It may sound like comedy skit fodder now, but for one season the Philadelphia Eagles and their intrastate rival Pittsburgh Steelers played as the "Phil-Pitt Eagles-Steelers" -- or, as most dubbed them, the "Steagles." It happened when, with their rosters depleted by WWII, Eagles owner Bert Bell and his counterpart Art Rooney had to strike a desperate deal while splitting alternative home games and coaches. This extraordinary find is the original merger contract agreement drawn up by the Eagles management -- appropriately, the day after April Fool's Day, 1941. (Another contract, drawn up by the Steelers management to finalize the deal, is being offered separately.) In a weird twist, though the actual merger didn't go into effect for two years, Bell that '41 season quit the Eagles and coached the Steelers -- at least for 5 games, losing 3, before Rooney fired him! In a rather sticky situation, Bell remained as Rooney's nominal co-owner! The stranger-than-fiction contract, which must be seen to be believed, carries the signatures of these two larger than life gridiron icons in black fountain pen on the last page, with Bell using his full name -- "deBenneville Bell" -- as Eagles president and Rooney's underneath. There is also the signature of the President of the Eagles official business name, "East-West Sporting Club, Inc." All signatures are mint, contract itself runs 8 pages and is NRMT.