Eagles - Specialists weigh in on art of kick returns

THE NFL record book says that Timmy Brown returned not one but two kickoffs for touchdowns in a game against Dallas in November 1966. But what Brown says of that unlikely episode in his career is that it caught him by surprise, if only because he had been at odds with the coaching staff and relegated to the bench. Told only the day before the game that he would be running back kickoffs that Sunday, Brown remembers that he exclaimed: "Hallelujah!" He says now: "I knew I could do something if I got the opportunity." But he could not have expected what happened that day at Franklin Field. In what would be a 24-23 Eagles victory, Brown returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown but scarcely had a moment to catch his breath. The Cowboys immediately scored and kicked off to him again. He caught the ball on his own 7-yard line and took off down the field. He lined up behind his blockers, found an opening in the swarm of would-be tacklers that had descended upon him, and drew within view of the end zone. But as the yards flew by beneath him, Brown began to feel as if he were running in the sand on the Jersey Shore. "By the time I was 30 yards out, I was barely able to pick 'em up," says Brown, only one of seven NFL players to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in a single game - and the only Eagle. "My legs began to tighten up. So it was lucky the Cowboys pooped out just as I pooped out. It was like everything was happening in slow motion." If it sometimes feels like it has been 42 years since the Eagles had a formidable return game, it is not altogether your imagination. Oh, they've enjoyed some sporadic moments of brilliance, but it's been a while. They have not had a kickoff returned for a touchdown since Brian Mitchell ran one back 94 yards against Arizona in November 2001. It has been nearly that long since they have had a punt run back for a TD: Brian Westbrook returned one 81 yards against San Francisco in December 2003. Too often, the return game has been a hold-your-breath proposition, which was underscored last year in the season opener against Green Bay: A J.R. Reed muff deep in his own territory set up a game-winning field goal by the Packers; Greg Lewis also had botched a punt earlier in the game. Quickly, the club signed the sure-handed but unspectacular Reno Mahe. LINK IT FOR MORE