Jihaad Campbell, Eagles linebacker? It doesn’t seem real for his Birds fan grandfather: ‘Can’t put words to it’

Mark Campbell insists he owns clothing that doesn’t bear the Eagles logo. Those close to him can hardly tell. According to Carol, his wife of 45 years, Mark, 75, wears some type of Eagles gear every day of the week.

Football is in his blood like it’s in his wardrobe. Mark’s cousin, John Brown, was an offensive tackle who played for the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers for a decade in the 1960s. Mark coached his son, also named Mark, in youth football. A Camden native, Mark saw his love for football intensify during the Eagles’ Randall Cunningham era of the late ’80s and early ’90s, when he would regularly take clients of his mortgage banking business to games at the Vet on the company’s season tickets.

These days, Mark’s style isn’t just an outward expression of his soul. It also starts conversations with strangers, not only because of the logo on the front of his new favorite jersey, but also because of the name on the back. Mark proudly dons his No. 30 Campbell jersey for his grandson, Jihaad, around town in Cherry Hill, drawing intrigue from fellow Eagles fans.

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A man wearing an Eagles hat stopped Mark at the grocery store last week. He told him that the Eagles were going to win it all again this year. Mark couldn’t help himself.

“It just comes out,” Mark said. “‘My grandson plays for the Eagles.’ ‘Who’s your grandson?’ And then I tell them. Then we hold up the line. It’s like a 10-minute conversation, you know what I mean?”

Mark has plenty to gush about. Campbell, who grew up in Gloucester Township, was the Eagles’ first-round pick (No. 31 overall) in the NFL draft out of Alabama. Despite missing the early part of the offseason program while recovering from labrum surgery in his shoulder, Campbell worked his way back into shape and rejoined the team for the entirety of training camp.

The little boy with the “infectious smile,” Carol said, who shared Mark’s affinity for football at an early age, is now the man in contention to start at inside linebacker in the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field. Most of Campbell’s family has already seen the rookie play for the Eagles in their two preseason games at the Linc — except for Mark and Carol.

They wanted to wait for the real deal in the regular season. It still doesn’t feel real to Mark.

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“I can’t put words to it,” Mark said. “Sometimes you sit here and you say, ‘You’ve got a grandson in the NFL.’ Yeah, OK. Great. Great. Great. Am I dreaming? No, I’m not dreaming. It’s for real. It’s for real.”

Mark and Carol closed on their old South Jersey house in Winslow on a Monday in 2006. Later that week, about seven of their grandchildren, including Campbell, were standing on their front steps, eager to see “Pops” and “Mom Mom.”

Their 5,000 square-foot home was the hub for holidays and Sunday gatherings for the sprawling Campbell family. Mark and Carol have five children and 10 grandchildren, a vast departure from Mark’s childhood growing up as an only child. Their Thanksgiving spread looked like they were hosting the United States Army, Mark said, with a mortgage payment’s worth of food lining the tables.

Campbell never attended an Eagles game with his grandfather. But at those family get-togethers, he experienced the next best thing.

“We watched a lot of [bleeping] games,” Campbell said. “Every time I was over there, we were watching some game. Every time. It didn’t matter what game. We was watching the Eagles game vs. whoever.”

Campbell, his older brothers Dimere Kyles and Marshaan Campbell, and his male cousins were just as enthralled by the pastime on television as their grandfather. All of them played football as kids with the aspiration of making it to the NFL. That goal seemed all the more attainable when they saw the Kelce brothers, the Watts, or the Bosas on screen.

“Pops” is typically pretty relaxed in most settings, according to Kyles. But when football was on television, his animated side came out.

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“Those moments were exciting, because you see him getting out of his chair and standing up and, ‘Go, go, go!’” Kyles said. “You’re almost like, ‘Wow, is that how he feels when I’m on the field?’ It just literally makes you want to go out there and do the same thing. Make him proud, make everyone in the household proud.”

