Stories Inside the Man Cave
Stories Inside the Man Cave
Lets Talk About It: The Axeman Returns: Jeremiah Trotter's SFA Homecoming
Jeremiah "Axeman" Trotter makes a triumphant return to his alma mater Stephen F Austin University for their spring football game. The Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer reflects on his journey from chopping wood in East Texas to NFL stardom while embracing his role as a proud father of two football-playing sons.
• NFL legend and Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer Jeremiah Trotter returns to Stephen F Austin University
• Trotter explains how his "Axeman" nickname originated from his childhood chopping wood in East Texas
• Recounting SFA's 1995 playoff run to the Division 1-AA Final Four and the brutally cold game against Montana
• Comparing the different types of cold between Missoula, Montana (-2°F) and Philadelphia
• Trotter discusses SFA's current program under Coach Colby Carthel and navigating the NIL era
• Proud father moment as Trotter's son Jeremiah Jr. was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles
• Brief mention of Trotter losing his wife Tammy to breast cancer two years ago
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This episode of Stories Inside the Magday Podcast is brought to you by our further family at Honest Plumbing and Air, and you can get in touch with them pretty quick. Just visit that website on the lower left-hand side of the screen HonestAirConditioningbiz. Honest Plumbing and Air, where a handshake still means something, and that handshake does mean something extremely valuable when doing business. So give our folks out at Honest Plumbing and Air a shout for all of your HVAC and plumbing needs, and do so for your AC, before we get to that Texas summer heat, which is literally a few weeks away. Hey, listen, I had a reunion at my alma mater, stephen F Austin, wearing the shirts representing the purple and white A true lumberjack. Well, one of my lumberjack brothers is a Hall of Famer, a Hall of Famer in the city of Philadelphia and will soon be an NFL Hall of Famer at some point. I don't want to project it, but he is one of the men who I will always remember because he brought the ferocity to the game. Extremely good linebacker and he was an all-American type linebacker at Stephen F Austin Made his first return to Stephen F Austin in quite some time because he was busy. He had an incredible NFL career. Now he's just playing the role of dad entrepreneur and he's the subject of this episode or installment of let's Talk About it. Wow, jeremiah Trotter gave all that stump of wood could handle. That was at my college alma mater, stephen F Austin.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah Trotter returned for the spring game recently or this past weekend and Kobe Carthel, the head football coach at Stephen F Austin, and that administration there. They have done a good job of reconnecting with the alumni and former players and Jeremiah Trotter agreed to come back. He along with Larry Sinners, another Lumberjack great. They both returned for the spring game. When I was in school I was doubling in the media and as a student and Jeremiah Trotter was one of my well, forever one of my Lumberjack brethren.
Speaker 1:And Jeremiah Trotter was one of my well, forever one of my Lumberjack brethren. He was one of the best linebackers to ever play at Stephen F Austin, so good that the Hooks, texas native left after his junior season to enter the NFL draft and he was selected third in the third round by the Philadelphia Eagles. He returned to the spring game, as did I, but I was definitely not the focus and that's where we're going to bring in Jeremiah Trotter the VIP guest of honor on this installment of let's Talk About it. All right, we've had a lot of esteemed guests and stories inside the man Cave podcast, but you know we've never had a Hall of Famer or someone that has built his own nickname, axeman, in the NFL with the Eagles. And did that all start where you're from? Hooks, texas?
Speaker 2:or did you develop that here at Stephen F Austin? No, it started with my upbringing chopping wood, growing up in East Texas, and you know, once I made my name, I started to make my name in the NFL. I kind of wanted to do something that represented me and I started doing the axe chop. But it's ironic though somebody when I was doing the axe chop, but it's ironic though Somebody when I was in the NFL, they was like yo, what was your mascot? I said we're the Lumberjacks. It's ironic that I was a Fitting. Yeah, it's fitting, right. So it was meant to be Axe man.
Speaker 1:See, you can see why. See, in Hooks, Texas, north I think, an hour and a half north of Nacogdoches, essentially in northeast Texas. Jeremiah grew up around the lumber industry. He clearly knows how to swing that axe and does it precise, with precise talent. A man of many talents, jeremiah Trotter is not only a former football great, the guy is an entrepreneur and really just a great human being.
Speaker 1:In our conversation we made that transition from him being how he earned the nickname of Axeman to you know his time at Stephen F Austin, you see, when he played in Philly. See, he played for Philadelphia three times in his career, highly respected, highly regarded, and he's a member of the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame recently here in the last two years, and was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame. Well, during his time at Stephen F Austin the 1995 team was his freshman season Stephen F Austin advanced all the way to the final four of what was 1AA, then now the football championship subdivision, lower division. One Great year, great year, great year. So they had to play Montana at Montana, think about that In the month of December.
