It didn't take long for former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy to make an impact in Philadelphia.

McCoy burst onto the scene as a local kid from Harrisburg who said he wanted to be an Eagle during his playing days at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Eagles made that dream a reality with the 53rd overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. McCoy would go on to rush for 637 yards in his rookie season. At the time, it broke the franchise rookie rushing yards record and is now second-most in team history.

"I was super excited; I wanted to be an Eagle. The funny thing is my hometown was maybe an hour and 20 minutes from the stadium, thinking about that for a second, to be drafted by that team – I stayed home," McCoy said in an exclusive interview with Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro.

"I remember it like yesterday. We were having a draft party with my family and friends, and I remember seeing Andy Reid (Eagles head coach 1999-2012) and Howie Roseman, Brett Veach (Eagles player personnel and assistant to head coach, 2007-12) and everybody called me and I remember saying, 'Hey guys we're going to Philly,' and everybody erupted with joy."

McCoy would go on to do more in six seasons with the Eagles than many running backs do in their entire careers.

In 2011, McCoy set the Eagles' single-season touchdown record with 20 total touchdowns (17 rushing, 3 receiving). He amassed 1,000 yards for a second straight season with 1,309 and earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors for the first time.

Two seasons later, McCoy kept making history. Shady rushed for 1,607 yards – an Eagles all-time record that has not been broken to this day.

The running back cemented himself as an Eagles legend during the iconic Snow Bowl game against the Lions, where he set a franchise single-game record with 217 rushing yards while playing in eight inches of snow.

McCoy also set the franchise record with 2,146 yards from scrimmage in the same season.

"I competed at a high level. I'm super competitive. I hate to lose. I adjusted well. I was very versatile with running, catching, receiving. I could block. I could be a third-down back. I could play in any era of football from old school to now to my era," said McCoy, who is now a media personality and analyst for FS1. "The first man will never tackle me. You put me in a phone booth with any defender and they're going to struggle to get a hand on me. I think that's probably my best talent."

McCoy finished his Eagles career after the 2014 season, where he rushed for more than 1,000 yards for the fourth time with 1,319 yards and 5 touchdowns, earning a third Pro Bowl selection.

A member of the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 2010s, McCoy announced his retirement as an Eagle in 2021. He is still the franchise's all-time leading rusher, with 6,792 yards.

When Eagles Chairman and Chief Executive Offer Jeffrey Lurie called McCoy to tell him he was going to be a first-year inductee into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2024, he couldn't be happier.

"It's funny because he called me and I knew something was up, because we talk here and there, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for us to communicate, but once my assistant and manager said to make sure to answer the call and I'm not a player so I can't get in trouble anymore, I knew something was up," McCoy said. "Just to hear the words, when you feel a certain way about yourself and then your peers and people that you respect say those things, it just means more. When he told me, there was a lot of emotion, I maybe shed a tear or two."

As much as Eagles fans enjoyed watching Shady put the moves on out on the field, he recognized and noticed all of them during his time with the organization.

"There's no fan in the world like an Eagles fan," McCoy said. "Eagles fans are the most passionate, the most honest, the most caring, the most loyal fans you're going to get. No matter how bad or how good we played, they're going to let you know, but at the end of the day, they're going to have that green raised high and they're going to cheer you on.

"I always liked Philadelphia fans because everybody can't play there. Everybody can't be an Eagle. Everybody can't take the media, can't take the fans, and I think that I jelled well there because I'm used to that, that's where I come from. Eagles fans are something special to me, can't say enough about the Eagles fans."

On Sunday at halftime of the Jaguars game, with the Eagles rocking Kelly Green, McCoy will be honored and officially inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame. McCoy will be at the game and cheered on by those Eagles fans, one more time.

"I'm super excited. I can't wait. It's funny because I remember playing and seeing all of the other Eagles Hall of Famers and I never imagined I could be one and one day, it happened. I'm super excited, lot of emotion built up, can't wait to get there," McCoy said. – Written by Liam Wichser