 Cole with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 58 | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive end Linebacker | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1982-10-05)October 5, 1982 (age 42) Xenia, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 270 lb (122 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Xenia | ||||||||||||||||
| College: | Cincinnati (2001–2004) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2005: 5th round, 146th pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Trent James Cole Jr.[1] (born October 5, 1982) is an American former professionalfootball player who was adefensive end andlinebacker for 12 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL), primarily with thePhiladelphia Eagles. Cole playedcollege football for theCincinnati Bearcats and was selected by the Eagles in the fifth round of the2005 NFL draft, where he played with them from 2005 until 2014 and was a two-timePro Bowler. He ended his career after two seasons with theIndianapolis Colts.
Cole was born inXenia, Ohio. He starred atXenia High School, earning league and area Defensive Player of the Year honors after posting 121 tackles and 8 sacks as a senior. He also rushed for 1,241 yards and 10 touchdowns on his way to earning all-state honors, and played in the Ohio North-South all-star game. He lettered inbasketball,track andbaseball as well asfootball.
While attending theUniversity of Cincinnati, Cole played for theCincinnati Bearcats football team. He initially playednose tackle for the Bearcats. He was a two-time first-team All-Conference USA selection. Cole finished his career with 238 tackles, 19 sacks, 48 tackles for a loss, four forced fumbles, and two recovered fumbles. He started every game at weaksidedefensive end in 2004, totaling 68 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and 22 tackles for a loss (4th in nation). Also registered a safety and two blocked kicks. In 2002, he started nine games at defensive tackle before moving to defensive end and posted 86 tackles, five sacks, and 12 tackles for a loss, en route to Conference USA defensive newcomer of the year honors.
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | Wonderlic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+1⁄4 in (1.89 m) | 236 lb (107 kg) | 4.70 s | 4.22 s | 6.98 s | 38 in (0.97 m) | 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) | 15 reps | 14 | ||||
| All values from CincinnatiPro Day, except Wonderlic which is fromNFL Combine.[2] | ||||||||||||
Cole was selected in the fifth round of the2005 NFL draft by thePhiladelphia Eagles with the draft pick acquired from theWashington Redskins forwide receiverJames Thrash.[3] He signed a 4-year contract before his rookie season.
Cole worked hard during training camp and his general athletic ability impressed many fans and people within the organization. He used this to forge a promising year, taking over the starting job at right defensive end in week 10. Cole tallied 5 sacks on the year, which was impressive considering he only started 3 games in the year. He added 26 tackles during his time as a starter to bring his total for the year to 38.
With 5 sacks in his first 4 games, he was thought to start at the right end position, but with the signing ofDarren Howard, Cole would only play on pass downs during the 2006 season. But this changed in week 2, two weeks after star left endJevon Kearse went out with a fracturedtibia, the Eagles announced that Cole would start for Kearse. Since then, Cole has had 1.5 sacks, 26 tackles, 18 of them solo tackles, helping thePhiladelphia Eagles carry themselves to 5 straight wins and anNFC East title. Cole was First-team All-Rookie team honors byNFL.com,Pro Football Weekly after the season.
Cole signed a five-year contract extension on November 6, 2006, worth $26–28 million with a $12 million guarantee, which could keep him with the Eagles until 2013.
On December 17, 2006, against theNew York Giants, Cole recorded the first interception and touchdown of his career. This interception gave the Eagles a 14-point lead with under 3 minutes left. The touchdown by Cole sealed the Eagles win 36–22. He ended the season with a career-high 8 sacks. Also led the defensive line with a career-high 84 tackles and his interception.
Cole recorded 12.5 sacks in the2007 season which broke his personal single-season record. He was the first defensive end sinceClyde Simmons in 1986 to make the Pro Bowl as an Eagles draft pick. Cole is already 15th in team history in sacks. As impressive are his tackling numbers, his 70 tackles also put him first among all defensive ends in the NFC. On January 24, 2008, it was announced that he would be replacingPatrick Kerney in the2008 Pro Bowl.[4]
In2008 Cole led the team in hurries (22), and TFLs (9), was 2nd in sacks (9.0), and 3rd with 3 FFs while making 98 tackles (59 solo). He was named to theUSA Today 2008 All-Joe Team for the 3rd consecutive season, which honors the NFL players whose work does not necessarily garner headlines, but is integral to the success of their football team.
