Ex-Eagle Arrington shining with Patriots

His NFL career began with an anonymous, forgotten press release the Eagles sent out to the media back on April 28, 2008.

The Eagles signed seven undrafted rookie free agents: Wide receivers Shaheer McBride, Frantz Hardy and Terrell Golden; fullback Jed Collins; cornerback Kyle Arrington:, linebacker Justin Roland; and offensive tackle Franklin Dunbar.

Welcome to the remarkable story of Kyle Arrington, who in the span of three years has gone from obscure Eagles undrafted training camp castoff to sure-fire Pro Bowl pick with the Patriots.

Ive seen that guy go from a practice squad guy to a nickel back guy to a starting corner and now he leads the league in interceptions, Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. Im not surprised. Im pretty sure hes not surprised, because Im not surprised, and my teammates arent surprised, because we put so much into this game.

Arrington returns to Philly Sunday, three years after his brief stay with the Eagles. Only this time, hes not an unknown practice squad rookie. Hes one of the best cornerbacks in football.

Arrington went undrafted out of Hofstra in the 2008 draft, and the Eagles signed him the day after the draft. He spent the entire offseason and training camp with the Eagles and survived up until final cuts, when he was released along with Jerome McDougle, Montae Reagor and Scott Young.

The Eagles added him to their practice squad two days later, then released him a week after that so they could sign another corner, Jonathan Hefney, to the practice squad.

It seems like yesterday, Arrington said Friday. It was a lot like here. Very disciplined. Disciplined team. Andy Reid was looking for disciplined players. Training camp was rough. That was my first training camp. And they never get any easier, I'll tell you that much.

Me and Quintin Demps, he was drafted in the fourth round that year, that was my BFF at the time. That was my boy. DeSean was very cool, too. During training camp he would keep me up coming in my room, him and Quintin, playing NBA 2k. They were keeping me up at night. That or Tiger Woods. It was one of the two.

I learned a lot of fundamentals in Philly. Techniques as far as becoming better at my position. It was definitely beneficial. I'm forever grateful that Philadelphia gave me my first shot.

The Buccaneers signed him a week after the Eagles released him, and he spent all of 2008 on Tampas practice squad. They promoted him to the active roster for the 2009 season opener against the Cowboys, then cut him one day later.

Arrington was out of football until November of 2009, when the Patriots added him to their practice squad and finally moved him onto their active roster. He became a starter last year and 10 games into the 2011 season leads the NFL with seven interceptions.

All Eagles cornerbacks combined have five interceptions.

Arringtons seven INTs are the most by any undrafted player since the Vikings Brian Russell had nine in 2003. Theyre the most by a former Eagle since Mark McMillian of the Chiefs, the Eagles 10th-round pick in 1992, had eight INTs for the Chiefs in 1997.

You just never know.

He worked himself from the bottom all the way up, and he steadily climbed, said Wilfork, the Patriots three-time Pro Bowl pick.

One thing we talk about all the time doing around here is getting better each week, and thats individually and as a team, and if we get better each week as an individual, itll boost the whole team, and thats one guy, when we need plays, hes been showing up each week to make those plays. He works his tail off. Im very happy for him. Hes probably one of the hardest workers we have around here.

This is why the Patriots are the Patriots. This is what they do.

They drafted Brady in the sixth round and watched him win three Super Bowls. They signed unknown, undrafted 5-9 Wes Welker after he was cast off by the Dolphins and Chargers, and within two years he was the NFLs best wide receiver. And theyve turned Arrington from a fringe special teams player into a likely first-team all-pro cornerback.

I wouldnt say we saw him as a starting corner when he came on to the team, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. But I would say that he has a lot of skills that you like to work with. We did feel like he was a good special teams performer. In fact, he was our best special teams performer his first year. He made a lot of tackles, and he was very active and aggressive and then as he continued to develop as a defensive player, we can all see the role that hes developed into.

It's similar to the BenJarvus Green-Ellis story, similar to the Rob Ninkovich story, those kinds of things. But no, his primary role was in the kicking game, and he was able to lay a foundation on that and then build his opportunity and his role into something a lot more than that. But it definitely started with special teams.

Any NFL team could have had Arrington anytime in 2008 or 2009. Only one team wanted him. And now hes having a Pro Bowl season for the 7-3 Patriots, who lead the AFC West by two games.

The Patriots face the Eagles at 4:15 p.m. Sunday. The Eagles need a win to stay within two games of the NFC East-leading Cowboys, who got to 7-4 with a win over the Dolphins Thursday, and possibly within two games of the Giants, who face the Saints Monday night in New Orleans.

It will be the first time Arrington has played at the Linc since Aug. 28, 2008, when he started in the Eagles secondary alongside Joselio Hanson, J.R. Reed and Demps in the Eagles preseason game against the Jets.

He came from Hofstra, he was a free agent, and it was just a matter of him getting used to the National Football League, Reid said. And he was a good worker, talented. Doesnt surprise me a bit that hes doing so well. Hes a good football player. He just needed to make an adjustment to the NFL and thats what hes done. Hes played well this year.

When Arrington was here, Jim Johnson was his defensive coordinator and Sean McDermott was his position coach.

As a D1-AA free agent guy, I didn't get a lot of 1-on-1 with Andy, Arrington said. But I did with my position coach, of course. They told me I was a tremendous athlete, just extremely raw.

And the Eagles, with Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, Asante Samuel and Hanson all under contract and then-promising Jack Ikegwuonu on the injured list, just had no reason to keep Arrington around.

It's a business, and sometimes it comes down to a numbers game, Arrington said. You can try out for 31 other teams as well. That's what the preseasons for. Thankfully, I got another shot.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com