Speaker 1:You think about the climate in Missoula, montana. Well, philadelphia, in which he spent the majority or most of his NFL career, in which he spent the majority or most of his NFL career. It's cold there in Philly, but during our time this past weekend at the spring game, he was talking to a former SFA quarterback, james Ritchie, and they were talking about that time, that game against Montana, stephen F Austin. The team, with a I want to say 11 guys on that team, were on NFL rosters after their eligibility, including Trotter. Well, it was so cold that day, so cold, very cold Ice snow in between the mountains, and Trotter was talking about comparing the cold in Missoula versus the cold in Philly. There's a difference. What was different?
Speaker 2:I can talk about it, but the people watching. That was brutally cold. The temperature was different. Missoula, I mean, it get colder in Philly in the wintertime, but man, missoula was a different type of cold. Right, it was a different type of cold. So it's definitely by far. It's not even a close second compared to how cold it was in Missoula. What was it? Two below zero. They said it warmed up to four degrees.
Speaker 1:There's a reason why I didn't make that trip. Now the score was 70-14, or, excuse me, montana. Montana ended up winning the national championship that year at 1AA, but the score didn't indicate how good SFA was, did not at all, because it was so cold. Those Trotter and the Lumberjacks, you think about it. You play at four degrees ice, snow and a frozen field for the most part and it negated all of Stephen F Austin's speed. But Montana was a great team and they are a tradition-rich program at that level. Well, coming back to SFA, trotter wants to help. He wants to be a guy who's visible, to help the program, especially in this NIL era, and get the program back on track. Colby Carthel does a great job and that staff there's a lot of talent on that team. So that was our next item on the conversation of bringing this program back and what Trotter thinks about the current Stephen F Austin program. What do you see? I mean, what do you see in this program compared to the eyes when you were here growing up as a young man?
Speaker 2:Man programming in good hands. Man he's in good hands, see guys is passionate. I see a head coach that's doing whatever it takes to navigate his way through this whole NIL deal to try to take care of his players and keep his players here, and then, on top of that, a great coaching staff going out recruiting top talent man, and so he's doing whatever he needs to do, whatever is necessary to keep pace with this growing NIL world. And all this stuff is still relatively new right now. So you know, I just wanted to come back, man. It hadn't been back in a while.
Speaker 1:It gets tough when you, when you're out of town, but I want to come back and just show my support and that's what I love about trot he's always been candid, uses humor, just a personable guy and but he keeps it real, very real. He and Michael Ricks, a receiver for Stephen F Austin, both drafted in that second to fourth round of the NFL draft. So two guys from the same team drafted very early in the NFL draft that year. But it was good to see him back and I know it meant a lot to those kids. The current lumberjacks meant a lot to SFA supporters, alumni like myself. Trott got to coach. You know the team for the spring game split in half. He coached one team and Larry centers another NFL great lumberjack, great coach the other team and they decided it by a game at midfield, by it was so close rock paper scissors.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about Trott the dad. He has two sons, jeremiah Jr and Josiah Trotter. Josiah playing at the University of Missouri. And then Jeremiah Jr last year the Philadelphia Eagles traded up to draft the linebacker from Clemson. I want you to watch Trotter as he talks about being a dad, very proud, prideful in that title. Father, you've got one young man just drafted, fitting, going to Eagles. That's a God thing. And then you have the youngest one. He's about to experience that Tell me a little bit about you being the father and navigating all that man, it's just um, I'm just enjoying the moment.
Speaker 2:Right, I'm enjoying the moment. I did my part. I've coached them from the time they were little, um, through high school, and you know I still you know we still watch film together time to time, but right now I'm just enjoying being a dad man and just enjoying that process, seeing how, you know, god is gonna move them throughout their careers and and elevate them and put them in position to be successful, and, um, just enjoying that brother I appreciate no problem anytime, love the interview, I love seeing the glow of a proud father or even a proud mom, um, and speaking of a really sad story, um, jeremiah's wife, the mother of jeremiah and josiah, tammy trotter um passed away two years ago.
Speaker 1:Uh lost her battle with breast cancer, which is a disease very near me, sensitive subject my ex-wife, two-time survivor still very good friends. She beat breast cancer twice but it's a hard subject and I briefly mentioned it to Jeremiah and how he's handled this to be a better father and be a great father, because he always has been. But that's a tough subject to discuss. And for all you ladies out there, please, please, your maintenance, your breast exams, everything, please be proactive. Hey, thank you to Jeremiah, thank you to Stephen F Austin, the football program, so kind, so welcoming always and for Jeremiah man, I'm so proud of you. And thank you for now being a part of the stories inside the man Cave podcast fraternity, so to speak, the man Cave Podcast fraternity, so to speak. So whenever you get an opportunity to talk about Stephen F Austin, football and Jeremiah Trotter and the great dad that he is and his two sons and his entire family, it's always good to talk about it, thank you.