Nearly 70,000 fans in South Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday bore witness at halftime of one of the finest cornerbacks in the 90+ years of the Eagles history who had attended the game as an honorary captain become inducted into the Eagles Ring of Excellence. That cornerback was none other than Eric Allen.
This past summer, one of the greatest defensive backs ever to don the Kelly Green in Philadelphia was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Allen had a (thirteen-year) career, including nine seasons with the Eagles. He and Waters were part of Buddy Ryan’s Eagles’ secondary that didn’t protect against hard hits — it promoted them. On the podium , Eric Allen spoke extremely fondly of his days wearing green in Philadelphia.
Nearly thirty-five years ago in December of 1992 — the Eagles had a week sixteen matchup across the South Philadelphia Sports’ Complex with Washington. The winner would get a berth in the NFC Wildcard Playoffs — the loser would be home for them. As Washington quarterback Mark Rypien sprinted out, avoided contact, and threw the ball toward a diving Gary Clark. Eric Allen knocked the ball away and galloped down the Veteran’s Stadium sideline in celebration.
On the field — Eric Allen got a front row seat to the Eagles in their iconic Kelly Green and Philadelphia’s current number one cornerback. Last season — Mitchell and fellow rookie Cooper DeJean were the perfect compliment to Darius Slay and CJ Gardner-Johnson. So much so that Slay and Gardner-Johnson are now gone — and Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio trusts Mitchell as isolation on the opponent’s best receiver.
Last season was the first time in modern NFL playoff history — that a team with two rookie starting defensive backs has reached the playoffs and, perhaps — a Super Bowl appearance. This year is also the first time in the thirty-two years of the Eagles franchise’s existence that two rookie defensive backs have been nominated for the AP Rookie of the Year in the same season.
Last February — in the midst of a cold Super Bowl Championship Parade when Darius Slay stepped to the podium outside of the Art Museum — he didn’t talk about his decade plus NFL career. He didn’t talk about the culmination of his NFL accolades in the nearly complete defensive shutdown that was Super Bowl LIX.
Nope. He let Philly know that they now have two young lockdown NFL cornerbacks in Mitchell and DeJean for years to come.
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