By Jack Firneno
Wire Editor
Next Sunday, David String will watch the Eagles special teams in action against the Houston Texans. The day before, he’ll have been on the Philadelphia team’s practice field, kicking a few field goals of his own.
The 24-year-old Feasterville resident is one of 60 finalists vying for a chance to kick a 40-yard field goal during the Birds’ Nov. 23 game against the Tennessee Titans. It’s part of the Eagles’ $20,000 Field Goal Challenge, a contest launched by Santander Bank, one of the team’s sponsors.
Finalists were chosen from people who answered Eagles trivia questions online, and if one of the lucky contestants manages to make a field goal at the game, they’ll head home with 20 grand.
String made it to the final round after his third entry in the trivia contest a few months ago. Now the next step is a tryout with other finalists this Saturday at the NovaCare Stadium, the team’s regular practice field in Philadelphia.
The tryout itself is exciting for String, even if he’s not holding out much hope to make it to the game. “I’m just hoping I don’t make a fool of myself,” he laughed. But it will still be an amazing experience for a diehard Eagles fan who watches every game and attended training camp every year through college.
“I’m excited to see the inside of the NovaCare Complex, and check it out behind the scenes if I can,” he said.
But, that doesn’t mean he’s not trying hard. String spent the better part of the afternoon last Saturday training in the backyard. His girlfriend, he noted, graciously agreed to be his holder as he “got the muscles working,” teaching himself how to kick field goals after watching an instructional YouTube video.
“I saw a video of Howard Eskin kicking where he didn’t even get it airborne. I’m trying to get it at least a little better than that,” he laughed.
He hoped to be at it again at least on the Saturday before the tryout, after a few days of lousy weather kept him indoors during the week. “I hope to get a few hours in before going to the Flyers game,” he said.
So far, String has managed to successfully kick a few 30-yard field goals during practice. String played soccer in high school, but hasn’t done much since then and also noted that the kicking techniques in soccer and football are very different.
But he’s getting the hang of it — and he’s got some familiar competition. One of the last people to enter the finals, a Telford resident, is engaged to String’s girlfriend’s best friend.
The two have hung out a few times, said String, and will probably head down to the tryout together. They haven’t been trading much in the way of techniques, although String did learn one piece of information about his competitor’s training:
“I know he had to go out and buy a holder, because his fiancee wouldn’t hold the ball for him.”