When the grandchildren weren’t glued to the television, they were living out their NFL dreams in the backyard. Sometimes, they would play a game that Kyles called “throw back and run.” A trash can and a recycling bin placed at either end of the yard designated the end zones. The ballcarrier would have to score a touchdown by juking and truck-sticking through the horde of boys to the bin before throwing the ball back to the next contestant. Other times, they would run receiver-defensive back one-on-ones.

There were more tears shed than blood. Still, the games got rough. The fence that surrounded the backyard became a hazard at times. Plus, all of the boys had learned how to tackle in pee wee football, and they weren’t afraid to test their fundamentals in the backyard. Campbell, 21, is the youngest of three boys, but he didn’t back down from his older brothers or cousins.

“They always made me tough, to the point where it’s now where I’m on the field and I’m playing with grown men right now,” Campbell said. “I always remember those moments and I cherish those moments, because they helped me and pushed me to go where I wanted to go and to be who I wanted to be.”

Campbell also spent time in the basement combing through Mark’s collection of football cards. At his introductory news conference the day after the draft at the NovaCare Complex in April, Campbell noted that the card collection initially inspired him to play for the Eagles.

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Campbell and Kyles listed the Cunningham card as their favorite in the collection. Black quarterbacks were rare in that era, so Cunningham’s presence and prowess brought joy to his grandfather, Kyles said. To the boys, the Eagles Hall of Fame quarterback and his likeness on that trading card were reminders that the dream was tangible.

“It’s just more ... you can do anything you put your mind to, especially when you’re in the right place and with the right support system and with the right everything behind you,” Kyles said. “That’s just kind of how it felt.”

Carol isn’t a morning person. When she and Mark decided to take the early flight to Green Bay in advance of the draft in April — one of two options from Philly that day — she was initially concerned that she would oversleep and miss the plane.

But the night before the flight, Carol was so excited for the draft that she never fell asleep.

“We went right to the airport,” Mark said.

For Mark and Carol, the draft served as validation for everything they already knew about Campbell. Mark can pinpoint the moments along Campbell’s journey when they knew he would be destined for success at the highest levels of football, long before he heard his name called at the draft.

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They were there for his youth football games when he was 12 years old and “a couple clowns” in the stands, Mark said, were questioning his age because Campbell was so dominant on the field. In Campbell’s junior year at Alabama, Mark attended his game against Missouri in Tuscaloosa, Ala. That was where he met Nick Saban, who was attending the contest as a spectator, for the first time. According to Mark, the College Football Hall of Fame coach told him that Campbell was a “great player” three times in their conversation.

They were reminded of his success again the night of the draft when media outlets were pulling Campbell in every direction before he headed to the green room with his family.

“We’ve been seeing it,” Mark said. “But in Green Bay, we saw the realization that he had arrived.”

Still, the Campbell family had a long night ahead of them. While most draft analysts considered Campbell the top inside linebacker in the draft class, his offseason shoulder surgery made it unclear exactly where he would go in the first round. As he fell, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman tried to trade up into the mid-20s to take him, but he couldn’t make a deal.

The night dragged on. Mark had been drinking (it was cold in Green Bay, he said). Finally, 3½ hours after the first round began, Campbell got the call from Roseman. The Eagles had traded up one spot to No. 31 to select the homegrown linebacker.

“I sobered up,” Mark said.

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The entire Campbell family shot to their feet in excitement, according to Kyles, but Mark had to sit back down.

“I thought he was going to fall,” Carol said.

Mark called the moment “earth-shattering,” especially for a kid who played at Timber Creek High School and grew up watching the Eagles. An exuberant Campbell left his family to walk across the draft stage and pull NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in for a bear hug. Once he returned, he took photos with his family.

The entire Campbell contingent wore Eagles hats while Campbell held up his jersey for the camera. It was at that moment that Kyles said it all started to feel real — his youngest brother was coming home. Judging by the look on his grandfather’s face, Mark felt the same way.

“Pops’ smile, it wouldn’t go away,” Kyles said. “He was smiling cheek-to-cheek, ear-to-ear. It was an incredible moment for him. And I feel like he also felt like he got drafted by the Eagles.”

