Legendary Philadelphia Eagles running back supports Carson Wentz
Long ago, a relatively unknown running back played his way into the hearts of Philadelphia Eagles fans forever. Recently, he shut the Carson Wentz debate down.
When it’s all said and done, we’ll always have more to complain about regarding the draft picks that Andy Reid made than we’ll have to celebrate. Typically, the formula was taking an offensive lineman or defensive lineman in Round 1 and then winging it after that, but occasionally he hit the jackpot. Years later, some of Philadelphia Eagles‘ picks are still questionable (Joe Douglas wasn’t as good as we thought), but the Carson Wentz selection seems to be working out.
In 2002, Philly went the route of going with a relative unknown with the 91st-overall selection. They wound up with a five-foot-three, 203-pound running back from Villanova. That worked out too.
Brian Westbrook ran for 5,995 yards and 37 touchdowns and caught another 426 passes for 3,790 yards and 29 touchdowns during his eight-year career in Philadelphia. He also reached the end zone two times as a punt returner. He’s a member of the Philadelphia Eagles 75th-anniversary team and their Hall of Fame.
Must Read. Revisiting Douglas draft choices, Was he a failure?. light
These days he talks football for FOX Sports, and on a recent episode of the highly popular morning show First Thing’s First, Westbrook, always honest, shared his thoughts on the oft-criticized franchise signal-caller, Mr. Wentz.
"I think Carson showed something towards the end of the season… He didn’t have those personalities. He didn’t have DeSean. He didn’t have Nelson Agholor. He didn’t have Alshon Jeffery in the locker room, but he showed that, even with lesser talent, that he could be that fourth multiplier that Coach Mangini is always talking about, taking young talent that was unproven and making those guys look much better than they probably were. He’s also proven that he could be a leader… My biggest question is can he do it for an entire season? I’m not worried about his health. I’m not worried about him getting hurt again."
That Philadelphia alumnus seems to be doing well for the most part, and it’s good to see. It’s one thing to see former Eagles have the backs of the new guys in the green jerseys. It’s another to know that what they’re saying is accurate. How about that for a nice start to your Eagles day?