Eagles alum LeSean McCoy was stunned in 2015 when the team traded him to Buffalo. He purposely left equipment and personal items in the Eagles locker room because he was sure he would return.
The 36-year old McCoy finally made it back to Philly last Sunday but not as a player. Instead, he was honored at halftime as the newest member of the Eagles Hall of Fame.
McCoy was a Pennsylvania native and resident in every respect until that trade in 2015. He played high school ball in the state capital Harrisburg, starred at the University of Pittsburgh and was drafted in the second round by the home state Eagles in 2009.
He had six productive seasons playing home games at The Linc before then-head coach Chip Kelly traded him to Buffalo. McCoy later in his career played for the Chiefs and Bucs but his heart still was in Philadelphia.
“I’m older and doing a lot of different things in my career now that I’m done playing football,” McCoy told reporters last week prior to his induction. “I guess if I was still stuck in that football mindset the 2015 ‘wound’ might still be there. I do often wonder if I remained an Eagle what would have happened. When guys leave teams, it usually will be because of money or production; neither was the problem back then but…my induction into the Hall makes things right.”
How does a player with only six seasons on a team get inducted into its Hall of Fame? In 2011, McCoy set a franchise record with 20 touchdowns. Two seasons later, he set the Eagles single game rushing record with 217 yards and two TDs while playing in a blizzard against the Lions. McCoy finished as the team’s all-time leading rusher with 6,792 yards.
“This Hall of Fame honor means a lot,” McCoy says. “It shows you the way the team and organization see me. It’s a great honor. When Mr. (team owner Jeffrey) Lurie called to tell me, he tricked me by talking about whatever first and then got to the real reason for the call. That was a very emotional conversation.”
We at NFL Alumni salute our brother LeSean McCoy. We never will know what would have happened if he had stayed in Pennsylvania but a 12-year NFL career and a team Hall of Fame induction are not bad.
