Why Eagles gave Sydney Brown a red star before the draft

Why Eagles gave 3rd-rounder a red star before the draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Howie Roseman was excited about drafting Illinois Sydney Brown on Friday night and he wasn’t alone in the NovaCare Complex.

Brown, 23, was taken early in the third round, No. 66 overall.

“Sydney Brown was a passion player for a lot of people in this organization,” Roseman said late on Friday evening. “He was a red star guy. And I think just a tremendous person with obviously really good athletic tools, leadership ability, and for us, just excited to get him in the building.”

A red star guy? What the heck does that mean?

Well, Roseman explained.

“That’s a guy who kind of exemplifies what it means to be an Eagle,” he answered. “So it’s great character, captain, testing numbers, intelligence, plays the way it should be played, practices the way it should be played.”

Brown checked all those boxes for the Eagles this season.

Roseman said the Eagles sit down each Wednesday night before the draft begins the next day to hand out those red stars. It’s a process the organization takes seriously and it’s an honor that sometimes really matters when the draft begins.

“We go around the room, and we give every scout a chance to stamp their red star on guys,” Roseman said. “Goes back, it’s a long tradition, not only here but a couple of other places that people have been, and when we’re looking at the draft board we have a red star on the guys, and Jeffrey (Lurie) a lot of times will go, ‘Hey, don’t forget, and we’re deciding between those two guys, that’s a red star guy.’ I think for us, it gives our scouts a chance to really put their name on guys, and that gives them a lot of pride.”

When asked for some examples of previous red star players, Roseman named DeVonta Smith and Landon Dickerson. While there’s obviously going to be some selective memory when it comes to naming these guys, it is a fascinating look into the draft process.

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Roseman said the Eagles name around 10 “red star” players in the draft each year and they’re at all levels of the draft.

“They don’t necessarily mean the first round,” he said. “There are guys that are in the fifth and sixth round. There are undrafted free agents that are red star guys. Sometimes the scouts, they understand the first-round picks — the first-round picks are usually organizational decisions. Those are ones where everyone is involved in.

“But when you get later in the draft and certainly when you get into the undrafted free agent process, guys have a chance to put their name on guys and go recruit guys, and they do it with our coaches.”

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