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Vermeil scoured the draft's late rounds and sifted free-agent and waiver lists for overlooked talent. With a roster of names only their mothers would recognize, Vermeil forged a team as iron-willed as himself. His brother Al Vermeil recalls: "When Dick was in college, he would get up for an 8 o'clock class, be in school until 4 p.m., work from 4 p.m. until midnight in Dad's auto mechanic shop, study from midnight to 3 a.m., then go to bed and get up at 7 a.m. and start over again. He developed the ability to push on." He, in turn, taught the Eagles to push on. Says Tight End Keith Krepfle: "He tore us down mentally and physically and then built us up together. We all had the common experience of hard work. And Dick worked harder than anybody. The details, the little things he went over. All I can say is, we've paid our dues."
Slowly, patiently, Vermeil put his team together. Quarterback Ron Jaworski was acquired from the Rams for his strong arm. Running Back Wilbert Montgomery, passed over until the sixth round because of calcium deposits in a thigh, ha emerged as one of the league's flashiest runners. As the team started its comeback, Wide Receiver Harold Carmichael set an N.F.L. record for receptions in 127 straight games, and Kicker Tony Franklin proved that barefoot boys can make it in the N.F.L. The Eagles defense is football's stingiest. In the N.F.C. championship game against the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia held usually lethal Running Back Tony Dorsett to just 41 yds., held Quarterback Danny White to 127 yds. passing, and won 20-7.
Vermeil has made sure his team will be ready for the Raiders. When the Eagles leave Philadelphia this week for New Orleans, Vermeil will set up a rerun of training camp. Super Bowl hoopla leaves him unimpressed: "I don't give a damn for parties, ceremonies, celebrations. To me, there's only one way to enjoy a football game, gentlemen, and that's to win it."
There are many ways to win football games, and no one has mastered as many as Oakland's Al Davis. During his 18-year tenure, the Raiders have amassed the best regular-season winning percentage in football, suffering a single losing year and missing the playoffs only three times. Depending on the talent available, the Raiders have won with the run, with the pass, with defense and with kicking—especially the punting of Ray Guy, the first kicker ever chosen in the first round of the draft. Oakland has picked up players washed up at other teams, like Quarterback Jim Plunkett, and players other teams had washed their hands of, like Linebacker Ted Hendricks, and they have thrived. Such rehabilitations have embarrassed more than one team. Says Cleveland Coach Sam Rutigliano: "I won't trade with him, and when we shake hands, I check to be sure I still have five fingers." Davis' retreads and rejects are fiercely loyal to the man who saved their careers. Says Defensive End John Matuszak: "Oakland was my last shot. Al Davis decided to help this kid out. I'll never let him down."