Brent Celek

Brent Steven Celek (born January 25, 1985) is an American football executive and former tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football at Cincinnati and was drafted by the Eagles in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft.

He played his entire 11 season career with the Eagles.

After not having been invited to the 2007 NFL Scouting Combine, Celek was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round (162nd overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft.

He signed a four-year contract with the team on May 30, 2007.

In 2008, Celek set franchise records for yards in a game with 131 in week 9 and receptions in a playoff game with 10 in the 2009 NFC Championship game.

He caught two touchdowns in a game against the Arizona Cardinals, and his 19 catches during the 2008-09 NFL playoffs were the third most in NFL history for a tight end.

Celek became the starting tight end for the Eagles after L. J. Smith departed via free agency to the Baltimore Ravens in 2009.

After scoring a touchdown in a week 9 game at home against the Dallas Cowboys, Celek was penalized for excessive celebration after teammate Jason Avant lifted his leg in order to impersonate the mascot for Captain Morgan rum.

After the incident, the NFL quickly banned what turned out to be a covert ad campaign allegedly put on by the company, whereas any NFL player that is caught striking the "Captain Morgan" pose on camera during a regular-season game would result in a donation of $10,000 to the Gridiron Greats, a non-profit which helps retired NFL players with various hardships after leaving the game.

The league chose not to penalize Celek, but stated that any future incident would be punished.

Celek signed six-year contract extension on December 1, 2009, to keep him under contract as an Eagle until after the 2016 season.

On December 27, 2009, in week 16 against the Denver Broncos, Celek made four catches for 121 yards and a touchdown, his third 100-yard game of the season.

His 47-yard touchdown catch was the longest of his career.

After having a breakout year with 76 catches (a team high), 971 yards and eight touchdowns, Celek was named to the 2009 USA Today All-Joe Team.

In the 2010 season, Celek caught 42 passes for 511 yards and 4 touchdowns, including a then career-long 65-yard touchdown against the New York Giants in week 15, in the Miracle at the New Meadowlands.

Celek ended the season with 811 receiving yards, as quarterback Michael Vick's favorite target.

He was one of three Eagle offensive players to start all 16 games, along with right tackle Todd Herremans and rookie center Jason Kelce.

During the offseason, Celek was a passenger in a DUI car accident, where no one was hurt.

Celek finished the season with 57 receptions for 684 yards and one touchdown.

There was much anticipation going into the season due to the Eagles' hiring of Chip Kelly to replace longtime head coach Andy Reid.

Celek finished the regular season with 32 receptions for 502 yards and six touchdowns after scoring a touchdown in each of the final two weeks.

In the opening-round playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints, Celek caught two passes on three targets for 16 yards.

Going into the 2014 season, his eighth in the NFL, Celek stood second in Eagles team history in three tight end categories—all behind career leader Pete Retzlaff—in receiving yards (4,050), receptions (322), and touchdowns (26).

Despite being the team's starter, Celek only had 90 yards in the team's first eight games (three of those games had no receptions), being used mostly for blocking.

When Nick Foles went down due to injury, Celek saw more catches from backup Mark Sanchez.

This was best showcased in a win over the Carolina Panthers, in which he caught 5 passes for 116 yards.

He also caught his lone touchdown of the season from Sanchez, a 1-yard catch against the Giants in Week 17.

Celek finished the season with 32 receptions for 340 yards and 1 touchdown, which was less than half of teammate Zach Ertz's total.

Despite Ertz's receiving ability, Celek remained the Eagles #1 tight end due to his superior blocking ability.

Similarly to 2014, Celek had an uneventful start, only getting one catch on one target for six yards in three games.

However, in a Week 4 divisional matchup against the Redskins, he scored his first touchdown of the season on a 10-yard catch and run from new quarterback Sam Bradford.

Celek helped the Eagles win Super Bowl LII over the New England Patriots during the 2017 season; he subsequently retired that offseason.

Celek played high school football at La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He was named first-team all-district as both a junior and senior.

He set a school record after catching a pass for 89 yards.

He also lettered in track two years in the shot put and discus.

Celek played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats, the first year under head coach Rick Minter and the following three seasons under Mark Dantonio.

He won the UC Claude Rost Award (Most Valuable Player) and was a second-team All-Big East Conference selection.

His four-year totals were 91 receptions for 1,135 yards (a 12.5 average) and 14 touchdowns, with the Bearcats earning victories his senior year in the International Bowl and his sophomore season in the Fort Worth Bowl.