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Ashley Fox: Trotter kept faith that he'd return to Eagles
Jeremiah Trotter told his friends this was going to happen. He was going to play in the NFL again - and, specifically, he was going to do it in an Eagles uniform.
Yeah, right, his friends thought. Not after a year away from the game. Not at the age of 32. And certainly not with those deteriorating knees.
"It's not that we don't love him - we all have a great relationship - but that does not happen very often," Trotter's former teammate, Troy Vincent, said last week. "For him to honor what he believed in, for him to trust his faith, that's a testimony for him. That's a true testimony."
What Trotter believed in was his pastor, the Rev. Anthony Gardner, and the dreams he had at night.
Shortly after Tampa Bay released Trotter following the 2007 season, Gardner said, he was in prayer, trying to find some direction for Trotter. He was trying to determine what was next in Trotter's life, and he heard a voice that said, "It's not over for him. He's still going to play football."
"I told him, 'I don't think it's over for you. I don't want you to hang up your cleats yet,' " said Gardner, the 42-year-old pastor at Life Giving Word Family Worship Center in Willingboro, Burlington County.
Gardner had clout with Trotter, who started attending Gardner's church after his rookie year with the Eagles in 1998 and stayed with him through stints in Washington and Tampa Bay. The night before Trotter's Redskins were to play at Dallas in 2002, Gardner called Trotter and told him that he'd had a dream that Trotter hurt his knee. Trotter suffered a season-ending knee injury the next day against the Cowboys.
After Washington released Trotter following the 2003 season, Gardner told Trotter that God had told him Trotter would go to the Pro Bowl the next year. Trotter was upset - "I ain't even got a job," he told Gardner - but a month later, he signed with the Eagles and made the Pro Bowl after earning a starting spot midway through the season.
"He has confidence in me," Gardner said. "When the Lord spoke to me [about Trotter making a comeback], and I released that to him, that's what motivated him to keep pushing him to play football."
Not that it was easy for Trotter. He had his doubts, especially as the 2008 season transitioned into the 2009 preseason, and he still didn't have a job.
Trotter geared his day to mimic an NFL practice day. He'd do what he needed to do in the mornings, then train in the afternoons when teams typically practice. He lifted weights and ran in his New Jersey neighborhood, and worked out on a nearby football field.
Some days he felt like giving up, and he'd call Gardner and say, "Rev, are you sure it's still meant for me to play?"
Gardner kept telling him "Yes" - and Trotter kept working out.
Trotter often dreamed that coaches were calling him onto the field, but he couldn't find his helmet, or his cleats, or his gloves. Gardner told him: "That's God telling you to be ready. You're not ready to play."
"What do you think would happen if Andy had called me and I was 20 pounds overweight and I hadn't been working out?" Trotter said. "They would've moved on. That door would've slammed in my face. But when the opportunity presented itself, I was in great shape - not in football shape but in great shape - and I had a great workout."
And so, today No. 54 will be back on the field, playing middle linebacker, wearing the green jersey that he so loves.
"Most everybody told me I was crazy," Trotter said. "Sometimes I woke up and thought I was crazy. . . . It's still amazing, because even though you see it in your dreams, it never ceases to amaze you because it allowed me to come back."
Contact columnist Ashley Fox at 215-854-5064 or afox@phillynews.com.
