Thomas Tapeh

Eagles starting fullback Thomas Tapeh often does the grunt work that goes unnoticed by many, but not by his teammates. After missing last season with a dislocated hip that he suffered late in the 2004 season, Tapeh has come back strong this year. He has proved to be an adept lead blocker for Brian Westbrook, who is just 5 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard rushing season. Last week Tapeh had the biggest 4-yard catch of his career, on a third-and-1 play from the Eagles' 32-yard line.

The Eagles waived fullback Zach Tuiasosopo today. Tuiasosopo spent last season on the Eagles' practice squad. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound Washington product signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a rookie free agent in 2005. He split time between the Steelers and the Oakland Raiders' practice squad during the 2005 season. The Eagles are already deep with fullback prospects entering training camp, which opens with rookies and selected veterans reporting to training camp on July 27. The Eagles return starting fullback Thomas Tapeh.

Francis "Bucko" Kilroy, 86, a Philadelphia native who became a six-time all-pro guard for the Eagles during a 13-season playing career in the 1940s and 50s, died yesterday. Mr. Kilroy, a graduate of North Catholic High, died in Stoughton, Mass., the New England Patriots said. During a 64-season NFL career, including 36 years with the Patriots, Mr. Kilroy also worked in player personnel and scouting for the Eagles, Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. He was one of the founders of the NFL combine, and had been a scouting consultant for the Patriots the last 13 years.

You don't need to be a doctor to know that a dislocated hip isn't good news for a football player. You don't have to be a football player to know that rehabilitation from a dislocated hip can take a long time. It took running back Thomas Tapeh more than a year to recover from an injury he suffered in the penultimate game of the Eagles' 2004 season. During his journey, Tapeh rehabilitated more than his body. He became connected with the Living Faith Christian Center in Pennsauken, befriending the Rev. Lamont McLean as well as one of the Eagles' chaplains, Theodore Winsley.

Thomas Tapeh never envisioned a life in which he could afford an expensive car, a roomy home, and a booming state-of-the-art stereo. But even as an Eagles running back making more money this year than he had seen over his lifetime, Tapeh does not indulge in such luxuries. A native of Liberia, he encountered plenty of struggles - financial and emotional - on his long journey to the NFL. Tapeh grew up playing soccer in a country on the brink of war before coming to the United States at age 9 to join his determined mother, who had left for St. Paul, Minn.

The Eagles added a guy with a nice collection of jewelry yesterday. Dan Klecko has three Super Bowl rings, and coach Andy Reid hopes he gets a fourth one next season because the former Temple star is returning to Philadelphia as a member of the Eagles. Klecko, a 27-year-old free agent, agreed to a one-year deal with the team and will go to training camp trying to win the job as the starting fullback. The deal will become official Monday, after Klecko takes a physical. "This was the opportunity Dan was looking for," Paul Sheehy, Klecko's agent, said from his Colorado office.

Surprise, surprise, surprise. There were three of them yesterday when the Eagles announced the 53-man roster that will open the 2004 season. Halfback Dorsey Levens will not be the No. 2 running back. Sean Morey, last year's special-teams MVP, is now unemployed. And linebacker Jason Short will be No. 52 in your program when the Eagles begin the season Sunday against the New York Giants. Levens' release was the most shocking news, and it signified that second-year running back Reno Mahe will be the backup to starter Brian Westbrook.

This time, there was no standoff and no stare-down. This time, the player spoke up and the Eagles showed him the door. With the team's mandatory minicamp scheduled to begin Friday, coach Andy Reid decided the best thing for his football team was to get rid of John Welbourn, the veteran left guard who asked for a trade after the team refused to renegotiate the eight-year, $13 million contract he signed in 2001. Though it may appear as if Welbourn got his way yesterday when the Eagles sent him to the Kansas City Chiefs, Reid insisted that wasn't the case.

Still in his grass-stained and sweat-soaked uniform nearly 30 minutes after the Eagles' galling 19-16 loss to Chicago yesterday, Brian Westbrook sat in his locker with Correll Buckhalter perched to his left and Thomas Tapeh in a chair to his right. The running backs were as befuddled as everybody else. "We were just basically talking about playing better and wondering how we lost that game," Buckhalter said a little later. The Eagles lost their fourth game of the season because, as was the case the previous week against the New York Jets, they could not convert a red-zone appearance into seven points.

Dorsey Levens, who was released and re-signed by the Eagles in less than two weeks, could serve the role of primary backup for running back Brian Westbrook. But being cut by the Eagles was an entirely new role for him. "I've never been low man on the totem pole before," said Levens, 34, the second-oldest NFL running back, beginning his 11th season. "I guess as I get a little older, anything's possible. " It was no surprise that the Eagles brought back Levens on Tuesday, especially with the team's need to find a substitute to help keep Westbrook healthy.

