In any business, the key to success is relationships. It’s fun when the dudes you grind with and grow with are the same people. Who can understand you better than someone who saw you struggle? Who would celebrate you more than the people who shared the ups and downs of your journey? Maybe that’s why this Philadelphia Eagles team is so tight, Forget all the Georgia Bulldogs and guys who rolled with The Tide. Many of these guys have been Birds of a feather for a while.
There are so many tales of former roommates and rivals, guys who played together collegiately. Jalen Hurts was with A.J. Brown when he received his call from the Tennessee Titans. Jeremiah Trotter Jr’s father is a franchise legend.
The stories go on and on. We could spend hours connecting the dots. A draft class offers ten new prospects we’ll definitely spend some time getting to know, and wouldn’t you know it? Philly’s second-rounder already has some significant connections to the franchise.
Why would we be surprised?
The Eagles’ pipelines to Georgia and Alabama may one day be rivaled by the one that connects them to Clemson.
Here’s a fun fact you may have heard over the past week. The Eagles have never drafted a safety in Round 1 of any NFL Draft. They still haven’t. They did, however, find a damn good one in Round 2 this time around in the form of Andrew Mukuba, and in 1996, when they probably found the best one the franchise has ever seen.
Brian Dawkins was the 61st player taken in ’96 after ending his final season at Clemson with a First-Team All-ACC nod. He was also named a Second-Team All-American.
Andrew Mukuba really made a name for himself this past season at Texas. The Longhorns didn’t get the ending to their season that they desired. They lost to fellow draftee Smael Monodon’s Georgia Bulldogs twice. We’re sure that will be discussed, but here’s an interesting nugget. Drew, as he prefers to be called, began his career at Clemson.
Wouldn’t you know it? He and former Eagle K’Von Wallace are friends. He and Dawk have also met and spoken a few times, but Mukuba’s Eagles ties don’t end there. He’s also a former collegiate teammate of Will Shipley and Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
Things really took off for this Eagles organization when they decided they didn’t need to overthink things, and it would be wise to draft some of the best players from the best programs across the college football landscape. With so many guys on the roster from the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs programs, it’s clear that they’ve established a couple of significant pipelines.
Mukuba’s collegiate career will most often be remembered for a singular season with the Texas Longhorns, but there are also some Clemson roots there. Joining a roster already featuring Trot Jr. and Will Shipley may be an early sign that another connection is blossoming in Death Valley.