Consistency Pushed this TE to Top of No. 87 Class
The clock keeps moving and It’s now 87 days until the Eagles are scheduled to open the season in Landover, Md., against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 13.
From now until then, at SI.com EagleMaven will do a jersey countdown, listing the current Eagles player to wear the corresponding number to the days left before the season opener. As a bonus feature, we will list the top three players in team history to have that number.
Number 87
Current number 87:
Unassigned. Currently the No. 87 is unassigned although with no on-field work this spring the Eagles haven’t officially doled out numbers for their undrafted free agent class. That said, Philadelphia hasn’t reissued 87 since Brent Celek went out on top after the Eagles won Super Bowl LII.
Top 3 to wear number 87:
3. Jack Ferrante. Unless you’re a history buff you’re probably not going to know all that much about “Blackjack.” And if it does strike a chord you’re probably thinking about Andre the Giant or Bob Backlund squaring off against Blackjack Mulligan at the old Spectrum for the then-WWF.
The Eagles’ “Blackjack” was a very productive player on two championship teams over 70 years ago in 1948 and 1949. A Camden native, Ferrante amassed 169 receptions for 2,884 yards and 31 touchdowns in two stints with the Birds. Over his final seven seasons, he started all but one game and played on three consecutive Eastern Division championship teams and the back-to-back NFL championship teams.
2. Claude Humphrey. A five-time All-Pro Humphrey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014 but most of his accolades were earned as a member of the Atlanta Falcons. He did, however, finish his career with the Eagles from 1979 through 1981 and remained very productive, recording a team-high 14.5 sacks in the 1980 season during the Eagles run to Super XV. An All-time great pass rusher, Humphrey finished his career with an unofficial tally of 126.5 sacks and retired one year before sacks became an official NFL statistic.
1. Brent Celek. You can argue who the best TE in Eagles' history but the answer is Zach Ertz. The most reliable and well-rounded, however, is certainly Celek, a fifth-round pick out of Cincinnati in 2017 who played the next 11 seasons in Philadelphia capped off by the Super Bowl LII win over New England.
Known for his unselfish play and durability, Celek was awfully productive as well, finishing his career with 398 receptions, at the time, fourth-most in Eagles history, and 4,998 yards, eighth-most in franchise lore.
Ertz, who has tremendous respect for Celek who helped turn the Stanford product into a consummate professional, has since sprinted by those numbers but the fact that the Eagles have kept 87 in mothballs since Celek's retirement says quite a bit. Ultimately, Celek isn't the type who should have his number retired for good but his stamp in this organization is a deep one.
Currently, Celek is dipping his toes into the scouting side and is now working with the Eagles’ personnel department.
Runner-up:
Todd Pinkston: Although the wide receiver isn’t fondly remembered by many for what he wasn’t, there is a failure to recognize what he was and that was a four-year starter (from 2001 to 2004) who hauled in 174 receptions over that span for 2,635 yards. That’s solid production although much more was expected from the second-round pick out of Southern Miss in 2000.
Others:
Andy Nacrelli, Art Powell, Dick Lucas, Bill Cronin, Dave Lince, Fred Brown, Kent Kramer, Lawrence Sampleton, John Goode, Eric Bailey, Ron Fazio, Carlos Carson, Harper Le Bel, Maurice Johnson, Rickey Brady, Frank Wainwright, Jason Dunn, Jed Weaver, and Frank Wainwright.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
