Why Bucko Kilroy Is 'The Epitome of a Hall Contributor'

By John Turney 

Bucko Kilroy

Francis Joseph "Bucko" Kilroy's 64-year career in the National Football League (NFL) as a player, scout and executive left an indelible mark on the sport. His contributions, both on the field and in the front office, make a compelling case for his induction as a contributor into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Yet in the 10 years that the Hall's board of selectors voted on contributors, he never was discussed as a finalist.

I know, he was a semifinalist for this year's class. But he didn't make the final cut. In fact, Kilroy's most significant foray in the Hall's voting process occurred in 2020, when a specially selected committee chose him as one of 10 contributor finalists for the Centennial Class commemorating the NFL's 100th anniversary.

He wasn't elected then, either. Paul Tagliabue, George Young and Steve Sabol were.

It's time that changes for the most obvious of reasons: Bucko Kilroy is the epitome of a Hall-of-Fame contributor, with a 64-year NFL career surpassed only by Wellington Mara. His tenure as a player, coach, scout and executive outlasted even George Halas. But it's not his longevity in those roles that makes him an ideal choice; it's that he was successful in all of them.

"Very few in the Hall have his resume," said former NFL executive Upton Bell, who hired Kilroy as New England's player personnel director in 1971. "He should've been elected to Canton a long time ago."

A Philadelphia native, Kilroy earned All-America honors as Temple’s first standout lineman before becoming a two-way player at offensive and middle guard for his hometown Eagles. But he wasn't just a player; he was an outstanding player, making first-or-second-team All-Pro every year from 1948 through 1954. He also went to three Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL’s 1940s' all-decade team.

Kilroy's presence on the line anchored a unit that powered Steve Van Buren to the Hall of Fame and led the Eagles to NFL titles in 1948 and 1949. In both championship games, the Eagles' 5-2 defensive front -- with Kilroy at its heart -- delivered historic shutouts, the only back-to-back title game shutouts in NFL history.

 "I enjoyed playing defense," Kilroy once remarked. "Offense was drudgery."

His reputation as one of the era’s toughest players (or dirtiest, depending on your perspective) was cemented when Life magazine labeled him the NFL’s dirtiest in 1955 in an article entitled, "Savagery on Sunday." The story featured a grinning cover photo of Kilroy, with more shots inside and commentary from former football players that were supposed to corroborate the so-called "dirty play."

"If you played the Eagles," said Chicago Bears' Hall-of-Famer Doug Atkins, "you knew Bucko was going to get his shots in -- late hits, elbows, stepping on you in the pile. You didn’t shake his hand after the game; you checked to see if he broke it."

Another famous anecdote involves a game in which an opposing lineman allegedly told his coach, "If you want me to block Kilroy, you better give me a weapon."

Exaggerated or not, stories like these cemented Kilroy’s legacy as a feared enforcer -- someone whose name was as much a warning as it was an identity. Nevertheless, Bucko wasn't pleased with the label, and he and one of his teammates, Wayne Robinson, sued the publisher, Time, Inc., for $250,000. They won and were awarded $11,600 each.

Dirty? Maybe. OK, likely. But when you're called "bad boy" by Hall-of-Fame quarterback Otto Graham or an "onery critter" by Lions' end Cloyce Box, that's not really a knock. I think it's more like a compliment for that era.

When he died in 2006, Kilroy was quoted by Patriots.com as having said, "It was smash-mouth, or what I called 'mash-mouth' football in those years. The rules were different. First, you played two ways up to 1950. Another thing, forearms were legal."

And, apparently, enjoyable.

"We didn't play for money," Bucko said. "We played for fun."

But Kilroy’s impact didn't end there It extended far beyond the field. After coaching for the Eagles, he revolutionized scouting, creating the NFL scouting combine and pioneering the Dallas Cowboys’ data-driven player evaluation system. Joining Dallas in 1965, Kilroy and Hall-of-Fame executive Gil Brandt transformed drafting into a science, relying on measurable data over guesswork.

"The more measurements you got, the more you could confirm," Kilroy explained.

His approach replaced outdated methods like the reliance on college football yearbooks with a systematic, numbers-based process.

"Gil Brandt and Bucko put together a system in Dallas," recalled former GM Ernie Accorsi. "Bucko never got enough credit. He took that scouting system to New England and refined it."

In Dallas, Kilroy helped draft Roger Staubach despite his Naval commitment, laying the groundwork for Tom Landry’s dominant 1970s' teams. But it was Brandt who won the Gold Jacket, not Kilroy. And maybe that's because he went elsewhere, while Brandt stayed put during the Cowboys' dynasty from the mid-1960s through the mid 1980s.

But Kilroy left in 1971 for New England, where he spent 36 years as scouting director, GM, vice president, and consultant. His keen eye identified Hall-of-Famers John Hannah and Mike Haynes, along with stars like Russ Francis, Stanley Morgan, Raymond Clayborn, Steve Nelson, Julius Adams, and Steve Grogan -- players who turned the Patriots into playoff contenders in the 1970s and 1980s and contributed to Super Bowl teams in 1985 and 1996.

As an innovator, Kilroy co-founded the National Football Scouting Combine, now a cornerstone of the NFL's talent evaluation process. He was also credited with helping to shape the modern NFL draft and contributing to the development of the Super Bowl as we know it today.

The Boston Globe in 1982 called him "the man who helped create the science of pro scouting," while Dick Steinberg, a former Jets' GM and Kilroy protégé, said, "He knows as much about pro football as anyone in history."

His 36 years with the Patriots included contributions to 14 of the franchise's 15 playoff seasons and all five of their Super Bowl appearances during his tenure, including their first in 1985.

If that doesn’t qualify, what does?

His inductions into the North Catholic High School Hall of Fame, Temple University Athletics Hall of Fame and Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame underscore his regional and institutional significance. But his contributions to the NFL warrant more. They warrant national attention from the Hall's board of selectors.

Hopefully, sooner rather than later.