Eagles Legends Spotlight: Brian Westbrook

This series will look at all of the Eagles legends from the past. This could be players or coaches from past Eagles teams. The first Eagles Legends Spotlight will be on Brian Westbrook. He was a great Eagles running back who played in Philadelphia from 2002 to 2010. This article will run down all of his accolades, some of his best seasons and what Westbrook is doing today. This is Eagles Legends Spotlight: Brian Westbrook.

Westbrook in College

Brian Westbrook started his football career at Villanova, which is an FCS school in the Philadelphia area. He had many accolades at Villanova such as being a three-time First Team All-American and winning the Walter Payton award in 2001.  During his senior year, which was the year he won the Walter Payton award, Westbrook racked up 2,823 all-purpose yards and 29 touchdowns. Recently, Westbrook was put on the ballot for the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame. This was just a preview of what he would become in the NFL as a Philadelphia Eagle.

Westbrooks Career in Philadelphia

Westbrook was selected in the third round of the 2002 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He started off like a lot of players during their rookie season as he didn’t get much playing time. He started three games and rushed for 191 yards and no touchdowns. This season was just to get Westbrook used to being an NFL running back. In 2003, he started finding his groove as an on-and-off starting running back. He rushed for 613 yards and seven touchdowns. The Eagles legend was also a beast as a receiving running back. During his 2003 season, he amassed 332 receiving yards and four touchdowns. In 2004, he made it to his first Pro Bowl and was making a solid statement of becoming one of the league’s elite running backs.

Photo courtesy of Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

In 2006, Westbrook took his career to the next level. He had his first 1,000 rushing season. He amassed 1,217 yards while racking up seven rushing touchdowns. The even more spectacular stat of that season is that he had over 600 receiving yards and four touchdowns during that year. In 2007, he had another brilliant season. He had even more rushing yards than his 2006 season as he rushed for 1,333 yards and seven touchdowns. He also gained more yards as a receiver since he had 771 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Westbrook made his second Pro Bowl that year and was named First Team All Pro. He slowed down a little the next season as he didn’t have a 1,000-yard rushing year. He did come close with over 900 rushing yards and 402 receiving yards.

Westbrook After the NFL

In 2012, Westbrook officially retired as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. He is deemed as one of the all-time great running backs in Eagles history. In 2015, he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame during a Monday night football game. Today, Westbrook has become a very vocal person on how he feels the about the Eagles in recent years. This could be praise or what he thinks the Eagles are doing wrong. There has also been news about him being the Eagles running back coach in the future, but that has yet to pan out. Westbrook will for forever be known as one of the all-time greats in Philadelphia.

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