted rookie signed by the Eagles in 1943, helped the Eagles bring home two NFL Championships in 1948 and 1949.

Imagine playing professional football for your hometown team, the team that you grew up cheering for. That’s Bucko Kilroy’s story. He went undrafted during the 1943 32-round NFL Draft (yes, 32 rounds), but he was signed afterward by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Kilroy was a two-way, playing on both the offensive and defensive line. He earned a well-deserved reputation for being one of the toughest and hardest-hitting players in the game at the time.

Kilroy went on to play for 13 professional seasons. Every single one of them was played in an Eagles jersey. He was a key part of the first two Philadelphia Eagles teams to win an NFL Championship in 1948 and 1949. He was also an executive of the 1960 Eagles team to defeat the Green Bay Packers for the third championship win in franchise history.

Bucko spent a large portion of his clear creating running lanes for Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Steve Van Buren who won three straight rushing titles from 1947 to 1949.

Kilroy was named a member of the NFL’s 1940s All-Decade Team.

Honorable mention: David Akers

No Eagles fan needs to be reminded of David Akers’ greatness. Check out some of his resume:

• Two-time First-team All-Pro (2001, 2011)
• Four-time Second-team All-Pro (2002, 2004, 2009, 2010)
• Six Pro Bowl nods (2001, 2002, 2004, 2009–2011)
• A member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
• NFL scoring leader during the 2010, and 2011 seasons
• Philadelphia Eagles 75th Anniversary Team
• Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame

He’d top this list if he was an Eagles UDFA, but he entered the league as an Atlanta Falcon and spent time with two other NFL teams and NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder before joining the Birds in 1999. He deserves a very honorable mention and is one of the greatest Eagles of all time, but the top name on this list belongs to another. .