Photos: Courtesy Philadelphia Eagles
Reality dunked on Jihaad Campbell during his flight from Green Bay, Wisconsin, the site of the 2025 NFL Draft, to his new home with the Philadelphia Eagles after a sleepless, adrenaline-filled night when a dream, a real dream, came true.
Campbell, born and raised in South Jersey – Erial, to be exact – a football player at Timber Creek Regional High School for three seasons, was selected with the 31st overall pick in the NFL Draft and, man, what a jolt that was for the young man.
“It just hit me, like, ‘I’m going to be home, and my parents and my family and friends can see me play with my team. I’m an Eagles fan. Huge fan. Loved ’em from the time I was a kid. Now I’m one of them!’ It was a crazy feeling. And it’s still surreal,” says Campbell, who arrived at the team’s NovaCare Complex, conducted the media tour with local reporters, was fitted for his helmet and full game uniform, met a bunch of coaches, shook some hands and did a meet-and-greet with a couple of dozen Eagles Season Ticket Members.
Exhausting. Exhilarating. And yes, hard to fully embrace.
“I know things are going to move fast and it’s going to be incredibly competitive. I’m all for that,” Campbell says. “This is what I’ve been working for my whole life. Football, man, I’ve loved it since I was little. This is my time.”
Ah, the younger years in South Jersey. Fueled by the love of the game by his Pop Pop, Mark Campbell, Jihaad would take time to look through the old-time football cards and love the uniforms and boast to Pop Pop: “I could play with those guys!”
“ We have a lot of confidence that this guy is going to be here and play at a really high level for a long time.”
Photo: Associated Press
Out of the mouths of little ones come big dreams. And Jihaad Campbell dreamed big.
“Always talked about the game, loved it and worked hard every step of the way,” says Stephanie, Jihaad’s mother. “And now we’re here and it just takes time to settle in with all of us. This feels like it happened so fast.”
“It’s been very exciting, just going on his new journey, him being drafted by his favorite team since he was 4 years old. He’s been watching Eagles games with family – his grandfather, his father and uncle, and now he gets to play for this special team. It’s been great.”
The journey, well, it is fair to say that early on there was the thought that Campbell had a chance, just as so many in South Jersey have through the decades. Long a hotbed of talent for the NFL, the competition in the region on the football field is intense, high level and the very best colleges in the country pay attention. Campbell had his first scholarship offer by the time he was in high school and after just a couple of years into his time at Timber Creek, he was dominating.
A young teenager in a man’s body crushing opponents.
“Oh man, he was explosive, athletic, physical, aggressive, multi-talented. He had it all. We used to call him ‘Megatron’ [after former Detroit Lions Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson],” says Rob Hinson, Campbell’s head coach in 9th and 10th grade at Timber Creek. “He started out playing receiver for me and he was really good. I had him playing defensive end and guys couldn’t block him. He played some tight end. He was all over the field.
We knew right away, right away. This kid had a chance to play in the pros.”
Hinson, now at Camden High School, has some perspective, having sent 50 or so players to Division I football with about 10 of those players reaching the NFL.
“With that kind of player, you want to keep them level-headed. You don’t want to talk to them about playing in the NFL,” Hinson says. “That can change how hard they work, how they approach things. Jihaad was special. He had the body type of an edge rusher, a defensive end. Great length and very physical. Credit to his parents for how hard he’s worked and stayed grounded.”
Now it’s time to fly like an Eagle for Campbell, who joins a team that, of course, won the Super Bowl in February and has loaded up with young talent. Campbell left Timber Creek after 11th grade to attend IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. There he became a full, 5-star (out of 5 stars) recruit. Campbell played at Alabama and earned All-American honors as an edge rusher/linebacker. He wore jersey No. 11 and flew all over the field for the Crimson Tide for three seasons.
Then, time to make a decision. Stay for a fourth season or enter the NFL Draft.
