Brian Westbrook Brian Collins Westbrook ( born September 2 , 1979 ) is a retired American football running back who played for nine seasons in the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft after playing college football at Villanova . Following an eight - year career with the Eagles , in which he earned two Pro Bowl selections in 2004 and 2007 , Westbrook signed with the San Francisco 49ers , for whom he played in 2010 . Early years . Westbrook attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville , Maryland and was an excellent student and a letterman in football and basketball . In football , as a senior , he was a first team All - League selection , a first team All - Prince George ' s County selection , and an All - State Honorable Mention selection . As a junior , he was a first team All - Washington Catholic Athletic Conference selection and an All - State Honorable Mention selection . College career . After DeMatha , Westbrook played college football at Villanova University from 1997 – 2001 . Though he battled through several injuries , he holds the all - time NCAA record with 9 , 512 all - purpose yards , breaking the 9 , 301 yards accumulated by Brian Shay of Emporia State University . In 46 career games , he scored 542 points with 84 touchdowns , carried the ball 725 times for 4 , 298 yards ( 6 . 2 avg . ) , caught 219 passes for 2 , 582 yards ( 11 . 79 avg . ) and gained 2 , 289 yards and four touchdowns on kickoff returns . Along the way , he established 41 school , 13 Atlantic Ten Conference and five NCAA records . Westbrook became the only player in I - AA history to score 160 or more points twice in a career and the first player in the history of college football at any level with 1 , 000 rushing and 1 , 000 receiving yards in one season ( 1998 ) . He is one of only three players in Villanova history to rush for over 1 , 000 yards in a season and he accomplished that feat three times . Westbrook was a consensus All - America and two - time CAA offensive player of the year and was the 2001 recipient of the Walter Payton Award ( as the top player in NCAA Division I - AA ) . As a senior , he amassed 2 , 823 combined net yards and scored 29 touchdowns . Professional career . 2002 NFL Draft . Despite his dominance in college , NFL teams were hesitant to draft him in the 2002 NFL Draft for three reasons : his small size ( he was listed at only 5 ' 8 " , 200 lb ( 91 kg ) ) , his injury history ( he missed an entire college season with a knee injury ) , and the fact that he did not play college football for a NCAA Division I - A school . Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid liked what he had seen from Westbrook and drafted him in the third round . Philadelphia Eagles . Westbrook saw limited time in the 2002 season , but he threw a touchdown pass to receiver Todd Pinkston on a trick play in a September 2002 rout of the Dallas Cowboys . He made his mark in the NFL in the 2003 season with a fourth quarter punt return for a touchdown to defeat the New York Giants 14 - 10 in the closing minutes on October 19 , 2003 . The play managed to turn the Eagles ' season around as they went to the NFC Championship Game . Westbrook , who scored eleven touchdowns by ground and air , missed the playoffs that year after tearing a triceps muscle in the final game of the season against the Washington Redskins . After the departure of previous starter Duce Staley and a pre - season injury to Correll Buckhalter , Westbrook became the starting running back for 2004 . He rushed for a career high 812 yards , led all NFL running backs in receiving with 73 receptions for 703 yards , and scored nine touchdowns , creating numerous problems with opposing teams ' defenses and helping to propel the Eagles to a 13 - 3 season . In the playoffs , Westbrook had 117 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in a 27 - 14 win against the Vikings , and 135 yards from scrimmage in the NFC Championship win against the Falcons . Westbrook and the Eagles would go on to play in the city ' s first Super Bowl in 25 years . He would have a solid performance in Philadelphia ' s Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots , rushing for 44 yards , catching seven passes for 60 yards , and scoring one touchdown . He also played in his first Pro Bowl the following week . Westbrook signed a five - year contract extension with the Eagles in November 2005 , after holding out of training camp and months of hectic negotiations . On December 6 , 2005 , with over 1 , 200 total yards rushing and receiving , it was announced that Westbrook would miss the rest of the 2005 season due to a mid - foot injury he sustained during a 42 – 0 Monday night loss to the Seattle Seahawks . During the 2005 season , numerous Eagles