PHILADELPHIA — Jeremiah Trotter’s second NFL season was the one that changed his life. It was the one that paved the way for him to become a Philadelphia icon, the one that made him an Eagle forever, the one that led him to become a lifelong resident in South Jersey along with his late wife Tammi.
After being drafted in the third round by the Eagles in 1998, Trotter spent his rookie season making a strong late-season impression on special teams after being inactive through seven of the first eight games. The team went 3-13 and coach Ray Rhodes was fired.
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The next year, with Andy Reid as the head coach, Jim Johnson as the defensive coordinator and starting middle linebacker James Willis moved to the Seattle Seahawks, Trotter not only became a starter, he became a menace in the middle for a fast improving defense.
The Eagles went 5-11 in Reid’s first season, but they led the league with 46 takeaways. Trotter contributed an interception, two forced fumbles, 2 1/2 sacks and led the team in tackles. He was a Pro Bowler and first and second-team All Pro his next two seasons for Eagles’ teams that made the playoffs. After leaving as a free agent for Washington, he returned to become a starter on the only Reid Eagles’ team that went to the Super Bowl.
Now, his son — Jeremiah Jr. — is in his second season with the Eagles after making an even stronger impression than his father as a rookie on special teams. His eight special-teams tackles were tied for the third most on the team and ranked him among the leaders in the league.
So what advice did father give son about his second season in the league?
“He just told me to keep doing what I did during my rookie year,” Trotter said Tuesday after the Eagles’ OTA practice in South Philadelphia. “I’m just working every day and trying to make the most of every opportunity that I get. I’m just grinding and continuing to try to improve. That’s really all you can do and I’m going to try to put my best foot forward.”
Trotter took advantage of his one moment to flash at the end of last season when the Eagles rested the starters in the regular-season finale against the Giants. He got his first career start and finished with 11 tackles.
Now, he has another opportunity during the spring. With starting linebacker Nakobe Dean still recovering from the knee surgery that kept him out of the team’s final three playoff games, Trotter is running alongside Zack Baun at linebacker with the first-team defense.
He looks like he belongs, too.
While he’s thankful for the chance, he knows the journey to the top of the depth chart will be a difficult one. Dean, who had a sensational season before his injury, is expected back on the field at some point during training camp, according to defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
The Eagles also used their first-round pick on Jihaad Campbell, another South Jersey native who excelled as an inside linebacker during his final season at Alabama. Campbell is recovering from shoulder surgery and also has been unable to take the field this spring, but he will be back competing for a starting job during training camp.
The competition at linebacker also includes Smael Mondon, a fifth-round pick out of Georgia who replaced Dean as a starter with the Bulldogs.
Trotter welcomes all the competition.
“We’ve got a lot of talented guys in that room,” Trotter said. “And when you have a lot of depth at a position, it makes everybody better. Everybody in that room is competing, but everybody in that room is also helping each other. We’re sharing our tips and knowledge and trying to bring each other along.
“When you do that and you also compete, it only helps you improve your game, so I’m really happy to be part of that situation. It’s not like that everywhere, where you can compete against your guys and still have that kind of camaraderie that we have.”
The younger Trotter, of course, did have a special rookie season, getting a Super Bowl ring that was denied to his dad when the Eagles lost the title game to the New England Patriots in 2005.
He even paid tribute to his father when he followed up a fourth-quarter tackle on a kickoff with the signature axe celebration his father used to perform during his playing days. He hadn’t done it all year.
“I was kind of saving it for the right moment,” Trotter said.
The Eagles were up 40-6 at the time, so that must have seemed like a safe time.
“That was something I used to do in college (at Clemson) and the guys knew my father used to do it when he played for the Eagles,” Trotter said. “Everybody was kind of waiting for it through the season.”
Trotter admitted it was an amazing feeling to win a Super Bowl with the team he loved so much as a kid.
“It was definitely at the time kind of surreal and a dream come true,” he said. “But I feel like now it’s kind of settled down. I have to focus on the next season with these OTAs and make sure I’m in the moment right now. That’s kind of the mentality. Yeah, we’re 2024 champs, but now it’s a new season.”
And, at the moment, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is running with the first-team defense and being an NFL starter is another dream he wants to conquer.
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Bob Brookover can be reached atrbrookover@njadvancemedia.com