The unstoppable Darren Sproles

The Eagles do-it-all running back has traveled a tricky path -- from the loss of his mother to battling a speech impediment -- to become one the NFL’s most productive and electric players.

by Thomas George

Nov 26, 2014, 3:33 PM UTC

Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - The NFL's scouting combine is a coronation for some college players and a declaration for others. It also can serve as utter humiliation.

In the 2005 version when Darren Sproles arrived from Kansas State and whizzed through the running back drills and compiled impressive test scores, he stood tall. But then his height was actually measured, announced in a room for all to hear. It came in a tad under 5 feet and 6 inches.

Some coaches laughed and snickered. Some scouts did, too. So did other officials in that room.

Sproles heard it.

"They would tell me later that if I came in at 5-foot-9 or even 5-foot-8, I would have been a first-round pick," Sproles said softly at his Eagles locker on Monday afternoon.

Sproles says nearly everything softly.

It was the San Diego Chargers who in 2005 drafted him in the fourth round, the 130th overall pick.

Sproles decided he was going to show them all that there was no scale, no measurable for his heart. He promised himself that every play in his NFL career would honor that commitment. That he would turn what others saw as a shortcoming into an asset. That he would do it with humility. That he would do it with grace.

And that is exactly what he has done for 10 NFL seasons.

The first six were with the Chargers followed by three with the New Orleans Saints and now this season, this fresh awakening with the Eagles. When he battles the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in a big game for big claims, the nation can focus on this 31-year-old player whose feet are quick, whose moves are like ballet and whose power jolts. At 5-foot-6 and 190-pounds, he is often the player who stands tallest and stoutest among his sizable peers.

His road has been tricky. He has battled stuttering since he was a child. He lost his mother, Annette, to colon cancer in 2004 just before his senior season at Kansas State. The Chargers let him go, the Saints did, too, and it hurt him, yet, neither team seems the same without him.

It is not just his shiny numbers. Not just the fact that no one has ever had an NFL season (2011) or a playoff game (2009) where they produced more all-purpose yards than him. Whether at running back or receiver or returning kicks, his spark and mark is indelible.

Sproles is a remarkable reminder that sometimes what you see, thankfully, is not all that you get.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees understood this when he first met Sproles and was surprised at how small he was in person and thought "where do you put him?" and "what do you do with him," before later declaring: "A player like this comes along once in a lifetime and he is a special player, person and teammate."

Sproles has quickly made that kind of impact with the Eagles. They traded a 2014 fifth-round draft pick to the Saints to grab him and turn him loose. The move caused him to reflect. It also thrust him forward in renewed energy.

“A breath of fresh air for me” is how Sproles describes it.

And this is how his Eagles teammates describe him:

Tight end Brent Celek: "You always had seen that he was a great player. You've seen him do things that no one else in the league can do. But I didn't know the kind of leader he is. I am surprised that anyone would let him go. Why? He is the total package as a person, player and in locker room presence. And he has been doing that for 10 years. Everyone here looks up to him. He does things the right way.''

Receiver Jeremy Maclin: “A likable guy. Electrifying on the football field. He runs better inside the tackles than I thought. A good trade for us. I’ve been here six years. He is already one of my better friends in here.”

Linebacker Mychal Kendricks: “I like the way that guy comes to work every day. He handles his business in such a mature way. He is someone you look to and are inspired by. You forget that he has played a long time. He’s quiet. But you know he’s around.”

As a child, the stuttering began, the words stuck, messages were lost. Difficulty. Sproles tried learning to live with it. His father, Larry, said he and his wife found help for their son in junior high from a speech pathologist.

“He started going twice a week,” Larry said. ``He’s always been a person who didn’t talk too much. He opens up some around people he knows. When he talks, he likes to keep it light and laughing. He can talk all day like that. But he doesn’t like to get too deep. He was one of the finalists for the Heisman Trophy at Kansas State. He was so glad when he didn’t win it. One reason. He didn’t want to give that speech.”

At Kansas State coach Bill Snyder became an enduring mentor.

“My father has always been more like a friend than just a dad and we have a great relationship,” Sproles said. “But when I went to Kansas State, coach Snyder was like a father away from home. He was the one when I got there who got me ready for the real world. He taught me how to be on time for everything. He put that structure in my life for me. He always told me to just keep working hard. Keep working hard and it would pay off. And that is what I did with my speech. I have worked on it. It has improved.