starters battled injuries throughout the entire year , and the team finished 6 - 10 just one year removed from their Super Bowl berth . Westbrook resumed his productivity in 2006 , despite early injury concerns over a swollen knee . With a season - ending injury to McNabb on November 19 , 2006 , Westbrook stepped up and became the keystone of the Philadelphia offense . On November 26 , 2006 , he became the first Eagle to rush for over 100 yards in three straight games since Wilbert Montgomery did it 25 years earlier . Westbrook set a career - high in rushing yards with 1 , 217 , topping 1 , 000 yards for the first time in his career . He also led the team with 77 receptions for 699 receiving yards . His eleven total touchdowns ( seven rushing and four receiving ) were also tops on the Eagles . On January 7 , 2007 Westbrook set a career - postseason rushing record , rushing for 141 yards on twenty carries against the New York Giants , including a 49 - yard touchdown . The following week against the New Orleans Saints , Westbrook nearly willed the team to another playoff victory , scoring two touchdowns in the game . After his strong playoff performance , Westbrook picked up right where he left in 2007 and cemented himself as one of the top backs in the league . He had over 100 yards rushing and receiving combined in twelve of the fifteen games that he played . His 1 , 333 rushing yards were a new career high and his 2 , 104 yards from scrimmage led the NFL . Westbrook was named to his second Pro Bowl and first All - Pro team , after setting a new franchise record with 90 receptions . On August 8 , 2008 , Westbrook signed a five - year , $ 32 million extension with the Eagles , with the possibility of earning another $ 3 million after the first three seasons if incentives are met . On September 15 , 2008 , in a Monday night loss to the Dallas Cowboys , Westbrook caught one touchdown and rushed for two more , making him only the seventh player in NFL history to rush for 30 and catch 25 touchdowns in his career . On October 26 , 2008 , coming off a rib and ankle injury , Westbrook did not show any rust whatsoever against Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in his first action since Week 5 , recording a career - high 167 yards and two touchdowns off 22 carries and adding 42 yards off six receptions . Then in week 13 , he scored two receiving and two rushing touchdowns with 100 + yards , the first time since 1975 . Westbrook entered the 2009 season finally recovered from the injuries he sustained in 2008 , but would see only seven starts during season , due to additional injuries suffered . In week 7 , Westbrook suffered a concussion and would not return until week 10 , when he would suffer yet another concussion and be forced to miss the majority of the remainder of the season , being played sparingly in the consecutive losses to Dallas in the season finale and wild - card round . Westbrook was released by the Eagles on March 5 , 2010 . San Francisco 49ers . Westbrook signed a one - year contract with the San Francisco 49ers including $ 1 . 25 million guaranteed on August 16 , 2010 . The 49ers ' decision to sign Westbrook came after the sudden retirement of second year backup running back Glen Coffee . On November 29 , 2010 , during the Monday Night game versus the Arizona Cardinals , starting halfback Frank Gore fractured his hip , ending his season . Filling in for the injured Gore , Westbrook carried the ball 23 times for 136 yards and 1 touchdown . Prior to his 2010 breakout effort , Westbrook had only amassed a total of five carries for 9 yards . Retirement . On August 28 , 2012 , it was announced that Westbrook would retire as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles . Westbrook retired from the NFL as a Philadelphia Eagle on August 29 , 2012 . Westbrook began the 2013 season as a member of the panel of the Eagles - related show " Post - Game Live " on the Comcast Sportsnet Network , along with Michael Barkann , Ed Rendell and Ray Didinger . Personal . Westbrook has a younger brother , Byron Westbrook , who played defensive back at Salisbury University in Maryland and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Washington Redskins in 2007 . Their cousin , Lawrence Westbrook , played basketball at the University of Minnesota . His second cousin , Jamire Westbrook plays for the Miami of Ohio football team as a runningback . Although it has been reported in various media biographies that Westbrook is the cousin of NBA player Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder , this is not the case . A July 2008 " Daily Oklahoman " article reported that Russell Westbrook said the two are not cousins . On March 16 , 2013 , it was reported that Brian Westbrook is experiencing memory loss .