Jeremiah Trotter, a former linebacker and SFA lumberjack,
was inducted into the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame in November 2016.
Trotter was also inducted into the Stephen F. Austin Hall of Fame in 2014. Trotter
was a linebacker for SFA football from 1995 to 1997. He played for the Philadelphia
Eagles for eight years out of his 11 total seasons with the NFL.
Trotter grew up in Hooks, Texas which is near the Texarkana
area. He began his college football career with the Stephen F. Austin State
University Lumberjacks in 1995. At this time, Trotter was a sophomore linebacker
that earned 133 tackles during his first season. SFA football was 11-2 during
1995 and the team also went on to the I-AA division semi-finals. Trotter ended his
SFA career with 300 tackles along with 31 starts out of 32 games played.
In the 1998 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles chose Trotter
in the third round as the 72nd overall pick. Trotter had a rough
start with the Eagles. The young linebacker was deactivated from part of his first
season due to the loss of his father. For his second season in 1999, Trotter
was back and started making his name known in Philadelphia.
According to ESPN.com, Trotter had a career total of 720
tackles and 12.5 sacks with 147 games played. Trotter was with the Eagles for eight
seasons, the Washington Redskins for two seasons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
for a single season. Trotter was invited to the Pro Bowl four times and all of
his postseason appearances were with the Eagles. With Trotter’s help on defense,
the Philadelphia Eagles even went to Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005 against the New
England Patriots.
Trotter was called the “Axe Man,” during his time in the
NFL. He is most well-known for his time with the Eagles, even though his eight
seasons were divided into three parts. On November 28, 2016, Trotter was
inducted into the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame.
In a 2015 interview with Jim Gehman, Trotter said about his time with the Eagles, "I thank God every day that I spent a majority of my career in Philadelphia."
By Roxanne Leila Morelos
