Jody Schulz Jody John Schulz ( born August 17 , 1960 in Easton , Maryland ) is a former American football linebacker who played for five seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League from 1983 – 1987 . He was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 1983 NFL Draft . He played college football at Chowan JC and East Carolina . Early years . Schulz attended Queen Anne ' s County High School in Centreville , Maryland . He played football , but his team was " terrible " and did not win many games . He did not try hard in school and dropped out for one year and thought about getting married until the woman he was going to marry was killed in a car crash . Schulz got arrested while out of school , and the judge at a court hearing told him to either go back to school , or go to jail . College career . Chowan University . Schulz attended Chowan University to play college football , but when he first arrived , he was ninth on the depth chart at defensive end . Because so many players tried out for the team , Schulz did not receive a helmet until other players quit the team . In his first season , Schulz won more games than he had his entire high school career . He was inducted into the Chowan University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992 . East Carolina University . Chowan University played against the East Carolina Pirates junior varsity football team , and an assistant coach for the Pirates , Gary Fast , recruited Schulz and about eight or nine other players to East Carolina to play for head coach Ed Emory . Schulz was also recruited by other schools such as Wake Forest , Maryland , Virginia Tech and Tulane . Schulz was favoring going to Wake Forest because he liked their linebackers coach , and told Fast that he was thinking about going there to play football . That day , Fast came to Schulz ' s door and tried to talk him into coming to East Carolina . Fast came back the following day and the day after that in hopes of convincing Schulz to sign a letter - of - intent to East Carolina . Fast explained to Schulz that coach Emory told Fast not to come back to East Carolina if he could not get Schulz to sign a letter - of - intent . When Fast could still not convince Schulz , he called Emory , and , during a snowstorm , flew in to Kent Island , Maryland , where Schulz lived . As soon as Schulz saw Emory get off the airplane , he signed the letter - of - intent immediately . In 1981 , with Schulz leading the defense , Emory recorded his first winning season as head coach . Schulz led the team in tackles in 1981 with 125 tackles . He also had nine sacks . He earned honorable mention All - America honors by the " Associated Press " . In 1982 , Schulz made 105 tackles and 10 sacks and earned " Associated Press " All - America honors . After the season , he tried to get a redshirt out of his freshman year at Chowan in order to play for the Pirates in 1983 , but could not get it since he played too much his freshman year . Schulz played in the Blue - Gray Football Classic on December 25 , 1982 . Schulz was inducted into the East Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999 . Professional career . The Green Bay Packers told Schulz that they were going to draft him in the 1983 NFL Draft . However , he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round ( 46th overall ) , one pick before the Packers would pick . He became the highest draft pick ever to come out of East Carolina until Robert Jones was drafted in the first round ( 24th overall ) of the 1991 NFL Draft . He was also drafted in the 14th round of the 1983 USFL Draft by the Washington Federals , but he chose to sign with the Eagles . He signed a series of one - year contracts with the Eagles on May 24 , 1983 . He quickly became the starter at left outside linebacker for the team , and in his NFL debut , a game against the Packers , Schulz made two sacks and had more than 10 tackles . A few weeks later , against the Denver Broncos , Schulz injured his knee , his first injury since before college . He subsequently injured it many times during the season . A more serious knee injury caused him to miss the entire 1985 season . He received the Ed Block Courage Award in 1986 after he came back from the injury . Schulz was released on April 27 , 1988 and subsequently retired thereafter . After football . Schulz runs his family ' s seafood restaurant with his parents , the Fisherman ' s Inn , which burned down in 1980 and has since been rebuilt . Schulz opened the Salts Pond Marina Resort on Kent Island . He is currently the President of the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department . Personal . Schulz is married to his wife , Sherri , and they have four sons : Dusty , Kirby , Kolby and Dorsey .