The Eagles made a minor move Monday when they signed Anthony Rush. The 6-foot-5, 340-pound defensive tackle is already kind of famous.
Rush, who had been on the practice squad for the Oakland Raiders, spent part of training camp with Philadelphia before being waived to make room for cornerback Orlando Scandrick. Fast forward to October and now Scandrick has been released to make room for Rush. The undrafted rookie free agent out of the University of Alabama-Birmingham came into the preseason with considerable hype. Rush actually led the Raiders during the preseason with 11 tackles, including three for loss.
Rush made an impression on both Raiders GM Mike Mayock and head coach Jon Gruden in Oakland. He did enough to make the 53-man roster in training camp but they just didn’t have enough spots at the end of the day. Mayock described Rush as “too raw” and one-dimensional. Still, everyone there saw his potential.
“Anthony Rush, we liked him, 340 pounds,” said Mayock after the roster cutdowns, via Silver & Black Pride. “We picked him up off the street after Philadelphia had cut him. Felt like we gave him some real good exposure and opportunity. But at the end of the day, he’s very raw. He’s a guy that I think has a future in the league, but for us today, it was not his day.”
Rush Famous for ‘Fat Guy Touchdown’ at UAB
There was one play that put Anthony Rush on the map above everything else. In 2017, the prodding defensive tackle hawked what is commonly referred to as a ‘Fat Guy Touchdown’ when he deflected a screen pass in the air, intercepted it and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. The “athletic” play was shown on loop on ESPN that evening and naturally drew fun ribbings from his college teammates.
“My friends, they were going pretty crazy about it,” Rush said, via Blazers 24/7. “In JUCO, I had dropped two picks that were supposed to go to the house. In high school, I had a Pick-6 on the same side of the field, kind of like the same play. It was pretty exciting. A lot of people hit me up after that, but you’ve just got to stay humble. You know, next play, next game.”
Rush accumulated 77 tackles, including 20 tackles for loss and two sacks in two seasons at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Prior to that, he spent two years at Northeast Mississippi Community College.
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