The clock is ticking, Eagles fans.
On April 30th, the NFL Draft will kick off from Chicago, as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces the latest class of NFL talent. To make sure that you're all set for when the Eagles are on the clock for the first time, we're counting down each day with look at each number from 100-1 and the significance that the number holds in Eagles history.
Without further ado, let's continue the countdown …
The offseason acquisition of running back Darren Sproles paid off from the get-go this past year, and one of the more thrilling times he turned heads was his 82-yard punt return for a touchdown in Week 4. The Eagles were in San Francisco facing the 49ers, and already led 14-10. Sproles received the punt on his own 18-yard line, dodged one tackle with a juke move, and then turned on the afterburners, racing all the way up the right sideline for the score. It was the longest punt return of his career.
Sproles was a firecracker of a player all season long, especially in the special teams department. His punt return against the 49ers was the first of two punt return touchdowns, the second one coming in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers. Sproles returned 39 punts on the year and averaged 13.0 yards per return. Later in the season, opposing teams consistently kicked away from the dynamo returner, but he still managed to set career highs in returns, return yardage, and return touchdowns in the same season.
First Eagle To Wear No. 82: Robert Krieger (1941)
Most Recent Eagle To Wear No. 82: Emil Igwenagu (2012-2014)
WR Mike Quick
Where do you begin with wide receiver Mike Quick? The five Pro Bowl appearances? The two All-Pro selections? The best receiving season in Eagles history?
Quick is one of the all-time great Eagles wide receivers. A first-round pick in the 1982 NFL Draft, Quick more than lived up to the prestige that comes with being a first-round pick. He paid his dues in a strike-shortened first season, not seeing a single start but still hauling in 156 yards and a touchdown in nine games.
Then, in 1983, just his second season in the NFL, Quick exploded. That year he and quarterback Ron Jaworski established an unbelievable connection. Quick caught 69 passes for 1,409 yards and 13 touchdowns, leading the league in receiving yards and yards per game. To this day, Quick is the only Eagles wide receiver to pile up more than 1,400 yards in a single season. Both his yardage and touchdown totals that year would prove to be career highs for Quick, earning him his first of five straight Pro Bowl selections and his first All-Pro honors.
In the next two seasons, Quick eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark twice more, and his 73-catch, 1,247-yard season in 1985 earned him his second All-Pro selection. He caught a 99-yard touchdown pass that season, the longest in franchise history, which won the Eagles a game in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons.
Quick played all nine years of his career with the Eagles, retiring after the 1990 season, and remains involved with the organization to this day as part of the team's radio broadcast. He ranks third in Eagles history in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
