Hall of Fame DB Brian Dawkins offers advice to 2025 NFL Draft safety prospects

USA Today

24-04-2025

Hall of Fame DB Brian Dawkins offers advice to 2025 NFL Draft safety prospects
This week, Touchdown Wire's Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Pro Football Hall of Famer and Philadelphia Eagles legend Brian Dawkins.
In his interview with Easton Jr., Dawkins discussed representing Boehringer & Lilly's "It Takes 2" health initiative, spreading awareness about getting tested for kidney disease, and offering advice for this year's draft prospects.
Kidney disease is a progressive and potentially life-threatening condition that impacts more than 35 million adults in the U.S. Dawkins' parents have a history of both type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, which makes it critical for both to focus on their kidney health, and is why he joined the cause.
Dawkins was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 and shared his wisdom with the safety class as they enter the 2025 NFL Draft.
"The thing that I would tell all of them is, don't set yourself into one seat like that. What I mean by that is, don't plug yourself at being a one-role type of person because that person is not likely to be able to have success on this next level, with where the game has gone; you have to be versatile," said Dawkins, "You have to be able to do a multitude of things. So, the more you can do at a high level, the better you will be. For that defensive coordinator, you become a chess piece. Instead of a checker moving from one place to the next, that piece can move everywhere. So you become a chess piece. Make sure that you're versatile in that way. Make sure your mindset is that you're versatile so that your body will follow the lead of your mind."
From 2016 to 2017, Dawkins worked in the Eagles' front office as the executive for player development in football operations. He reflected on handling the draft from that perspective.
"So I got a chance to see how all that stuff is put together, how the draft board is put together," said Dawkins. "I got another level of appreciation for the scouting department. Philadelphia has an extremely talented scouting department. Those cats put in a lot of hours to do what they do to make sure that the right individuals can fit into Philadelphia. Not everybody and I always say this, not everybody can play in Philadelphia. It is what it is like. You gotta have a certain mindset to play in Philadelphia."
Dawkins worked in the front office during the Eagles' 2017 Super Bowl season, working closely with executive vice president and general manager Howie Roseman.
"So they do a great job of presenting Howie (Roseman) the different individuals that they believe could come into Philadelphia to play the game the way that it needs to be played again in Philadelphia, which is different." said Dawkins, "I've had a completely different appreciation for the hours that they spend, the traveling that they do all over America to make sure that as much as they can, they can vet the young person to make sure that he's a fit for Philadelphia."