Eagles news: Jake Elliott reaches new career milestone

Many, many moons ago, the Philadelphia Eagles added eight new Birds to their nest by way of selecting eight rookies during the 2017 NFL Draft. Believe it or not, of that bunch, the only remaining member of that draft class is Derek Barnett. Unfortunately, he’s on the team’s injured reserve and done for the current season. Fear not. All wasn’t lost, Philly still managed to find a diamond in the form of Jake Elliott.

A fifth-round draft choice of the Bengals that year, Elliott competed with Randy Bullock for the placekicking job. Bullock won the battle, Jake was waived, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. That’s where Philly found him. The Birds added Elliott to their roster on  September 12th of that year. Let’s just say that decision worked out for them.

He went on to set three records as a rookie. He’s the owner of the NFL’s record for the longest field goal made by a rookie (61 yards), the longest field goal made by a rookie in the playoffs (53 yards), and the longest field goal made by a rookie in a Super Bowl game (46 yards).

Since then, he’s set a franchise record for the most 50-plus yard field goals made in a season (five), and he earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2021.

In Week 13 of the 2022 NFL season, he eclipsed another milestone.

Make that 600+ points thanks to three more extra points (if you want to be technical). He even proved that he could punt if his team needs him to. Following an unfortunate injury to Eagles punter/holder Arryn Siposs, he booted one 35 yards. What can we say? It’s been a great day!

More Eagles news: Two legends continue their historic runs.

How about Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce, and Brandon Graham‘s day? QB1 threw two more touchdowns and reached the end zone as a rusher again. That makes him the lone quarterback in NFL history to rush for ten TDs or more in back-to-back seasons. The legends continue to make out their dents in the history books as well.

Kelce started his 135th consecutive regular-season game in Week 14. That ties Herman Edwards for the second-longest streak in franchise history. Of course, we had to give them a shout-out.

Brandon Graham, the second longest-tenured Bird not named Chuck Bednarik turned the clock back. He racked up three sacks and a forced fumble. If he isn’t the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week, there needs to be an investigation.