A few years back, as Jim Washburn drove north from Dallas toward the coolest ranch he’d ever seen, he couldn’t help but consider the man who owned it. Fletcher Cox was born in Yazoo City, Miss. But limited? He was not. He high-jumped. He sprinted on relay teams. And he didn’t play football so much as he wrecked football games.
After 90 minutes, Washburn pulled onto the property. He scanned the 1,000 or so acres: the 7,000-square-foot-lodge, the exotic animals, the skeet shooting grounds and horseback riding trails and private cabins. He had never seen so many cattle. Nor an off-season retreat that came with a . Nor that many animal heads stuffed and hanging on every wall.
At that moment, he thought the only things any reasonable person would think: (1) This is beautiful, and (2) He’s already got the rest of his life down.
What a story. Cox grew up mired in poverty. He lost Shaddrick “Trell” Cox Sr., his older brother, to a heart attack at 34. But … football. He played the game with the same hunger he felt deep inside his belly, starring at Mississippi State and rising up NFL draft boards.
The Eagles dispatched their defensive line coach, Washburn, to take a closer look. It was 2012. Philadelphia held the 12th pick in what would be head coach Andy Reid’s final season sneaking cheesesteaks. Washburn took three visits, hitting the road to see Michael Brockers (LSU), Alameda Ta’amu (Washington) and Cox, who worked out for him on his school’s practice field.
Cox told Washburn he weighed 294 pounds. If true, Washburn laughed, he was the biggest person at that weight that Washburn had ever seen. They also went to dinner. They talked guns and Mississippi and football and dreams. Washburn decided on that trip: Cox wasn’t just good, he was perfect. Smart. Hungry. Strong. Balanced. Quick. Agile. The Eagles prayed he’d last and, when he did, they drafted him.
What happened next speaks to Cox’s drive and the Eagles’ history. Near the end of his 11th season, he has played 173 games, made six Pro Bowls and racked up 65.0 sacks despite rushing primarily from the inside. He ranks near the top of any ranking of this generation’s best defensive tackles. He also represents a through line from the Eagles’ last Super Bowl team to this one.
“He’s a Hall of Famer, hands down,” Washburn says. “There were two or three years there where he was the most dominant defensive player in the league. It’s a no brainer.”
