Danny William Watkins (born November 6, 1984) is a Canadian offensive guard for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Eagles in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. He was drafted fourth overall by the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League in the 2010 CFL Draft, but played out his last year at Baylor University, the 2010 season.

Early years[link]

Watkins' father, Todd, is a road grader. In high school, Watkins played rugby and hockey as a defenseman, but became the "designated goon" because of his size.^[1][2] He became a junior firefighter when he was 16 after visiting the West Kelowna Fire and Rescue firestation.^[2][3]

College career[link]

Butte College[link]

Watkins enrolled at Butte College to study fire sciences in order to become a firefighter after a year as a junior firefighter. The school's football coach recruited him to play for their football team, at the age of 22. He played football at Butte from 2007−2008, helping them to a perfect 11−0 record in 2008. Butte coaches sent game tape of his to Division I-A schools, and California, Hawaii, and Baylor were the schools interested.^[1]

Baylor University[link]

Watkins transferred to Baylor University,^[4] after head coach Art Briles was impressed with his game tape at Butte.^[1] Watkins started at left offensive tackle as a junior in 2009 for the Bears. He replaced Jason Smith, who was drafted second overall by the St. Louis Rams in the 2009 NFL Draft.^[2]

Professional career[link]

CFL Draft[link]

Watkins was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2010 CFL Draft by the BC Lions.^[5]

NFL Draft[link]

Prior to the 2011 NFL Draft, Watkins was projected to be drafted in the first or second round.^[6] He hired former NFL offensive lineman Joe Panos as his agent.^[7]

Watkins invited five of his friends from the West Kelowna fire department to join him at the draft. On the morning of the draft, Watkins and his firefighter friends visited a New York City firehouse that lost several members during the September 11 attacks.^[8]

Philadelphia Eagles[link]

Watkins was selected with the 23rd overall pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2011 NFL Draft. He became the oldest first-round selection since 1980 at the age of 26. He was the first Canadian to be drafted in the first rounds of both the CFL and NFL drafts since Mike Schad in 1986.^[2] He was projected to start as a rookie at right offensive guard^[1] and signed a four-year contract worth $7.9 million on August 1.^[9] However, the Eagles claimed Kyle DeVan off waivers from the Indianapolis Colts before the start of the season and Watkins was benched. Watkins was inactive for the first two weeks of the season and was active for a week three game against the New York Giants, but did not play. He was inactive again in week four, but was promoted to the starting right guard on October 5, due to the ineffectiveness of DeVan through the first four games of the season.^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Philadelphia Eagles bio
• Baylor Bears football bio

Further reading[link]

• "Carlton: Burning desire drives Baylor's Danny Watkins". dallasnews.com. August 9, 2010. http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/baylor-bears/20100809-Carlton-Burning-desire-drives-Baylor-9253.ece. Retrieved 2011-04-30. 

Look up Danny in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Danny may refer to:

Music[link]

• Danny Saucedo aka Danny, a Swedish singer
• Ilkka Lipsanen aka Danny, a Finnish singer
• Danny!, American hip-hop performer
• "Danny" (song), a song by Tiffany in the album Tiffany
• "Danny Boy", a Celtic folk song
• "Danny" (American singer), lead singer of Hollywood Undead

Film[link]

• Danny (film), a 2001 Indian Malayalam film

Television[link]

• Danny (TV series), a short-lived CBS sitcom starring Daniel Stern

People[link]

• A diminutive of Daniel (name)
• Danny (footballer), born Daniel Miguel Alves Gomes, Portuguese footballer
• Danny Denzongpa, Sikkimese-born Indian actor, known as just 'Danny'

Fictional characters[link]

• Danny Tanner, a character in the TV sitcom Full House
• Danny (Pokémon), a character in the Pokémon universe
• Danny, the leader of The Bash Street Kids from the UK comic, The Beano
• Danny, the main cat from the movie Cats Don't Dance
• Danny, a character in Return to Neverland
• Danny Baker (character), a character from the comedy TV show 30 Rock
• Danny Messer, a character from the TV crime drama CSI: NY
• Danny Phantom (character), alter-ego of Daniel "Danny" Fenton and the title character from the Nickelodeon cartoon series Danny Phantom
• Danny Van Zandt, in Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Danny Zukko, in the musical Grease
• Danny Fatfuck, a character in the Adult Swim television pilot Paid Programming
• Danny, from the Just! series of short story collections by Australian author Andy Griffiths

