Trotter's full circle takes him someplace beautiful

"I'm just enjoying the moment," said Trotter. "You don't get opportunities like this every day."

Trotter's appearance here is a testament to good things coming from bad situations. When he left, he and Reid barely spoke, but it was Reid who telephoned Trotter when the linebacker blew out his knee midway through the 2002 season. Trotter never expected the call, but it went a long way toward mending fences that had to be repaired before he would return to the Eagles.

"I was floored," Trotter said. "It was a comfort knowing somebody cared about you, especially the way things went down when I left. It made me look at him in a whole new light, and it mended up some wounds.

"I can't say I wish I never left. I believe everything happens for a reason. Even though it was a bad experience in Washington, I learned a lot. I grew from the whole situation. Plus, who's to say if I didn't go to Washington I would've grown and come out better than when I went in?"

There's a moral in there, and it's one every player who's happy where he is but thinks he could earn more -- maybe millions more -- somewhere else should heed.

"If I learned anything out of the whole situation," said Trotter, "it's be patient; trust God and eventually everything will work out fine. I always wanted to be here. I never really felt like Washington was home. I always wanted to be in Philly."