Cole was presented on the show by Eagles head coach Andy Reid, who drafted Cole in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
"You talk about motors," said Reid. "You take your greatest motor that's ever been made and that's what Trent is ... One speed, and that's 110 miles-an-hour.
"He's the only player that's come to me, in tears, and told me, 'Don't ever take me out of a game.'"
But while it's notable for Cole to be named among the top 75 players in his sport, it's also fair to question whether the Cincinnati product deserves to be even higher on the list. Consider that Cole, who happens to be third on the Eagles' all-time sack list with his 57.0 in six seasons, is also third among all players in the league with 52.0 sacks since 2006. And only one of the two players with more sacks since 2006, Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings, is a 4-3 defensive end.
Meanwhile, Mario Williams of the Houston Texans, another 4-3 defensive end and a former No. 1 overall draft pick, came in two spots ahead of Cole at No. 71. But Williams hasn't recorded a double-digit sack season since 2008 and only has 17.5 sacks over the last two seasons, five fewer than Cole has put up in that period.
And those are just the pass rush numbers. Cole is also widely said to excel as a run defender in addition to his exploits getting after the quarterback. In fact, ProFootballFocus.com, a website that charts every play in the league during the season has ranked Cole as the No. 1 defensive end in football against the run in both of the last two seasons. This year, Cole's overall rating of 46.1 on ProFootballFocus meant he was the league's second-highest graded defender in the league. Only Tamba Hali of the Kansas City Chiefs topped Cole in those rankings.
"Against the run and pass, he can play both equally well. He can do everything he's supposed to do and a little bit more," said Reid. "With age and experience, he's gotten better. He knows all the tricks."
But while Cole's game is anything but quiet on the field, the Eagles' defensive end prefers to spend his time off the field hunting and fishing rather than self-promoting, so he's not as much of a household name as he probably should be. There's also a chance that despite his sustained record of excellence, Cole could be in line for the best season of his career. Under new defensive line coach Jim Washburn, Cole will be given more leeway to attack and with Washburn's track record, no one would be surprised see Cole atop the league leaders in sacks in 2011.
With 70 players still to be revealed in NFL Network's rankings, which of Cole's teammates have a chance to be mentioned? Figure that Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson and Asante Samuel will all appear at some point, while Jason Peters, LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin could each make a case to appear as well.
