Lloyd J. Blakeman Jr., D.O., was the Eagles team physician from1960-2000. He was born in the Beverly neighborhood at home in 1921. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War ll, he did sales for his uncle in the paper industry. He married Louise Ecklund on May 1, 1943. He told her he always wanted to be a doctor, so he went back to University of Chicago and graduated from Chicago Osteopathic College in 1960. He opened his practice in Worth. He lived in Palos Park from late 1940s until his death in 2001.

Early in his medical career, he offered to be the team physician for the Eagles. He attended games in severe weather, even in his seventies, and dressed for the weather. He didn’t ‘look professional’ according to his daughter, Diane. Many games he bundled up in a down-like jumpsuit and similar hat. He dressed for weather not looks! He tended to the players’, coaches’ and trainers’ needs. Coach Navarro said, “He was a remarkable man. He worked endless hours.” His silver hair became a familiar sight along the sidelines for generations of Eagles fans. “At games, he would get out on the field and evaluate injured players,” Navarro said, “He seemed to look forward to the games. He felt responsible to be at the games. He felt he would be letting them down by not being there.”

He started an ongoing Blakeman scholarship for trainers at Carl Sandburg. He was a mentor to many and a joy to be around. His belief in “following your dreams and building others up” was his core value.

In 1989, he received recognition in Springfield for his many years of service as team physician. He was ahead of his time in medicine and life skills. His son Lloyd (Jerry) followed in his footsteps and became an osteopathic physician as well.