July 8, 1964 - Joe Kuharich, coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, continued his “operation house cleaning” today with a trade that sent fullback Clarence Peaks (pictured #26) and linebacker Bob Harrison to the Pittsburgh Steelers for flanker back Bill (Red) Mack and defensive back Glenn Glass.
This was the sixth major deal by Kuharich since he became head coach last March. He has traded nine players and acquired 13 in an effort to get the team out of the NFL’s Eastern Division cellar.
Kuharich decided to trade the 29-year-old Peaks, a No. 1 draft choice in 1957, after obtaining fullback Earl Gros from the Green Bay Packers. Gros was acquired recently in a deal in which the Eagles also obtained center Jim Ringo and dispatched rookie linebacker Leroy Caffey to the Packers.
The trading of Peaks completed the break-up of the Eagles’ team that won the NFL title in 1960 and finished second in the East the following year. Earlier, Kuharich, traded flanker back Tommy McDonald and fullback Ted Dean. Peaks led the 1960 team in rushing.
In expressing his happiness with the trade, Peaks criticized his former club.
“It will be a pleasure to be on the same team with 11 guys who are not afraid to hit,” he said. “I’ll be happy in Pittsburgh. I’m a runner — a good runner. I never really got a chance to prove it here.
“I told Kuharich I wanted to be traded. I mentioned that I’d like Pittsburgh. The Steelers have 11 guys on the field who want to get the job done. They don’t have two or three guys trying to carve a bigger piece of the pie for themselves.”
“We didn’t relish the idea of letting Peaks go,” Kuharich said, “because he has performed so well for the Eagles. But what we have in Mack is an extremely fast flanker who can give us a real long-range scoring threat. In Glass, we’ve got a fellow who should be just coming into his own as a defensive back.”
Kuharich said that Ollie Matson or Tom Woodeshick would back up Gros at fullback. He plans to use Mack as a reserve for Ron Goodwin, a flanker, and Glass as a defensive back and for punt and kickoff returns.
“Woodeshick is a big goy and can play fullback,” said Kuharich. “Matson has a lot of experience at fullback. Between them, they’ll provide the depth we need.”
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