Puppy Love: Eagles vs. Bucs Features More Georgia Reunions
The Philadelphia Eagles may be playfully referred to as the Philadelphia Bulldogs. However, when the team plays the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, they’ll be playing one of the best Georgia players who got away in punter Jake Camarda.
Although special teams players may not receive the same sort of fanfare that offense and defense get, Camarda has arguably been the best Bulldog from an individual standpoint. Camarda has been named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice, tying the combined amount of similar honors from all Georgia alums during that span.
Eagles running back D’Andre Swift received the Player of the Week accolade for his offense in Week 2, and longtime veteran and Georgia alum defender Justin Houston won it once defensively last season.
Camarda is on a different level as the only punter in the NFL to have won a Special Teams Player of the Week award twice since the start of the 2022 season, a similar honor that he received during his time with the Bulldogs as SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Through the first two weeks, Camarda ranks second in the NFL in gross punting average (53.8) and net punting average (48.0). He’s also tied for the third most punts downed inside the 20-yard line (five).
Although Camarda’s Bucs will now be playing against six of his former teammates to see which team can advance to 3-0, there’s no bad blood on his end.
“I love all of those guys,” Camarda said. “I played with all of them for a long time. I got to school with a lot of them. We shared a lot of memories, so it’s going to be a lot of fun to see those guys. I’m super excited. I love all of them to death, so it’s going to be cool.”
In a perfect world, Philly’s defense and Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Jalen Carter will allow Camarda to shine on Sunday. With him being a punter, this is a rare instance where he and his former teammates can all shine, but only time will tell whether the reigning NFC Champion Eagles can remain unbeaten against a surprisingly competitive team down in Tampa Bay.
