The "Steagles" is the popular nickname for the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, during the 1943 season. The teams were forced to merge because both had lost many players to military service due to World War II. Officially the team was known simply as the Eagles (without a city designation), the Eagles-Steelers, or the Steelers-Eagles. The NFL never registered "Steagles" as a trademark. However, the official NFL record book refers to the team as "Phil-Pitt."