“I think it’s the worst when the cameras are on me. The cameras make me do that. Not so much talking one-on-one. But the cameras, I don’t know, it makes me feel like someone is watching me more. Yet, I know the cameras are watching me when I’m on the field and millions of people are watching me play. I’m fine with that. I’m learning just to relax. Take my time. Work on it. The more I do the more it is going away. I’ll keep working on it.”

When Sproles returned to Kansas State this season, Snyder said he saw the same guy from so many years ago. The same spirit.

“He came to one of our ballgames here during his week off, maybe it was our Auburn game, and he still has that ability to make you feel so comfortable around him,” Snyder said. “It’s his humility and the value system he has in place. He’s had an extended career and not let all of the stuff outside of pro football be detrimental in the way it has with so many who can’t handle it, all of the fluff. He lost his mother while he was here. They were very close. It was very difficult for him. Painful. We talked about it a lot.”

Sproles’ mother, Annette, was 41 when she died in April 2004. His father says he and Annette met in the seventh grade. He says that Sproles is quiet like her. Gets along with people like she did. “That was his girl there, Jack!” his father says with profound emotion and love.

Eagles cornerback Nolan Carroll II has a locker next to Sproles at the Eagles complex. Carroll calls it "the luck of the draw." He saw how Sproles handled the NFL's Breast Cancer Awareness discussions last month.

“The reporters asked him about it during that time and you could see the awareness he has and that it means more to him than some,” Carroll said. It is a sensitive subject to him that means a lot. It’s tough on him.”

He has learned to live with it and live beyond it.

“I pray about it,” Sproles said. “She was a strong woman. The way she took care of our household was amazing. Not one time did I hear her say she was tired. She was one of those women that everyone loved. I sit here sometimes and think about it. My kids will never get the chance to meet their grandmother. Sometimes I see her in my dreams. I talk to her in my dreams. She talks to me. They are very real.”

Sproles and his wife Michel have been married for nearly five years.

“We are different,” Sproles said. “I am more quiet. But when I need to say something, I say it. She always has something to say. It’s great. It works just right.”

Together they run the Sproles Empowered Youth Program, a mentoring camp for youth ages 15-17. Sproles holds his for boys in June in Kansas City near where he grew up and Michel holds hers for girls in July in San Diego where they live during off-seasons.

Their daughters are Devyn (5) and Rhyan (2).

“Everything I do,” said Sproles, “I do for them.”

His father knows.

“Being a dad gets him so excited,” Larry said. “He loves it. He loves everything about it. It’s what drives him to get up every day, to provide for those girls.”

Football drives him.

"They would tell me later that if I came in at 5-foot-9 or even 5-foot-8, I would have been a first-round pick," Sproles said softly.

ey didn’t want to pay me what I thought I was worth.” He said the Saints traded him this year for the same reasons.

“But I was hurt the way the Saints handled it,” Sproles said. “I found out on social media. I moved on. San Diego gave me a chance to show what I could do. New Orleans gave me a chance, in Drew, to play with one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.”

In Philadelphia, he has created a new schedule, a new home, a new tool for Eagles coach Chip Kelly’s quick-witted offense. Sproles has exhibited the same spectacular skills. The ability to hide behind big linemen in the run game - you can’t tackle what you can’t see - and dart through for big plays. His compact strength and power to break arm tackles. His sudden change of direction. His pass-catching punch, especially on screens. And his kick returns that awe.

He is an effective blocker in the passing game. And the amazing thing about Sproles is he gains as much enjoyment blocking for his quarterback to assist in an 80-yard scoring play downfield as much as he does scoring on an 80-yard play. Some players might say that and convince themselves they mean it.

With Sproles, it resonates as real truth.

People say he reminds them of former NFL stars Barry Sanders and Warrick Dunn. He likes that.

But Sproles has risen so tall that he has opened more doors for other shorter NFL players. He has become a standard of comparison.

“I’m a space type of player,” Sproles said. “I love being in space. That is my strong point. I can run inside, but in space I can be more shifty. More creative. I know it’s a playoff-type game, but I’m treating Dallas like any other week. A day at a time.”

Sometimes what you see, thankfully, is not all that you get.

★★★

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