Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

What If…Trent Dilfer

Posted June 21st, 2026 | 2 Comments »

There weren’t any compelling sporting events going on Saturday night so I decided to do some cleaning in my office. I went through my old football notebooks and stumbled across a story I had completely forgotten about. Trent Dilfer was almost an Eagles draft pick.

The story came from Gordon Forbes, who was a key NFL writer for the USA Today back in the 1990’s. I clipped the article and filed it away in one of my notebooks. They are filled with all kinds of goodies from the old days. So let’s go ahead and get into the story.

Jeffrey Lurie was in the process of buying the Eagles in the spring of 1994. He didn’t technically finish the transaction until May so he didn’t have the power to force things until that point. That doesn’t mean he didn’t try to share his ideas and vision for the future.

Lurie had been a Pats fan his whole life. He saw them go 2-14 in 1992 and then draft franchise QB Drew Bledsoe in 1993. The Pats went 5-11 that year and were much more competitive. Bledsoe gave the franchise a future. The Dallas Cowboys were coming off consecutive Super Bowl wins. The fate of that franchise changed with the drafting of QB Troy Aikman in 1989. Lurie saw that you needed a franchise QB and wanted one for his new team.

The Eagles had Randall Cunningham and Bubby Brister as their QBs at that point. Cunningham, who had just turned 31, was still a great talent, but had season ending injuries in 1991 and 1993 so durability was a major concern. He had been inconsistent when he did play in 1992 and 1993. And he had only one playoff win at that point, a wild card victory over the Saints. Brister was a solid backup, nothing more.

Lurie saw this and decided the Eagles needed to be bold. They needed a young franchise QB to build around. The Rams held the fifth pick in the draft. The Eagles had the 14th and 29th picks in the first round. Lurie had John Wooten, the team’s key personnel guy, call the Rams and propose a trade. The Rams would get Cunningham and both first round picks. The Eagles would get the fifth pick and were going to draft Trent Dilfer.

That obviously didn’t happen. The Rams traded the pick to the Colts, who then drafted Trev Alberts. That led to this famous exchange.

Dilfer went to Tampa with the sixth pick. The Eagles drafted OT Bernard Williams at 14 and traded pick 29 to Cleveland. They moved down and took DT Bruce Walker. I covered Williams and Walker in a recent post. Williams played one season at LT before getting suspended for drugs. Walker was cut in August, never playing a real down for the Eagles.

Dilfer played for Tampa from 1994-1999. He went 38-38, throwing 70 TDs and 80’s INTs. The Bucs were dysfunctional when he got there, but improved over time. Dilfer won the Super Bowl in 2000, but that was largely due to having an all-time great defense on his side, the 2000 Ravens. Dilfer was 7-1 that year, with 12 TDs and 11 picks. He never became the true franchise QB that anyone envisioned, but he wasn’t a bust like Heath Shuler, who was drafted three spots ahead of him.

What would have happened if Dilfer came to Philly?

He would have played for Rich Kotite in 1994. He would have had a better supporting cast than what he had with the Bucs as a rookie. The Eagles had Fred Barnett and Calvin Williams at receiver. They had Herschel Walker and Charlie Garner at RB. The OL was competent, but nothing special. Dilfer sat behind Craig Erickson for most of his rookie year. He did start two games, going 0-2 with a TD and 6 picks.

1995 is when things would have gotten interesting. Dilfer would have played for OC Jon Gruden. He’d have had Ricky Watters and an improved OL to play behind. Garner, Williams and Barnett were still around. That offense could have been interesting. With top coaching, Dilfer might have had a very different career. Gruden, for all his faults, is a terrific OC and can coach QBs.

The Eagles were in QB purgatory from 1994-1998. Cunningham started 1-3 in 1995 and lost his job. Rodney Peete replaced him and won games, but it wasn’t pretty. Ty Detmer came to Philly in 1996 and played when Peete got hurt. Ty showed real promise at times, but had physical limitations. Then came Bobby Hoying and Koy Detmer. Lurie didn’t get his franchise QB until 1999 and the drafting of Donovan McNabb.

