The Book of Ian
An Old Face Has Returned As An Emergency QB Option.
During one of the worst seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1968 — former Notre Dame quarterback John Huarte joined the Eagles to backup starter Norm Snead.
Huarte was an elite college quarterback at storied Notre Dame and had won the Heisman Trophy in 1964, just four years earlier.
The timing could not have been worse.
Eight years after winning the NFL Championship at Franklin Field, the Eagles started 1968 with an incredibly bad score of 0–11. Fans wore buttons to home games saying that animated Head Coach Joe Kuharich “must go” and even rented a plane to fly over the stadium trailing a banner with the same slogan. Just when fans thought that fortunes had changed, a chance to capture the first pick in the 1969 NFL Draft with the opportunity to take the elite OJ Simpson. Then the Eagles won two late-season games — making even that an impossibility.
PHOTO: Denny Medley/Imagn Images
During a cold December 15th blizzard against Bud Grant’s Minnesota Vikings, the frustration came to a head. Fans took their frustrations out on poor Frank Olivo — a replacement Santa Claus who filled in for the regular one who didn’t venture out due to the weather. After Olivo’s float became stuck in the mud, he was pelted by the fans with snowballs.
This week, the Eagles signed former Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book as an emergency option. Jalen Hurts is in concussion protocol, and Pickett is nursing sore ribs.
Book will be behind Tanner McKee.
Ian Book became the all-time leader in wins in December 2020 and ranks second in Notre Dame Program history with 72 touchdown passes. That year, Notre posted a perfect 12–0 record on the way to the College Football Playoff. The book took the reigns of the Fighting Irish during the 2017 season, but it wasn’t until the 2018 Citrus Bowl that he started to make a name for himself and led Notre Dame to a 21–17 win over LSU. During the 2019 season, he threw five touchdowns in three games for Notre Dame, including a 66–14 rout of New Mexico, including 360 yards passing.
Ian Book has been to Philadelphia before.
After being drafted by the Saints in 2021 in the fourth round, Book was waived by the team in August 2023 and picked up by the Eagles. After leaving the Eagles, Book had stints with the Patriots and Chiefs. Despite these accolades — let’s hope we don’t see an emergency appearance from Book.
Unless, of course, all is locked up already.
And what of John Huarte? The 1968 season was his only one in Philadelphia.
PHOTO: Denny Medley/Imagn Images
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