5 Minutes with ... Kyle Eckel

POSITION: Fullback

HEIGHT, WEIGHT: 5-11, 237

AGE: 26 BIRTHDATE: Dec. 30, 1981

HOMETOWN: Philadelphia

YEARS PRO: 2

COLLEGE: Navy

HOW ACQUIRED: Signed as a free agent on Oct. 21.

HIGH SCHOOL: Episcopal Academy

THIS YEAR: Made his Eagles debut on Thanksgiving and ran for 27 yards on six carries. Converted a pair of third-and-1 plays, the first led to a standing ovation from Eagles fans.

CAREER: Was originally signed by the Patriots. Spent 2005-06 with the Dolphins, before rejoining New England last year. Appeared in six games in 2007 and ran for a pair of touchdowns during the regular season, but was deactivated during the playoffs.

ARMY-NAVY MEMORY: Scoring a touchdown as a junior (2003) and seeing his friends, who had sneaked down, sitting in the end zone seats at Lincoln Financial Field. "All of my buddies were hanging over the railing," he said. "I was shocked. It was pretty awesome to see that."

RUBBING ELBOWS: Met President Bush three times; once at the Naval Academy's graduation and twice in the White House when Navy won the Commander-In-Chief trophy. "It was surreal being in the White House," Eckel said.

DID YOU KNOW? Eckel never played a regulation football game on Thanksgiving before last week. However, a few times when he returned home from college, he did play pickup games with childhood friends at Coopertown Elementary School in Haverford.