February 06, 2026

Sonny Jurgensen, the Eagles gunslinger and Hall of Fame QB, dies at 91

Jurgensen, one of the NFL's prototype gunslingers, led the league in passing twice and set franchise records as an Eagle that have lasted decades.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Malcolm Emmons/Imagn Images

Hall of Fame QB Sonny Jurgensen spent seven seasons with the Eagles.

Sonny Jurgensen, a Hall of Fame quarterback who played seven years for the Eagles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died Friday, his family announced through the Washington Commanders, the franchise where he spent the majority of his career.

Jurgensen was 91.

A fourth-round pick to the Eagles in the 1957 NFL Draft, Jurgensen was a backup in Philadelphia for the first several years of his career, sitting behind Norm Van Brocklin as the Eagles went on a run to win the 1960 NFL Championship.

He took over as the starter the following year in 1961, throwing what was then a single-season franchise record of 32 touchdowns, which stood for decades until Carson Wentz came along to break it with 33 in 2017. He made his first Pro Bowl, and earned his lone first-team All-Pro honor.

Jurgensen also threw 24 interceptions that season, then threw 26 picks in 1962, which also set single-season franchise records in back-to-back years, though in the wrong way. They stand to this day.

In a lot of ways, Jurgensen was the prototype gunslinger, constantly firing away on daring passes at a time when the game was heavily run reliant and with the quarterback position itself still fairly primitive.

August 4, 1961

The first known BEHIND-THE-BACK PASS in an NFL game

Sonny Jurgensen for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1961 College All-Star Game in Chicago pic.twitter.com/mQ0VkpsAzs
— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) August 4, 2025

Jurgensen also led the NFL in passing yards those years, with 3,723 in 1961 and 3,261 in 1962. He amassed 9,639 total passing yards during his full run as an Eagle from 1957-1963, which ranks ninth all-time in Eagles history.

Jurgensen was traded to Washington ahead of the 1964 season and spent the next 11 years there, leading the NFL in passing three more times (1966, 1967, and 1969) and making the Pro Bowl four more times to build his Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy.

He was inducted into Canton in 1983.