Sunday Insider: DeSean Jackson is mostly a blur

The Eagles didn't have a first-round draft pick in 2008. But they did OK in the second round when they used the 49th overall pick on a skinny, 175-pound receiver from Cal named DeSean Jackson.

"DeSean and I were in the same draft class, and when I saw him in person the first time, I said, 'No way this guy can play in the NFL, let alone be a star in the NFL,' " said Trevor Laws, an Eagles defensive tackle and the 2002 Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year at Apple Valley.

"But once you see DeSean with the ball in his hands, you see exactly why he's a star."

Jackson is one of the NFL's more electrifying and fastest players. Heading into Sunday night's game against the Vikings, Jackson is a 1,000-yard receiver with six touchdowns and a 22.8-yard average per catch. And, oh yeah, he's also coming off a game in which he beat the Giants 38-31 on the road while becoming the first player in the 91-year history of the NFL to return a punt for a game-winning touchdown as time expired. It capped a fourth-quarter rally in which the Eagles scored 28 unanswered points in the final 8 minutes.

"That was crazy, man," Laws said. "In all my sporting events, all my wrestling at Apple Valley, all my football at Apple Valley and Notre Dame, everything, that was the craziest comeback, the craziest game, the craziest anything I've been a part of. It was just awesome seeing a bunch of grown men jumping up and down like kids."

Laws was drafted two spots ahead of Jackson in 2008. So he's been around him long enough to know Jackson becomes, shall we say, a little unorthodox when he gets near the goal line.

On the game-winner against the Giants, Jackson was heading for the goal line down the right sideline when he took a hard left at the 1 and coasted for a while before turning right into the end zone. He's lucky the Eagles weren't flagged for having too many players on the field during the 65-yard dash.

Laws is the Eagles' backup defensive tackle on first and second downs, and a first-stringer in the nickel pass-rushing package and in goal-line and short-yardage situations. He's played 41 NFL games with one start, which came at Detroit in Week 2 this season. His first four career sacks have come this year, including two in a Week 3 victory at Jacksonville.

"I'm also on the wedge on kickoff returns," Laws said. "Believe me, that gets pretty intense."

Laws has had some athletic success in his 25 years. He led Apple Valley to three consecutive state wrestling titles. He was 49-0 as a heavyweight his junior season, and was considered the best prep heavyweight in the country his senior year.

"This year's Eagles team has a special feeling about it," Laws said. "Like last week. We knew we're certainly better than the New York Giants. So we were all shocked they got control and the score was 31-10 midway through the fourth quarter. But guys like Michael Vick were pacing the sideline back and forth keeping us together and playing hard."

Laws was going into his second season last summer when the Eagles took a chance on Vick, who was coming off a two-year prison sentence for running a dog-fighting ring.