It is interesting to wonder how different things might have been if they got Dilfer and he did become a franchise QB. There are no guarantees that would have happened, but he would have had a better chance in Philly with Gruden than he did in Tampa, which skewed toward defense and running the ball. They were highly conservative under Tony Dungy.

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Here is a good video for you to enjoy.

Happy Father’s Day to everyone, even Jimmy Bama.

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Random Stuff

Posted June 20th, 2026 | Comments Off on Random Stuff

I’m going to experiment today. Rather than talking about the Eagles or football, I’m going to post thoughts on some random things. It won’t be as random as Larry King’s old pieces from his USA Today days (which were great), but I will be creative.

I hope everyone is enjoying the World Cup. I first watched US soccer in 1994. I had a roommate whose family was from Chile and he taught me some stuff about the sport. I played for one year back in 1977, but it didn’t take. The US team wasn’t anything special back then. It is crazy to watch them now and see the progress the program has made. This is a legitimately good team that is fun to watch. It will be interesting to see how far they go. So far the team is 2-0 and has already advanced to the round of 32. Very cool to see just how far the program has come.

Former Eagle WR Antonio Freeman’s son scored a goal yesterday.

I guess I did find a way to talk about the Eagles.

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Since I’ve been at home a lot this year I’ve had to be creative with my time. You can only watch so much Netflix. I discovered a guy named Rick Beato on YouTube. He is a musician/producer who created a channel that features lots of music content. My favorite videos are his long form conversations with musicians, producers, mixers, engineers and anyone else with good stories. He did a long one with Eddie Kramer who worked with Hendrix, Zeppelin and all kinds of great bands. That was really cool to listen to. The best one so far is his video with Rick Rubin. I had no idea of Rubin’s background or origin story. Very interesting.

It is 2 hours long, but incredibly fascinating. These conversations are filled with good stories and personal histories. It is crazy to hear how some of these guys got into the business. Most of them were grinders and hustlers just looking for a chance.

There are lots of good life lessons in these conversations. For the young people out there, just try to get your foot in the door. One famous producer got his start in the recording world because he was hired to clean the studio’s toilets and organize the tape closet. All you can ask for is an opportunity. What happens after that is up to you. Grind. Hustle. Show your value. Listen and learn. That’s true for anything, not just the music business.

Old man lecture is now over.

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Saturday mornings in the 70’s and 80’s meant you could watch This Week in Baseball. Mel Allen was the host and went over the highlights and memorable moments from the previous week of MLB action. What a great show. The music is amazing and so is Allen and the clips.

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Congrats to the Carolina Hurricanes on winning the Stanley Cup. Do you know who their GM is?

Eric is from Philly and is a die hard Eagles fan so you can be happy for him without betraying your Flyers fandom. He has a really interesting background and story of how he got to where he is.

The Canes won the Stanley Cup back in 2006. A month or so after that I got a call one night. Be at Linda’s Bar & Grill at 10pm. My buddy didn’t say why, but said it would be worth it. I headed down there. It was my watering hole of choice so they didn’t exactly have to twist my arm. I got to Linda’s and went downstairs, as instructed. The friggin Stanley Cup was there. I got to hold it and chug beer from it. I made sure to look for Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Bernie Parent, etc. That was incredibly cool.

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Have you ever heard of a 70’s band called Television? I hadn’t until recently. They were part of the New York CBGBs scene back in the day. I heard several people mention them and decided to give them a listen. Their debut album was called Marquee Moon and it is amazing. They kind of remind me of Blondie or the early Cars. Here is the title track from the album. If you dig good guitar, you’ll dig this.

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If you get a chance, watch the PBS documentary on the American Revolution. Ken Burns and his crew did it. I’ve read a lot about the Revolutionary War over the years. I’ve been to forts and battlefields. My mom was a history buff and I picked that up from her. Burns still had plenty of new material in there. He also has a great way of finding specific people and mixing their story with the overall big picture.

It was interesting to hear how many mutinies/near mutinies George Washington had to deal with. It is hard to fault the soldiers. They weren’t being paid regularly. They weren’t being fed or properly supplied. The fact Washington kept everything together is a near miracle.

Here is the first episode.

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Thanks for pointing out the PayPal link isn’t working. I’ll get that fixed.

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