Bleeding Green Nation
It’s where it started, the father and son on the couch breaking down film together, with the father providing nuances only a pro, trained eye could see. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. loved those times. He started when he was five, sitting next to his dad, beloved Eagles’ Hall of Fame linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Sr., with little tyke games. That advanced to middle school, where the younger Trotter gained a greater understanding of the game, all the way up to high school at national powerhouse St. Joseph’s Prep and then on to Clemson.
As he got older, Trotter Jr. could not learn enough, fast enough. He missed some of that time with his dad when he was at Clemson, but this Eagles’ season brought the two together again, when Trotter Jr. was drafted in the fifth round of what may turn into an historic 2024 NFL Draft for the Eagles.
It has been an historic season in the Trotter household. In his rookie year, Trotter Jr. is playing in the Super Bowl, something his dad, “The Axe Man,” did not do until his seventh season with the 2004 Eagles.
It’s been a special year in many ways for the Trotters. With the tragic loss of family matriarch Tammi Trotter on February 28, 2023, due to cancer, the family has been strongly coping with a trying time.
Trotter Jr.’s voracious appetite for film study and preparation received a nice boost this season sitting and watching film with his dad. He was getting wisdom everywhere, absorbing everything from Eagles’ defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and linebacker coaches Bobby King and Ronell Williams, who love Trotter Jr.’s work ethic and endless diligence.
“He worked every day and his goal is to make himself better, and grinding,” Trotter Sr. said about his son. “We’ve been watching film since he was five. We still watch film together, but I don’t do it with him as much as I used to, because he gets a lot from the Eagles. After games, we’ll talk about the good stuff, and the bad stuff; what worked, what didn’t. He’ll come home and we’ll sometimes go over practice film. Most of the film he gets is in practice. I’m proud of him. He’s done very well. He has proven he can play in the NFL, which was never a question.”
Even though Trotter Sr. is an all-time great Eagles’ linebacker, his first nine games he watched in street clothes his rookie season in 1998 after being selected in the third round by the Eagles’ counterpart this Sunday in the Super Bowl, former Eagles’ and current Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid.
The father reminds the son frequently that he is way ahead of his timetable already.
Then, Trotter Sr. told a great story about his rookie season. If he was not playing, he would find a way to fill the time on Sunday game days by working out in the Veterans Stadium’s antiquated weight room. He wanted to get the extra work...
