Kenneth Gainwell: Philadelphia Eagles running back on living childhood dream and bringing a 'different attitude'

Memphis are penned in at their own 16-yard line facing a third-and-19 while trailing Penn State 14-13 in the 2019 Cotton Bowl; as quarterback Brady White takes the snap, linebacker Micah Parsons smells blood off the edge - only to be greeted by a soul-snatching chip block from running back Kenneth Gainwell.

The play still ended in a sack and the game in a 53-39 defeat, but Philadelphia Eagles fans took added pride in resurfacing the clip as they welcomed Gainwell to their ranks in round five of the 2021 NFL Draft, previewing a potential on-field reunion with Parsons after he was taken by their division rival Dallas Cowboys at No 12 overall.

Midnight green runs through the veins of the childhood Eagles fan. He was born in the same year the Eagles drafted Donovan McNabb and would later grow up with the Andy Reid teams of the 2010s, before studying the fleet-footed artistry of Michael Vick and Darren Sproles.

Gainwell had played the scenario out in his head time and time again, but even then he would never quite be prepared for the moment he saw the Philadelphia area code pop up on his phone during Draft week.

"My heart stopped beating for a little bit you know," he told Sky Sports. "Just seeing the call pop up on my phone, my heart stopped beating and I didn't know what to say really. I was like 'I'm just ready to come ball, ready to put in that work'.

"Just watching the NFL Draft for years and years and just seeing everybody excited once they get their name called, I finally got that opportunity to be in that situation and I felt the excitement that everybody else feels when they got Drafted so it was fun. I was excited, I was kind of scared a little bit because it's a call from a team that I've been liking for a very very long time."

"I've been dreaming about this for a long time and getting an opportunity to play for a team that I'm a fan of, I'm really a fan of the Eagles and now I'm going to be a student and a guy that is going to show love to the fans. It's exciting."

His Draft fate made for a natural conflict of emotions, his surrounding family visibly ecstatic as he received the call despite a number of them being Cowboys fans. Gainwell is working on that.

"I just told them I'll see them whenever we play the Cowboys, but now everybody's turning to Eagles fans," added Gainwell. "I just told that when we get ready to play them, they better hold their breath."

Philly does however run in the family elsewhere, namely with Gainwell's older cousin, Eagles Super Bowl-winning, six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. While relishing the opportunity to team up with his fellow Yazoo City native, the 22-year-old wants to forge his own legacy in Pennsylvania.

"I'm excited about that but I'm trying to create my own path when it comes down to that," he explained. "I'm excited to be there with my cousin, excited to be an Eagle, it's just a lot of excitement.

"He told me it's a great organisation, it's a great city but we don't really talk too much about all that, it's about being ready when your name is called."

His connections in the NFC East don't stop there, a meeting with a familiar face beckoning as one of Gainwell's most eagerly-anticipated matchups in his rookie season.

"I want to play Washington (most), because I want to play against my old teammate Antonio Gibson," I've been calling him, talking to him and teasing him stuff like that so I'm excited about that game."

Gibson played with Gainwell in his final year at Memphis before being selected by Washington in the third round of the 2020 Draft and asserting himself as the team's leading running back across an outstanding debut campaign.

The Tigers' 2019 season had seen Gainwell lead things out of the backfield with 1,459 yards rushing for 13 touchdowns alongside his 51 catches for 610 yards and three scores, while Gibson featured primarily as a wide receiver with 38 receptions for 735 yards and eight trips to the end zone in addition to 369 yards for four touchdowns on the ground.

Their production followed on from that of now-Los Angeles Rams and Cowboys running backs Darrell Henderson and Tony Pollard is underlining the programme's knack for unearthing explosive dual-threats.

"It's just a system built for playmakers. You want to be a playmaker, you go to Memphis," said Gainwell.

If he isn't chip-blocking linebackers, he is gliding through polished receiver routes or weaving through tackles or twisting ankles with his devastating change of direction or showcasing his instincts and footwork while adjusting his body to haul in tough catches.

It was perhaps a sign of the times and the way in which running backs are valued that a player of Gainwell's expertise, projected by multiple analysts as a day two pick, was still on the board come pick No 150.

"I was a little bit surprised, but it isn't really all about that, it's about getting in the door and staying in that door. I know I know my reasons why I went later. I could have been first round but it's not to be.

"It's a big chip on my shoulder. I'm going to go in and be ready to do what I've got to do and be ready to ball."

In a sport of comparisons, Gainwell deems himself a 'rare breed' for what he offers on the field as an all-purpose hole punch well-aligned to the position's evolution.

Following initial conversations with head coach Nick Sirianni, he expects to be deployed in a similar way the former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator exploited the versatility of Nyheim Hines last season. The 2018 fourth-round pick finished the year with 63 catches for 482 yards and four touchdowns and 380 yards rushing for three scores, splitting his time between the backfield and lining up in the slot.

"I'm bringing an attitude that is real different, I'm bringing a talent that I feel the Eagles don't have, a running back you can legit put in the slot and run any routes, a legit guy you can throw all over the field and that can dominate anywhere on the field, that's what I feel like I bring," he said.

"I feel dangerous in the backfield, I feel dangerous in the slot, kind of both spots. I'm an athlete, I dominate everywhere, anywhere they put me even if it's on special teams, everywhere on the field."

His flexibility bodes well in what has become a crowded backfield in Philly, his arrival alongside recent waivers pickup Kerryon Johnson adding to Miles Sanders and Boston Scott, not to mention the rushing threat of quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Nonetheless, when it comes to envisioning his ideal rookie stats sheet there are no reservations as to what kind of impact he is seeking to make.

"I said 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards and the reason I set my bar that high is because I like to challenge myself," he explained.

Gainwell was among those to opt out of the 2020 college season in the wake of losing four family members to COVID-19.

While doing his utmost to replicate a typical training routine, the 22-year-old also used the gap to spend time fishing with his dad and get closer to his family in general.

"It was kind of hard but just sitting back and realising my family really come first before anything so I just had to take a step back, had to train as hard as I could, train all day for like five months straight," he recalled. "It was kind of heartbreaking but I kind of just put it behind me, went and trained and did what I had to do at Pro Day and results showed."

It made Draft week all the more special.

"Especially my mum and seeing my mum's reaction when it all happened it kind of made me shed tears a little bit, just seeing my family excited and happy about where I'm going I love it," he said.

"I plan on putting my family in situations to be great."

Gainwell's eventual Eagles debut, whenever it may come, will mark his first game since December 28, 2019. The day of THAT chip-block. Before then, he has some networking to do with Hurts, Fletcher and his new Philly teammates.

"I'm just ready to touch the field, I'm excited to put a helmet and pads back on and just to carry another football and to carry a football for a team that I truly love," he said.

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