page_title: Kyle Eckel
section_title: Early life and education
hierarchical_section_title: Kyle Eckel / Early life and education
caption_attribution_description: Description from source website: Navy fullback Kyle Eckel, a senior from Haverford, Pa., tries to outrun the Delaware defense. Eckel rushed for 143 yards and helped Navy to a homecoming win, 34-20, over Delaware at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Oct. 30 in Annapolis, Md. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell
context_page_description: Kyle Eckel is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2005 and won Super Bowl XLIV with the New Orleans Saints, beating the Indianapolis Colts. He played college football at Navy.
  Eckel was also a member of the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles.
context_section_description: Eckel attended Holy Spirit School in South Philadelphia throughout elementary school, where he played baseball and basketball. He played football for St. Monica's School, as Holy Spirit didn't have a program. Changing parishes during eighth grade, Eckel was able to attend and graduate Holy Spirit while playing football for The Saint Denis Bulldogs of Havertown, Pennsylvania.
  Eckel then attended Episcopal Academy in Merion Station, Pennsylvania (which later moved to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania) and was a letterman in football (three years), baseball (three years), and ice hockey (one year). In football, he was a two-time first team All-Area and All-League selection. As a senior, while team captain, he earned first-team All-City and All-Area honors as a middle linebacker. Eckel amassed nearly 3,000 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns in his high school career.
  While playing baseball for the Churchmen of Episcopal Academy, Eckel recorded a .460 batting average during his junior season, earning All-League, All-City and All-Area selections. He helped the Churchmen win their first league title in 50 years. As a senior, Eckel earned similar accolades, helped the Churchmen win another league title, was selected as a member of the Carpenter Cup All-Star team, and was selected to the All-League and All-Area teams. Eckel was most recently added to Ted Silary's "30 Year Inter-AC Football All-Star" team.
  Eckel attended the Naval Academy and was ranked as a preseason All-American and the top NFL fullback prospect in the country by draftboardinsider.com prior to his senior season at Navy. He was also nominated as a preseason candidate for the 2004 Doak Walker Award. He rushed for 1,147 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior, notably rushing 26 times for a career-high 179 yards and one touchdown against Army en route to being named the Philadelphia Sportswriters Most Valuable Player of the Army-Navy game for the second consecutive year.
  Eckel had 13 career 100-yard rushing games, the fourth most in school history, and became the third player in school history to twice gain 1,000 yards rushing in a season. As a junior, Eckel carried the ball 236 times for 1,249 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was named to the All-Independent team by College Football News. As a sophomore, Eckel rushed for 510 yards and four touchdowns before having his season cut short by injury. He finished his career with 2,906 rushing yards, which ranks fourth all-time at Navy, and registered 25 career rushing touchdowns, fourth in school history.
caption: Eckel runs for a touchdown in Navy's homecoming game against Delaware in 2004
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