Haason Reddick Inspired by Von Miller after Deciding to Become a Pass Rusher

The Eagles' star pass rusher was once dreaming of being Brian Dawkins until former position coach Elijah Robinson tapped into his pass-rushing potential

PHILADELPHIA - Haason Reddick couldn't even visualize such a productive trip home.

"It’s been more than what I thought it would be," the South Jersey native and Temple product admitted at his locker on Wednesday when asked about his return to Philadelphia.

"When Howie (Roseman) kept adding guys to the roster, and you started seeing it on paper, you look at it and it’s like, ‘Hey man, this is a really good team on paper,’" said Reddick. "I didn’t know how well we’d click and be sitting in this position in Week 17. 

"I didn’t think we’d be 13-2. But hey, we are, and that’s just a testament of everybody coming in from upstairs, coaches and players coming in, grinding and taking care of business."

Reddick has been a big part of that business as the Eagles’ marquee addition on defense.

He’s been as advertised as one of the NFL's elite pass rushers with 14 sacks, the third-best mark in the entire NFL and the most for any Philadelphia player since Connor Barwin notched 14.5 back in 2014 during the Chip Kelly era. 

Reddick is also topping the NFL with five strip-sacks and tied for No. 1 with the five forced fumbles.

His QB takedowns are a career-high but the third consecutive season he's reached double-digits, the first NFL player to do that with three different teams (Arizona, Carolina, and now the Eagles).

What's ironic is that Reddick never saw himself as a pass rusher growing up as an Eagles fan. He played offense first and then shifted to the back seven on defense as a former walk-on at Temple before he finally found his calling with the help of former Owls defensive line coach Elijah Robinson.

"To say that I was a fan of pass rushing at the time, I couldn’t say that," he said. "Because at the time, when I was watching the Eagles, I was playing offense. Most of the time, I was a running back, wide receiver. On defense, I was a safety, so I was more so watching B-Dawk. I played corner as well."

It all changed for Reddick when he was moved to the defensive line and Robinson, now the assistant head coach at Texas A&M, helped unlock Reddick's pass-rushing potential.

"We had a guy named Elijah Robinson, and he’s actually from my hometown (of Camden). They hired him as our defensive line coach," Reddick said. "By this time, I had made the full transition to D-line, and he came in my second year, when I was playing. I just learned so much through him, and he really worked hard.

“Like I said, we’re from the same city, so he wanted to see me thrive. He wanted to see me do good, and we had just worked so hard at it.”

The template was Von Miller, the future Hall of Fame pass rusher.

"The person I watched the most when I started pass rushing was Von Miller, to tell you the truth," Reddick said. "I became a big fan of his because our measurables were so comparable. Things that he was doing was very (comparable) to what I could do well. So that’s who I pretty much watched."

It was Robinson who saw the similar traits in Reddick that Miller has used as perhaps the best pass rusher of the generation.

"He came in with a whole cut-up of Von Miller film, when he was at Texas A&M, Broncos. We just watched a bunch of his film," Reddick said.

It became a ritual for Reddick with the help of Robinson.

"We were watching film relentlessly, learning every aspect, watching tackles’ hands, the way they set, the way they open, what they do well, what they don’t do well. We just went over so much of it,” the Pro Bowl selection said.

And early success quickly spawned the passion you see today.

“Once I got my first sack, after that feeling, I was like, ‘Man, I want to be the best. I want to be as great as I can be,’” said Reddick. “I kept being a student of the game, a student of the position, and I just kept learning."

READ MORE: Haason Reddick Won't be DPOY but Has the Eagles on Brink of a Sack Record

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen