The No. 8 Certainly had its Share of Kicks for the Eagles

All three players to break into the rankings kicked the ball, either through the uprights or on punts

To the kickers go the spoils, at least as far as the Eagles’ jersey countdown to kickoff is concerned.

All three players to land in the top three of the rankings booted the ball, led by Paul McFadden.

Known for his barefooted kicking style, McFadden arrived as a 12th-round draft pick in 1984 and was a very busy booter in his four seasons in Philadelphia.

He is still ninth on the team’s all-time scoring list with 390 points, second in career field goals made with 91, and seventh in PATs made with 117. McFadden, however, struggled with kicks of 50-plus yards or more, making just six of 14 with the Eagles.

He spent just two more years in the league, one each with the Giants and another with that Falcons. His final year was 1989.

Current number 8:

UNASSIGNED

Top 3 to wear No. 8:

3. Dirk Johnson. Punted for four seasons with the Eagles and still holds the fourth-highest highest net average in team history with 36.0 yards per punt during his career. He was the punter in the Eagles’ 2004 Super Bowl season.

2. Donnie Jones. The team’s punter in its Super Bowl championship season of 2017, Jones came to the Eagles when he was 33 in 2013. He spent four years in Philadelphia and still holds the team record for most punts landed inside the 20-yard line with 1238 of them and remains in the top spot for the highest net punting yards in a single game at 50.7, which he did against Washington in 2013.

Jones has the second-highest gross average (45.4) and net average (40.5) in team history for his career.

He punted for the Eagle for five seasons, with his last being in 2017.

1. Paul McFadden: See above.

Runner-up:

Davey O’Brien. You have to go back a long way here with O’Brien quarterbacking the Eagles in 1939 and 1940. O’Brien, who won the Heisman Trophy at TCU in 1939, started 19 games over those two NFL seasons, and his 1,324 yards passing in 11 games in 1939 led the NFL. He retired after the 1940 season and became an FBI agent. Since 1981, the Davey O’Brien award is given to the top college quarterback.

Others: Chuck Hajek, Al Coleman, Luis Zendejas, Brad Goebel, Preston Jones, and Chas Henry.

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