“I just felt I was ready,” Campbell says. “I learned a lot at Alabama, and I enjoyed it there. I love the campus and the people. The football was awesome. It was just my opportunity to move to the next level, the highest level.”
Campbell was expected to hear his name called on the first night of the NFL Draft, so he attended the festivities in Green Bay, ready to celebrate. It took hours longer than anticipated. Once considered a potential top 10 or top 15 pick, Campbell waited. And waited. Teams passed on him, perhaps because he played through the 2024 season with a labrum injury that required surgery in the spring. Or because there were rumblings about the health of his knees.
The Eagles attempted to move up from No. 32 to No. 22 in the first round to take Campbell, but couldn’t finalize the trade. Well past 11 pm on draft night, Philadelphia bumped up one spot to No. 31 in a trade with Kansas City, just to make sure they drafted their guy.
Jihaad Campbell, unbelievably, was officially a Philadelphia Eagle.
“This was a real easy pick. Really explosive player. He can play inside, he can be an edge rusher, just really feel fortunate to bring him back home,” Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman says. “This was a Top-10 player on our board, we do not have any long-term concerns with his health. We look at the draft as a long-term opportunity for our team. We have a lot of confidence that this guy is going to be here and play at a really high level for a long time, and so when you’re in a draft and you’re picking at the end of the first round, you have an opportunity to get a Top-10 player on your board, a guy who can affect the quarterback, a guy who can affect the passing game, for us it was a no-brainer.”
Campbell is home and ready to create his next legacy with his family and friends close. He’s also planning to carve out his own path.
“I’m starting my professional career,” he says. “I’m glad to be home. It’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be a lot of work. I’m embracing it all, every step, every day.”
Kyle McCord: Another South Jersey Recruit
There is a purpose to every part of Kyle McCord’s day, and today his purpose is to take his professional goal from dream to reality. Now a rookie quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles, the kid from Mt. Laurel who always talked about playing with the hometown team and who sat in the stands at Lincoln Financial Field thinking that someday… maybe…that could be me, is living the dream.
Except it’s now a reality, and it’s an intense, what-are-you-doing-for-me-next kind of job. A sixth-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft, McCord picked up the phone late on the Saturday of the draft, saw the 215 area code, and knew what that meant.
“Howie Roseman on the other end,” McCord says. “Surreal. I mean, just an unbelievable feeling to have him calling me telling me the Philadelphia Eagles were drafting me.”
That feeling quickly morphed into a sense of purpose for McCord, who played at Ohio State and then at Syracuse, compiled a 22-4 record as a starter and in 2024 finished 10th in Heisman Trophy voting with Syracuse. He enters a quarterback room that is not going to be easy to crack, to say the least. The Eagles have Super Bowl LIX Most Valuable Player Jalen Hurts leading the way and he is the face of the franchise. The No. 2 quarterback is Tanner McKee, a third-year player with a high upside. Third-year man Dorian Thompson-Robinson, acquired in a trade with Cleveland in the offseason, is the other quarterback against whom McCord will be competing.
“Really, I feel it’s like I’m competing against myself,” McCord says. “That’s kind of how I’ve always seen it. I’m here to be the best quarterback I can be, to learn as much as I can from the players and coaches around me. That’s the mindset I have.”
The Eagles are high on McCord after his performance at Syracuse. “Processes quickly, gets the ball out and is accurate,” head coach Nick Sirianni says. “He’s fast with his mind, and we are really excited to work with him.”
Surreal, and then some.
“So much work to do,” McCord says. “Every day I’m tested here. Every day I have to perform. I love it. I love the challenge. I’m home and I’m happy. This is where I want to be to become the best quarterback I can be. Everything else works around that.”
– Dave Spadaro
Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro has covered every Eagles game since 1987 and is seen and heard throughout the year on television, radio and Eagles coverage everywhere. You can hear his Eagles Live Podcast on iTunes.
