A long-time piece of Eagles history is retiring after 11 NFL seasons.
Nine-year Eagle Rick Lovato has called it a career after appearing in the Los Angeles Chargers' first nine games of the season. Lovato was signed by the Chargers as an injury replacement for Josh Harris in late August.
How Lovato went from little known FCS player to Eagles consistent special teams rockstar
Lovato came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2015, becoming the first player from Old Dominion University to appear in an NFL game when an injury to Packers long snapper Brett Goode gave Lovato an opportunity, appearing in two games for Green Bay in late 2015. Lovato would then bounce around to Washington, serving as an injury replacement for Nick Sundberg for two games (a total of 10 days), before finding stability in Philadelphia.
After a broken wrist injury to 11-year long snapper Jon Dorenbos, Lovato would finish the 2016 season with the Eagles, appearing in the final three games for the team. After beating out Dorenbos during training camp, Lovato would begin a 132-game streak in Philadelphia that included a Pro Bowl appearance in 2019, two Super Bowl rings, and almost $9 million in earnings.
Lovato's retirement may come as a surprise; however, due to the sudden nature of his final year in the NFL, it appears he may have already been ready to transition to the next phase of his career. Like how his career started, an injury to Harris forced the Chargers to bring in the experienced long snapper who would ultimately appear in nine games.
However, despite Lovato's experience, Chargers fans were left extremely disappointed as Lovato was erratic, forcing punter and holder J.K. Scott to make several adjustments, specifically in Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins, on the Chargers' game-winning field goal attempt.
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Regardless, Lovato's career should be long and successful, as the FCS product not only appeared in the NFL but also carved out a pretty good living at that. According to Spotrac, Lovato earned $9.6 million throughout his career, playing with the Bears, Packers, Eagles, Washington, and Chargers.