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Eagle rising

Injured player drafted to NFL after receiving note

Man in black sweatshirt holding football
Sidney Jones says he “had a feeling” he would join the Philadelphia Eagles after receiving a letter from one of the team’s scouting directors. Image: Philadelphia Eagles

The U.S. Mail helped Sidney Jones reach the NFL last week.

Jones, a promising University of Washington cornerback, tore his left Achilles’ tendon in March.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ college scouting director, Anthony Patch, witnessed the injury.

He felt bad for the young player and told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he “thought it’d be nice to hand-write him a letter.”

“Adversity hits. I know you’re going to bounce back,” Patch, a brain cancer survivor, wrote. “Give me a call. I’d love to talk if you want any kind of conversation to get you through this.”

Four days after dropping the letter in the mail, Jones called Patch to thank him.

The two began texting, staying in contact during Jones’s tendon repair surgery and the recent NFL draft, held in Philadelphia.

Despite his injury, Jones was the Eagles’ second-round pick and 43rd overall in the NFL draft.

“I had a feeling that it was going to be Philly,” Jones said of the selection. “I got a few texts here and there [from interested teams], but nothing like a handwritten letter.”

Patch told the Eagles’ news service that writing the letter was “the right thing to do. It’s awesome that we got him. I told him that day it was all going to work out.”

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