Other uses[link]

• Danny House, an Elizabethan mansion in West Sussex, England
• Hurricane Danny (disambiguation), any of several Atlantic hurricanes
• Operation Danny, 1948 Israeli attack on Arab areas in Palestine

See also[link]

• Daniel (disambiguation)
• Dan (disambiguation)
• All pages beginning with "Danny"
• All pages beginning with "Danni"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Evan Bradley Mathis (born November 1, 1981) is an American football guard for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alabama.

Mathis has also played for the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals.

Early years[link]

Mathis graduated from Homewood High School in Homewood, Alabama in 2000 where he played under head coach Bob Newton. Mathis was also a wrestler and won the 2000 Alabama 6A heavyweight championship.

College career[link]

Although he bulked up from 240 pounds (110 kg) to 276 pounds (125 kg) after signing with Alabama in February 2000,^[1] Mathis was redshirted as a true freshman. In April 2001, he was named the Paul Crane Most Improved Offensive Lineman for Alabama along with tight end Theo Sanders.^[2] He competed with Alonzo Ephraim for the starting center job during spring practice in 2001,^[3] but lost out. Instead, he beat out Dante Ellington for the starting right tackle job,^[4] making his first start against South Carolina.^[5]

Mathis started four seasons on the offensive line for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. His first three years he played tackle, before shifting to left guard as a senior. He starting 47 consecutive games beginning in the 4th game of his redshirt freshman year. He helped anchor an offensive line that paved the way for the Tide to lead the Southeastern Conference in rushing yards per game in 2004.

Professional career[link]

Cincinnati Bengals[link]

Mathis played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2008–2010. He did not allow a sack during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.^[6]

Philadelphia Eagles[link]

The Philadelphia Eagles signed Mathis to a one-year contract on July 31, 2011.^[7] Immediately after the preseason, Mathis won the starting job at left guard for the 2011 season.^[8] ProFootballFocus.com rated Mathis as the best left guard in the NFL for the 2011 season.^[9] He was re-signed to a five-year, $25 million contract on March 17, 2012.

Personal[link]

His uncle is Bob Baumhower, who played defensive tackle for Alabama and the Miami Dolphins.^[10]

In 2010, Mathis founded Zone Athletic Performance in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he and many other professional athletes train in the off-season.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Evan Mathis on Twitter
• Philadelphia Eagles bio
• Cincinnati Bengals bio

Jason D. Kelce (pronounced /ˈkɛlˌsiː/; born November 5, 1987) is an American football center for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Eagles in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Cincinnati.

Professional career[link]

2011 NFL Draft[link]

Despite lacking "true NFL size", Kelce was projected a fourth to fifth round pick.^[1] He ran the fastest 40-yard dash time of all offensive lineman at the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine, with a 4.89-second time. He had an appendectomy on March 11 after he was diagnosed with appendicitis.^[2]

Philadelphia Eagles[link]

Kelce was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round (191st overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.^[4] Kelce was unable to practice or sign a contract until the NFL lockout was lifted on July 25, 2011. He was signed to a four-year contract on July 27.^[5] Kelce battled incumbent starter Jamaal Jackson for the center job early in training camp in August.^[6] New offensive line coach Howard Mudd envisioned Kelce as in the mold of Indianapolis Colts five-time Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday, whom Mudd coached in Indianapolis for eleven seasons.^[7] First round pick and fellow rookie Danny Watkins compared Kelce to a hedgehog due to his spiky hair and facial hair, in addition to his quickness and stoutness.^[8] Kelce received all of the first-team reps in the week before the team's third preseason game.^[9] He started in the third preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, and allowed a sack and was penalized for holding.^[10] Despite his performance, Kelce was named the starter for the season on August 29.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]