Meet Leo Carlin...

Meet Leo Carlin... a proud alumnus of St. Joseph's Prep and St. Joseph's College and the looooong time ticket manager of the Philadelphia Eagles. Leo went to SJC with my father and his lovely wife Kay attended St. Columba's in Swampoodle (23rd and Lehigh) and John W. Hallahan Catholic High School for Girls with my mother. One of the really good guys out there, and he obviously knows where to go for his tickets ;-)

Below an article about 'Uncle' Leo when he was nominated to the NFL Hall of Fame. He was nominated again this year as well.


Ecstatic, Overwhelmed Carlin Nominated For Hall - Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles are proud to announce that director of ticket client relations Leo Carlin is among a list of 124 players, coaches and contributors who have been nominated for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2008.

A pioneer in the ticketing industry, Carlin has been a vital member of the Eagles organization for a span of five decades. Armed with an infectious personality that combines sharp wit, a true love for the job and selfless compassion for customers and co-workers alike, Carlin has satisfied millions of rabid Eagles fans without ever stepping onto the playing field.

"I first want to tell you, just at the outset, that I'm incredibly honored with the situation that's taken place just in these last 20 hours, and it has been a whirlwind. I'm also very gratified with the number of people I have heard from, it's been fantastic," said Carlin during a press conference on Wednesday. "I think our computer guys are afraid my computer's going to blow up with the emails that are coming through from around the league. I want you to know that I'm not only thrilled about this, I recognize that there are some very, very prestigious people who are also nominated for this and I'm just thrilled to be with them. I know what the odds are. I'm very, very happy to be before you to today. (Jokingly) I know you mentioned something about the Dallas Cowboys a minute ago and you mentioned something about (Dallas WR Terrell Owens) T.O., but don't worry here's Leo."

Carlin originally joined the Eagles as a part-time ticket office employee in 1960 and participated in the ticketing efforts for the Eagles' 1960 NFL Championship Game victory over the Green Bay Packers. He was hired as the club's full-time ticket manager in 1964. During the 1970's, Carlin also served as the club's business manager and helped the Eagles become the first NFL team to merge ticketing with computer data processing. He was also appointed to represent the Eagles on the city of Philadelphia's committee for the construction of Veterans Stadium.

Carlin joined the Eagles in 1960 prior to the NFL Championship Game
In 1985, Carlin was appointed as the team's representative to the NFL to facilitate regional television broadcasts of Eagles home games. In that role, he negotiated with local television stations to lift potential blackouts of those home games.

Carlin has helped bridge the gap from the franchise's infancy to the dominating sport it has become today in Philadelphia. He led the effort in transitioning ticket operations for the Eagles four times into three different stadiums – Franklin Field, Veterans Stadium, and Lincoln Financial Field. After transferring the ticket system into the Vet in 1970, Carlin was forced to transition back to Franklin Field once it was determined the stadium would not be ready for play that year.

In fact, he is the only ticket manager in league history to work with the same team in three different stadiums. Along the way, Carlin has worked for five Eagles owners and fostered friendly relationships with numerous coaches and players from many different eras.

With the Cowboys coming to Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday, Carlin is one of the most popular people in the city.

"Oh, there are hundreds. Probably the biggest hear-from-type-thing that happened, was when we were changing stadiums into this stadium," said Carlin. "Our IT guys checked the backlog of my phone calls trying to get into my line. Now, my voice message could only hold, I think, 99 messages. But, the IT people checked, trying to get in in one week's time and it was close to 2,000. So, every now and then somebody would say, 'I called you, but you didn't call me back.' Yeah, well, true. I think I missed that one. It was hard because I pride myself in trying to communicate with the public as best as possible. I try, anyway. But, I never thought that in those days, long ago, that it was going to become the popular thing that it is today. The chances are some of you didn't either. This is a very popular sport and in a very popular town."

Along with the Chicago Bears' George McCaskey, Carlin helped earn the ticket office personnel a seat at the annual NFL meetings, which continues to this day. He has co-chaired the ticket manager's portion of the NFL meetings.

In 1980, Carlin led the ticketing process for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
Today, Carlin serves as the spokesperson for all Eagles ticketing matters. Leo and his wife, Kay, have been married for 48 years and have seven children, including four boys who went on to play college football, and 19 grandchildren. Born in Atlantic City, NJ, on Sept. 16, 1937, Carlin is a graduate of St. Joseph's Prep and St. Joseph's University and is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.