This was one to turn the crowd back in your favor. The Eagles rewarded a preseason fan favorite Wednesday after promoting Alex Singleton to the active roster.
The 25-year-old linebacker from the Canadian Football League made a strong case for making the final 53-man roster in training camp and now he’ll have a first real crack at it. Singleton notched 24 tackles and one forced fumble in four preseason games, including 12 tackles in the finale versus the Jets.
Eagles fans took a liking to the undrafted free agent out of Montana State due to his flowing locks and hustle plays. He put on a clinic as a special teams ace while playing on a whopping 98 total snaps.
Roster Move: #Eagles have promoted LB Alex Singleton from the practice squad to the active roster and signed C Keegan Render to the practice squad.
“For guys like myself, you want to show (you belong),” Singleton told NBC Sports Philadelphia in August. “A lot of guys aren’t playing. You want to be one of those guys, but you’re not. So you better go out there and earn that job and be ready to play Week 1.”
The Eagles also added center Keegan Render to the practice squad to take over the slot vacated by Singleton. Render had been waived by the team after training camp.
Alex Singleton: Canadian Football League Champion
Alex Singleton helped lead the Calgary Stampeders to the Grey Cup — the CFL’s equivalent to the Super Bowl — in his rookie season in 2016. They would lose that year (and again in 2017) but Singleton held on to the pain of back-to-back Grey Cup losses and used it as motivation.
In 2018, the hard-hitting linebacker was back on the biggest stage — for the third straight year — and this time he wouldn’t be denied. Singleton’s Stampeders beat the Ottawa Redblacks, 27-16, to win the 106th Grey Cup.
“I’ve never been (a champion) before,” Singleton told TSN. “I’m still trying to soak it in.”
Singleton made a game-high eight tackles and shared the victory with his sister, Ashley, a Special Olympian who has Downs Syndrome, in a touching moment that went viral.
Emotional moment for @alexsingleton49 as he celebrates his #GreyCup victory with his sister, Ashley.
Skilled Linebacker Showed Athleticism at Early Age
Alex Singleton’s mother, Kim, described Alex as a phenomenal athlete throughout his childhood, including a brief stint as a little league baseball player. He was even photographed wearing a Philadelphia Phillies uniform at a young age.
According to CFL’s Chris O’Leary, Singleton only received one college scholarship offer despite his elite athleticism. The offer came from Montana State and while his dream was to play for the hometown USC Trojans, he went to the Big Sky Conference and thrived. He started there all four years and finished with 246 tackles.
“You hear all these stories about these guys who go on all these (recruiting) trips and that stuff,” Singleton told O’Leary. “I took one and I committed right then.”
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Eagles Promote Breakout Preseason Star to Active Roster