Trotter says return to Eagles is dream come true

IT ISN'T UNCOMMON for an athlete to believe he can still play, long after his final game is in the books.

It is uncommon for an athlete to hold onto that notion so fiercely that he eventually gets someone to reconsider, to give him a chance to write a different final chapter.

Jeremiah Trotter was always stubborn, strong-willed. That was one of the reasons the Eagles and their fans liked him so much. And it's one of the reasons Trotter will be wearing his familiar No. 54 jersey for an amazing third tour of duty with the team, when practice resumes next Monday after the bye week.

"At some points, like last year, when I was sitting at home . . . I was like, 'Should I give it up and start doing something else?' Something just kept telling me to work out," Trotter told reporters in a conference call yesterday, after the Eagles announced they have signed him to a 1-year contract, apparently for the veteran minimum. Quarterback Jeff Garcia was released, an expected move, given that Donovan McNabb apparently will return to practice Monday. (And maybe a welcome move, given that the Dolphins suddenly would seem to need a QB. Garcia's agent, Steve Baker, did not respond to a request for comment.)

Trotter, who has obtained Tracy White's permission to reclaim his familiar number, underwent a right-knee cleanout early in 2008. He had it done on his own, in hopes he could interest a team in signing him; the Eagles had released Trotter on Aug. 21, 2007 - "One of the toughest things I've ever had to deal with," he said yesterday - and he'd spent the season with Tampa Bay, mostly watching other linebackers play. It was apparent to Trotter and to everyone else that even though he was only 30, he could no longer move well enough to play in the NFL. He said yesterday that part of the problem was bone chips floating around in his right knee.

That didn't mean The Ax Man was giving up, though. He had the surgery, worked out right after that for San Francisco, didn't get signed, kept working out, watched the 2008 season slip past, kept working out, lost some weight, took a physical for former Eagles assistant Steve Spagnuolo after Spagnuolo took over the St. Louis Rams, didn't get signed, kept working out, talked to Eagles coaches at Jim Johnson's funeral, kept working out, texted Andy Reid when Stewart Bradley went down early last month, didn't hear back, kept working out, and finally last week he got the first of two chances to show his old team what he could do. The day after the second workout, in which Trotter was asked to show his battle-scarred knee could function in pass coverage, Trotter was back with the Eagles, at long last.

"I just trained, the whole [time] I was out," he said. "I was able to get my body rest . . . I rehabbed and just stayed in shape. I changed my workout regimen, lost some weight, and did a lot of praying."

He said he was told after his physical Monday that his knees looked better than they had 2 years earlier; Trotter said he feels he has "at least 3 years left."

"[The surgery] really helped me get my explosion back," he said. "I feel better now than when I came to Washington," in 2002.

Trotter remembered yesterday that a few months after being released, he'd had some dreams in which he was playing for the Eagles again.

"I woke up, I was thinking I was crazy," he said. "I actually told a couple people . . . it sounded crazy then. It sounds crazy now . . . I'm just happy to be back in that green. I was raised in this system, in those colors, in this city, and I feel like I'm just as much a part of this city as anyone who ever played here."

Fans probably wouldn't argue. Trotter, listed at 6-2, 262 when he played here, currently at 257, he said, played in four Pro Bowls as an Eagle. He arrived in 1998 as a third-round draftee out of Stephen F. Austin, left early in 2002 for Washington in a contract dispute, returned in 2004 and helped push the Birds to the Super Bowl. When he left in 2007, the team held an emotional farewell press conference.

"This is just kind of overwhelming right now," said Trotter, who presumably is here to shore up the defense against the run, and to provide leadership to a unit that is missing both middle linebacker Bradley and free safety Brian Dawkins, who signed as a free agent with Denver. Asked what he'd been told about his role, Trotter said, "Come in and be a leader, work hard, and obviously, make some plays," normally on first and second down.

Though this is the same system Trotter played in during his previous tours - with a new coordinator, Sean McDermott - Trotter said he has some bye-week brushing up to do. He said he expects to be able to contribute right away - presumably that means against the Bucs. "How much, that's hard to say. It's going to take some time to run around in those full pads and get in game shape," he said.

"Jeremiah Trotter has always been one of my favorite players," Reid said in a statement. "He has worked very hard to keep himself in shape and we are pleased with where he is physically. We are excited to give him an opportunity to contribute to our football team."

Trotter said he spoke to current starting middle linebacker Omar Gaither on Monday, and does not believe they will have any problems working together. Gaither's development was one of the reasons the Eagles released Trotter 2 years ago.

"Omar and I, we'll help each other out," he said.

Gaither did not respond to a request for comment last night.

Trotter said walking back onto the field in an Eagles uniform will be exciting.

"It's going to be even more exciting when I can make that first big play and drop the ax," he said.

Kevin Kolb will be named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his 24-for-34, 327-yard, two-touchdown performance against Kansas City, the Eagles said.

Kolb now must go back to watching Donovan McNabb play, with McNabb apparently healed from a broken rib suffered in the season opener.

The Eagles confirmed they worked out defensive end Marcus Howard yesterday, but Howard was not signed, a team source said. Howard was a Colts fifth-round pick from Georgia in 2008 who played in nine games, then was released in this year's final preseason cutdown.

For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.