Nick Piccone
Connor Barwin is one of the most likable athletes in this city. He does a ton of charity work, posts pictures of him building snowmen, and is a force on the field. The guy didn’t have a negative thing to say about Chip Kelly when the rest of the organization and players were throwing him under the bus, backing up, and running him over with it. Barwin is one of the few true good guys.
Perhaps part of that goodness in his heart came from another Eagle great, tight end Chad Lewis. Barwin was on The Preston & Steve Show on 93.3 WMMR a couple weeks ago and shared this great story about his interaction with Lewis when he was just a kid.
I went to one game in 7th or 8th grade at Ford Field. The Lions were playing the Eagles in Detroit. After the game, Chad Lewis threw me his elbow pad and I wore it for my next two football seasons.
I’ve never met Chad. I know he was a great player for the Eagles. But, because of that moment, when the game ends at The Linc, I throw my gloves to a kid in the stands.
You can listen to the entire interview here around the 1:52:30 mark.
And yesterday during Eagles practice, Chad Lewis made an appearance, and said Barwin was a great dude and he had no idea he caught one of his elbow pads from the stands. Full circle, people.
“I’ve heard so much about him and it was so great to actually meet him,” Lewis said. “He’s an unbelievable player and then you hear about all the work he does in the community, how he rides his bike to work, all the charity events he does – he’s just a great guy and really a tremendous representative of the Eagles.”
“I always threw my elbow sleeves and my gloves up to kids in the stands after every game,” Lewis said. “It’s so cool that he caught one of them when he was a kid. I love that. It means a lot that it’s a guy who became an Eagle and plays the game the way he does and represents the city the way he does.”