Would Campbell have been available to the Eagles at No. 31 had he not suffered the shoulder injury in his final year at Alabama and required surgery?

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“I just think it’s all God’s will,” Carol said. “Everything happened, every step that happened, God was with him. Even to the point where he [suffered the] injury. Shoulder injury. Still aligned him to get where God wanted him to be.

“We believe that he is an Eagle. He belongs in the Eagles’ camp. He is an Eagle.”

After 17 years in the Winslow house, Mark and Carol downsized to a one-bedroom apartment in Cherry Hill, which is better suited for their retired lifestyle, just over a year ago. Their new home is tucked away down a winding, tree-lined street, no longer bustling with friends and family. On a late August afternoon, the loudest noises on the premises are the chirping of crickets and the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Mark and Carol don’t have a backyard-turned-football-field any longer, but Campbell still has plenty of reasons to visit when his schedule permits.

“His famous words are, ‘Pop, I’m going to roll up on you,’” Mark said.

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Campbell arrives “like a force,” according to Carol. He isn’t the little boy on their doorstep anymore. His 6-foot-3, 235-pound frame delivers bone-crushing hugs, a tick of intensity lower than the hits Mark and Carol witnessed him muster in training camp. Campbell sprawls on the orange sectional in their living room and relaxes, his respite away from the daily demands of his newfound job.

Mark and Carol respect his peace. They let him lead the conversation rather than pester him with questions. They’ve also had requests from extended family members for signed gear or for visits with Campbell, but they politely turn them down.

“The season started,” Carol said. “He’s focused on the season.”

But when Campbell visits the apartment, his grandparents aren’t the only familiar faces that await him. Mark and Carol have made friends in their neighborhood who have become aficionados of Campbell, forming a group they call the “village fan club.”

If Campbell is up to meet their friends, Carol texts them, “the Eagle has landed.” They respect Mark and Carol. They don’t knock on their door. Instead, they sit and wait on the bench outside until he heads to his car with the Alabama tags for an opportunity to take a photo with him.

“I love it,” Campbell said. “That’s the off-the-field stuff, right? Little do people know it brings more of just greatness upon me and confidence upon me, just because I know that there’s people that’s rooting for me and I know every time I touch that green grass, I’m not only playing for myself, but I’m playing for people that’s meaningful to me. The people that are rooting for me, that are cheering for me.”

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Come Thursday night, Mark and Carol will be among the Campbell contingent rooting for their grandson at the Linc. They won’t join the rest of the family for the pregame tailgate — “my tailgating days are over,” Mark insists — but they’ll be waiting eagerly in their seats by the 8:20 p.m. kickoff. Mark assured Campbell’s mother, Stephanie, that he doesn’t have a problem staying up late.

After years of watching Eagles games together, Campbell gets to play for Mark and Carol as a member of the team. Kyles tried to envision how his grandparents will react when they see Campbell trot out on the gridiron. They may pass out, he said. If not, Mark may live vicariously through Campbell.

“I’m pretty sure watching him play the game, he’s going to feel like he’s in the game,” Kyles said of his grandfather. “I feel like Pops is probably going to feel like he’s literally playing out there right now. And to see his last name on a jersey, I feel like it also just makes it even more, just like that. You know what I mean? He feels it. It’s a real feeling.”

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Campbell isn’t taking their support for granted. In fact, it’s his motivation as he officially enters the next era of his football career.

“It’s like a superpower, just knowing that my grandfather, he was a fan of football, a fan of the Eagles, and now I get to play the game I love, and he’s still alive,” Campbell said.

Mark said he hasn’t thought too hard just yet about his outfit of choice for Campbell’s first regular-season game. He has a closet full of options, after all, but as he speaks over the phone just a few days before the game, it seems like he’s trying to play it cool.

“I may wear his jersey,” Mark said. “I’m not certain. I think I am. But I have another jersey that’s just with an Eagle on it and what have you. It depends on …”

He trailed off midsentence, interrupted by Carol’s voice in the background.

“Carol just told me I’m wearing his jersey,” Mark said.

End of conversation.