The Eagles added a guy with a nice collection of jewelry yesterday. Dan Klecko has three Super Bowl rings, and coach Andy Reid hopes he gets a fourth one next season because the former Temple star is returning to Philadelphia as a member of the Eagles. Klecko, a 27-year-old free agent, agreed to a one-year deal with the team and will go to training camp trying to win the job as the starting fullback. The deal will become official Monday, after Klecko takes a physical. "This was the opportunity Dan was looking for," Paul Sheehy, Klecko's agent, said from his Colorado office.

The play is officially called "Fox 2 halfback right screen. " But Eagles receiver Greg Lewis knows its real name: "Just get the ball to Westbrook and watch him run. " Giving the ball to Brian Westbrook is the only way the Eagles win games, and it's how they came from behind for an improbable 33-25 win over the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field yesterday. Westbrook went 57 yards on a season-saving touchdown pass in which he wasn't touched by a soul wearing burgundy and gold.

Still in his grass-stained and sweat-soaked uniform nearly 30 minutes after the Eagles' galling 19-16 loss to Chicago yesterday, Brian Westbrook sat in his locker with Correll Buckhalter perched to his left and Thomas Tapeh in a chair to his right. The running backs were as befuddled as everybody else. "We were just basically talking about playing better and wondering how we lost that game," Buckhalter said a little later. The Eagles lost their fourth game of the season because, as was the case the previous week against the New York Jets, they could not convert a red-zone appearance into seven points.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It goes without saying that this season didn't start out the way the Eagles or Reggie Brown had hoped. The team lost three of its first four games, and Brown wasn't much of a factor in those four games, catching eight passes for 81 yards. A guy who caught eight TD passes and averaged 17.7 yards per catch just a season ago, suddenly found himself being compared to some of the worst pass-catching dreck to ever put on an Eagles uniform. But in a game the Eagles absolutely, positively had to have yesterday, and on a critical third down they absolutely, positively had to convert, the oft-maligned third-year wideout came up big. Brown turned in his best performance of the season in the Eagles' 16-9 win over the Jets.

Crunch Time is a compilation of hits and a few misses from Eagles training camp: BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The perception among those watching is that the Eagles are running the ball more than usual in the early days of camp. In fact, the debate along the sideline among sweat-drenched reporters begging for a Lehigh breeze yesterday was over whether the Birds were running it more to help the offense establish the run or to help the defense gain confidence in stopping it. (The defense certainly seems to have had the upper hand so far, regardless of whether it's first-team offense against second-team defense, or what.

Francis "Bucko" Kilroy, 86, a Philadelphia native who became a six-time all-pro guard for the Eagles during a 13-season playing career in the 1940s and 50s, died yesterday. Mr. Kilroy, a graduate of North Catholic High, died in Stoughton, Mass., the New England Patriots said. During a 64-season NFL career, including 36 years with the Patriots, Mr. Kilroy also worked in player personnel and scouting for the Eagles, Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. He was one of the founders of the NFL combine, and had been a scouting consultant for the Patriots the last 13 years.

The Eagles waived fullback Zach Tuiasosopo today. Tuiasosopo spent last season on the Eagles' practice squad. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound Washington product signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a rookie free agent in 2005. He split time between the Steelers and the Oakland Raiders' practice squad during the 2005 season. The Eagles are already deep with fullback prospects entering training camp, which opens with rookies and selected veterans reporting to training camp on July 27. The Eagles return starting fullback Thomas Tapeh.

The NFL draft is just three days away and, predictably, there's a segment of Eagles fans hoping, wishing and begging that their favorite team will use one of its picks to take that "big running back. " Forget the fact that the Eagles ranked a respectable 11th in the league in rushing yards despite having the sixth-fewest rushing attempts in the league last season. (Note to Andy Reid, just in case he forgets to run the football next season: The five teams that had fewer rushing attempts than the Eagles - Oakland, Cleveland, Miami, Detroit and Tampa Bay - were a combined 19-61)

Eagles starting fullback Thomas Tapeh often does the grunt work that goes unnoticed by many, but not by his teammates. After missing last season with a dislocated hip that he suffered late in the 2004 season, Tapeh has come back strong this year. He has proved to be an adept lead blocker for Brian Westbrook, who is just 5 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard rushing season. Last week Tapeh had the biggest 4-yard catch of his career, on a third-and-1 play from the Eagles' 32-yard line.

You don't need to be a doctor to know that a dislocated hip isn't good news for a football player. You don't have to be a football player to know that rehabilitation from a dislocated hip can take a long time. It took running back Thomas Tapeh more than a year to recover from an injury he suffered in the penultimate game of the Eagles' 2004 season. During his journey, Tapeh rehabilitated more than his body. He became connected with the Living Faith Christian Center in Pennsauken, befriending the Rev. Lamont McLean as well as one of the Eagles' chaplains, Theodore Winsley.