The Kelce brothers this week had Eagles general manager Howie Roseman as a guest on their funny and informative podcast, “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.”
Roseman told Jason a story about how the Eagles evaluated him in 2011, when they drafted him in the sixth round.
“We had you in the fourth round,” Roseman said.
“So, why didn’t you guys draft me in the fourth round?” Kelce asked.
“Honestly, I’m embarrassed that we had you in the fourth round. ’Cause you’re thinking a first-ballot Hall of Fame and we had you in the fourth round. So we were wrong about that,” Roseman said.
“Nobody at that time really looked like you. Nobody. You were a converted linebacker. You played your freshman year [at Cincinnati] as a linebacker?”
“Defensive scout team player of the year,” Kelce said, laughing.
“Two weeks into practice and he [offensive line coach Howard Mudd] grabs me. ‘He’s starting,’ ” Roseman said. “Yeah, great. What are you thinking, Week Three? Because we have two road games at St. Louis, at Atlanta.
“ ‘Don’t even start with me [Mudd said]. He’s starting Week One.’ I remember so clearly, [Mudd saying] ‘This guy is going to be the captain of your team and your best player.’
“I’m like, that’s awesome, but does he have to start on the road, in the dome, in the first game?”
From that 191st overall pick, Kelce is considered a lock for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
SURGICAL SUITE
Jason Kelce talked on the podcast about how many times he had surgery from playing football.
Jason counted off seven surgeries, a grim reminder how physical and demanding football can be.
- “Ankle, knee, hand, two elbows, two abdominals,” said Jason, who had one of the elbow surgeries — a “routine cleanup” — during 2022 training camp but returned for the season opener.
Jason also said he had appendix surgery. “That doesn’t count as a football injury,” he said.
- “I feel like I’m missing one [surgery] but that’s all I can remember now,” Jason said.
TALKING ABOUT SEUMALO
Eagles right guard Isaac Seumalo becomes a free agent on March 15, along with 19 of his teammates. The expectation is that Seumalo will get a huge offer that the Eagles will not be able to match.
Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland is a fan of Seumalo, a major part of the NFL’s best O-line.
- “I’ve said this for a long, long time — Isaac is a tremendous player,” Stoutland said before last season. “I think Isaac is the most — like he’s such an underrated player because of probably his demeanor.
- “He’s quiet, he doesn’t say much, but when he speaks in our meeting — and he does speak in our meeting, that’s his comfort zone — when he talks about technique and he gets up and he does, players listen.
- “Like on film, guys are like amazed at what he can do. The screen games, the perimeter game, the guy is unbelievable.”
Seumalo was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate this season.
PHILIP RIVERS TO THE RESCUE?
Eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback Philip Rivers contacted the 49ers and Dolphins toward the end of the season about playing, according to NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.
The playoff-bound Niners and Dolphins were playing third-string quarterbacks due to injuries. The Niners played Brock Purdy and fourth-stringer Josh Johnson in the NFC title game against the Eagles. San Francisco’s top two quarterbacks were injured — Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Miami started Skylar Thompson in their playoff loss at Buffalo. Starter Tua Tagovailoa and back-up Teddy Bridgewater were injured.
Rivers, 41, a 17-year veteran, hadn’t played in the league since 2020.
- “I heard at the combine that Philip Rivers contacted both of them to come back late last year,” Eisen told San Francisco radio station 95.7 The Game.
- “That’s the way I heard it, to see if they would come and it didn’t happen.
- “Don’t know why it didn’t happen. But I heard that at the combine, that Philip, once [the] season was over, was kind of like, ‘So the 49ers are going with Mr. Irrelevant [Purdy]?’ ”
NFC EAST FRANCHISE TAGS
The Eagles’ three NFC East rivals used the tag to retain key players.
- Giants: running back Saquon Barkley
- Cowboys: running back Tony Pollard
- Commanders: defensive tackle Daron Payne
Franchise tags began in 1993. The Eagles haven’t used the tag since 2012. They’ve only used the tag five times: DeSean Jackson, Michael Vick, L.J. Smith, Corey Simon and Jeremiah Trotter.
BACK-UP QUARTERBACK?
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson met with the Eagles last week’s combine.
Thompson-Robinson could be a candidate to back up Jalen Hurts, if free agent Gardner Minshew is not with the Eagles next season. Thompson-Robinson threw for 10,710 yards in his five years at UCLA with 88 touchdown passes.
He rushed for 1,826 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Ian Book is the Eagles’ third-string quarterback. He has played one NFL game, in 2021, for Saints. He completed 12-of-20 passes for 135 yards and two interceptions.