Trotter's full circle takes him someplace beautiful

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville bashers, beware: Stay away from Philadelphia linebacker Jeremiah Trotter. He's not only happy to be here; he's grateful.

"I'm just enjoying the whole moment," he said Sunday night, shortly after the Eagles pulled into town. "I wake up and wonder how in the world I got here. I'm just thankful and grateful I'm part of this."

No Eagle has enjoyed the roll to the Super Bowl more than Jeremiah Trotter. (Getty Images)

He should be. A year ago, Trotter was stuck on a Washington Redskins team going nowhere and that would soon discard the veteran. It wasn't the life he wanted, but it was the life he chose -- and Trotter would suffer for it before finding himself.

Or maybe it was the Eagles who found him; I don't know. All I know is that while some Eagles watchers this week zero in on Terrell Owens' availability for Super Bowl XXXIX or Freddie Mitchell's comments about the New England secondary, they're missing the best story in the Philadelphia camp.

And that would be Trotter, the Eagles' prodigal son.

This is someone, remember, who was the team's defensive leader, yet whom coach Andy Reid released after a bitter contract dispute in 2002. The specifics aren't important; what is significant is that Reid had the guts to tell Trotter, a two-time Pro Bowl choice and leading tackler on the club, that the team's interests superceded Trotter's demands before sending him packing.

Eventually, Trotter gained a fat contract from Washington, but it came at a price: He suffered through two dreadful seasons and watched the Eagles drill his new team four straight times before he did what once seemed improbable.

He returned, and he returned for the minimum wage of $660,000.

"Jeremiah wanted to be here very badly," said team president Joe Banner. "He wanted to re-establish himself and he wanted to be part of a winner. He really initiated the interest in his coming back here."

There was only one problem: Mark Simoneau held his position, and the club wasn't about to remove him from the starting lineup. So to go back to Philadelphia, to go back to the city and the fans he adored, Trotter had to sit behind Simoneau for half the season and try to make an impression where he could -- in this case, on the Eagles' special teams, where Trotter recovered an on-side kick versus Carolina.

"I went through training camp, preseason and the first couple of games, and I questioned God," said Trotter. "I was like: Are you sure this is the place you wanted me to come? I just continued to pray and trust Him. And everything worked out."

Trotter today is the starting middle linebacker on one of the game's best defenses. It's one that led the NFC in fewest points allowed and that improved remarkably against the run after Trotter joined the starting lineup in Game 9 -- and, no, that is no coincidence. Trotter led the Eagles in tackles over the second half of the season and, on the basis of his first six starts, was named to the Pro Bowl.

Now he's here, and, yes, on the whole he prefers Jacksonville.