Veteran WR 'Blessed' To Finally Be in Philly

Parris Campbell is in Philadelphia to prove it.

Once a highly-touted prospect the Eagles were interested in coming out of Ohio State in 2019, five years later, the veteran receiver is in Philadelphia on a one-year, $1.3 million deal.

"To be honest with you, my career to this point has been a lot of ups and downs," Campbell admitted after Thursday's OTA practice. "I tend to harp on the downs more than the ups, but I know the opportunity is all I need. At the end of the day that’s all I wanted. I’m just a guy that’s going to try to make the most of the opportunity whenever it comes, whenever it shows. I take pride in that."

The opportunities could be slim with the Eagles' offense, however, due to the presence of two star receivers -- A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith -- as well as a top-tier tight end in Dallas Goedert.

"Obviously, the number of opportunities wherever you are might be limited, so that’s why I say you have to make the most of them," Campbell said. "Each and every day I’m just trying to get better at my craft, being a better teammate, being a better person, all the intangibles, and whenever the opportunity comes my way, I want to make the most of it."

The idea of playing with stars is also appealing to Campbell.

"From the outside looking in, the question is why would you go there, they already have these guys? Campbell told Eagles SI. "I’m like, 'I want to be around greatness. I want to be in there and be with these guys, and work with these guys, and learn from these guys.'

"[Brown and Smith] are two of the best and if you’re in a room with that, getting all the knowledge you can, playing and competing with those guys is only going to make you better. I’m blessed to be in this opportunity, blessed to be in that room for sure.”

Campbell was selected at No. 59 overall in the 2019 draft, the same year Brown went to Tennessee eight slots earlier at No. 51. The Eagles had two selections between those numbers. At No. 53 Philadelphia selected running back Miles Sanders and were debating between Campbell and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside at No. 57. Ultimately, with some reported prodding from owner Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles went with the catching radius of JJAW, who is already out of the NFL.

"I took a top-30 visit here," Campbell reminisced. "I remember my visit vividly, coming in and really loving the place, loving the staff, loving the people and having conversations with Howie [Roseman] and just being in the building.

"It felt right to me. "

So much so that Campbell started to picture Philadelphia, which happened to host the draft that year, as his new home.

"I remember going home after my top-30 visit and talking to my girlfriend, wife now, and my mom, and was like, I really like the Eagles," he said. "That was one of my teams going into the draft, I thought I might be here. I know there have been talks that it almost happened or whatever, but in hindsight, things always work out like they’re supposed to be."

Part of finally being at the NovaCare Complex can be traced to Campbell's first home in Indianapolis. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was the offensive coordinator at the time and much of his inner circle migrated with the coach from the Colts.

“Having a familiar face always help," said Campbell. "I was taught at a young age, never burn bridges because you never know what door may open later in life. That was kind of the opportunity for me. Him knowing me, me knowing him, and obviously [associate head coach/passing game coordinator] Kevin Patullo as well, J-Mich [tight ends coach Jason Michael], even A-Mo [wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead] because he as helping out with the receivers when I was a rookie.

So, just having familiar faces led to my decision to come here.”

From Campbell's perspective everything is finally in place to turn the "downs" he has harped on into proof Philadelphia should have been his destination years ago.

"Now I’m here. I don’t know if it was meant to be like that," Campbell said. "Obviously it was. Now I’m here."