One of the NFL's most imposing linebackers of the 1960s, Maxie Baughan, died Saturday at age 85 from natural causes in Ithaca, New York, the Philadelphia Eagles announced. Baughan played 12 NFL seasons with the Eagles (1960-1965), Rams (1966-1970) and Washington (1974), earning Pro Bowl nods for nine of them. Baughan also earned five Second-Team All-Pro honors as well as a first-team selection in 1964.
Philadelphia selected him 20th overall in the 1960 NFL Draft out of Georgia Tech, and the 6-foot-1, 227-pound linebacker quickly became a starter for an Eagles team that went on to win the league championship that year, besting the Green Bay Packers 17-13 in the finale. After another 10-win campaign in 1961, the Eagles struggled, failing to have a winning record in Baughan's final four seasons in Philadelphia. He was sent to the West Coast via a trade to the Los Angeles Rams in 1966. Baughan reached as far as the divisional round of the playoffs in two of his five seasons with Los Angeles. He retired to pursue a coaching career after the 1970 season, joining his alma mater as their defensive coordinator.
Baughan put his full-time coaching career on pause when Washington cajoled him into serving as a player-coach in 1974. He only hit the field in two games before returning to life as a full-time coach, but he didn't go back to college right away. Baughan stayed in the NFL initially, serving as the Baltimore Colts defensive coordinator from 1975-1979. His coaching career went on for 23 more seasons after briefly unretiring. Baughan held two NFL defensive coordinator jobs with the Colts (1975-1979) and the Detroit Lions (1980-1982) before going back to college as the head coach of Cornell for six seasons from 1983-1988. However, the NFL eventually drew him back in. Baughan completed his time on the sidelines as linebackers coach for three different franchises: the Minnesota Vikings (1990-1991), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1992-1995), and the Baltimore Ravens (1996-1998).
Baughan finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Gail Codgill of the Lions in 1960. His nine Pro Bowls are tied for the seventh-most in NFL history among linebackers, per statmuse.com, behind six Hall of Famers – Ray Lewis, Junior Seau, Derrick Brooks, Mike Singletary, Lawrence Taylor and Joe Schmidt.
He earned induction into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2015 for his playing career's first six seasons, and Baughan is currently one of 12 Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalists for the Seniors 2024 class. The defensive dynamo will forever be a part of the NFL's historic fabric having played or coached in the league for just under 30 years.