In week 15 of the2009 NFL season, Cole was disqualified with 8 seconds remaining in a game against theNew York Giants for throwing punches at Giants' offensive linemanShaun O'Hara. Both Cole and O'Hara were fined $15,000 by the NFL.[5] Cole was selected to the2010 Pro Bowl as a reserve. He was ranked 73rd by his fellow players on theNFL Top 100 Players of 2011.[6]
In week 1 of the 2011 NFL season, against the St. Louis Rams, Cole had 3 tackles and 1 sack. Over the season, Cole had 44 tackles, 1 force fumble and 11 sacks.[7]
Cole signed a four-year contract extension with the Eagles worth up to $55.25 million on March 14, 2012, extending his contract through the 2017 season.[8] Cole's season was below par for him, as he only recorded 3 sacks and 40 combined tackles, an all-time low in each category.
Under new coachChip Kelly, who used abase 3-4 formation instead of Reid's4-3 defense, Cole transitioned fromright defensive end toright outside linebacker. Cole's performance improved and he became one of the team's most dominant defenders. Cole led the team in sacks (8.0) and forced fumbles (3), while also recording 56 combined tackles, 3 pass deflections, and his first career safety. He added 5 tackles, 1 pass deflection, and 1 sack in a 26-24 postseason loss against the New Orleans Saints. This season was followed by another productive year, with 52 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 15 games, although the Eagles missed the playoffs that year.
Cole was released by the Eagles on March 4, 2015. He left Philadelphia with the second most sacks in team history, with 85.5 toReggie White's 124.
On March 10, 2015, Cole signed a 2-year, $16 million contract with theIndianapolis Colts.[9][10]
Cole played and started all 14 games he played in; however, he was criticized for a lack of production, most notably a career low 32 tackles and an inability to get to the quarterback. Cole began to increase his production towards the end of the season, gaining 3 sacks and a forced fumble in his final 5 games.
Cole restructured his deal on March 8, 2016.[11] On September 27, 2016, he was placed on injured reserve with a back injury.[12] He was activated to the active roster off injured reserve on December 1, 2016.[13]
On December 22, 2017, Cole announced that he would retire as an Eagle, and was made an honorary captain for the team's game against theOakland Raiders on Christmas Day.[14]
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Sfty | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | ||
| 2005 | PHI | 15 | 7 | 46 | 38 | 8 | 5.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2006 | PHI | 16 | 14 | 62 | 43 | 19 | 8.0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19T | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2007 | PHI | 16 | 16 | 70 | 49 | 21 | 12.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2008 | PHI | 16 | 16 | 77 | 59 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009 | PHI | 16 | 16 | 57 | 48 | 9 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2010 | PHI | 15 | 15 | 65 | 50 | 15 | 10.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2011 | PHI | 14 | 14 | 44 | 41 | 3 | 11.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012 | PHI | 16 | 16 | 40 | 24 | 16 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2013 | PHI | 16 | 16 | 56 | 44 | 12 | 8.0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2014 | PHI | 15 | 15 | 52 | 40 | 12 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2015 | IND | 14 | 14 | 32 | 20 | 12 | 3.0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016 | IND | 7 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 176 | 157 | 617 | 456 | 150 | 90.5 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 1 | 21 | 3 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | ||
| 2006 | PHI | 2 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0.5 | 0 |
| 2008 | PHI | 3 | 3 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2009 | PHI | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | PHI | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | PHI | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Total | 8 | 8 | 47 | 34 | 13 | 2.5 | 2 | |
Due to his off season hobby of hunting game, Cole has been nicknamed "The Hunter." He is the cousin of basketball playerNorris Cole.[15]
