John Outlaw posted five interceptions in 1975 as a cornerback for the Eagles. After retiring from football, he went into coaching. Midway through his coaching career, though, he switched sports, entering basketball. Now, his family is back in professional football as his son, J.J., tries to make the Eagles this summer. We catch up with the elder Outlaw in this Alumni Flashback ...

Fortunately for John Outlaw, NFL coaches don't always share the same opinion.

In 1973, prior to his fifth season with the New England Patriots, the cornerback found himself caught up in a players sweep by new head coach Chuck Fairbanks.

The ink, though, did not have time to dry on the waiver list before he was contacted by a couple of teams including Philadelphia. The Eagles had just hired defensive backs coach John Mazur, one of Outlaw's head coaches at New England.

"I had an offer to go to New Orleans and play right away or go to Philadelphia," said Outlaw. "They had what was called the taxi squad which is similar to the practice squad now. John Mazur told me that I wouldn't be on the active roster, but he knew my talents, he knew what I could do, and come in and sign on the taxi squad and just work my way up. In two weeks, they activated me."

CB John Outlaw

Following two seasons when he collected two interceptions each year, Outlaw broke out and posted a career-high five interceptions in 1975, co-leading the team with free safety Bill Bradley.

"I never had very good hands. A coach once said if they were charting deflections, I probably would have led the league," Bradley laughed. "But I guess it was just getting a bead on the ball. I caught the ball a lot of times with my body, just cradling it in my chest. I guess things just worked for me that particular year."

Things worked for the entire team in 1978. By beating the division-rival New York Giants in the season finale, a game that became known as the "Miracle of the Meadowlands," the Eagles compiled a 9-7 record and made the playoffs for the first time in 12 years.

"That was by far one of the highlights of my career. I guess it was (Giants quarterback Joe) Pisarcik, who was trying to hand the ball off. Herman Edwards picked up the fumble and took it in for a touchdown," Outlaw said. "(The following week) was the first playoff game I'd ever experienced. We went down and played the Atlanta Falcons and lost by one point. After the season and that was my 11th season, I thought that I'd had enough. I didn't really feel it and didn't want to compete anymore. So that was a telltale sign. I thought it was time for me to leave the game and join the working force.

"(Head coach) Dick Vermeil had a party and invited all the captains to his home. We all went up; Harold Carmichael, myself, John Bunting, Bill Bergey may have been there, and I told Dick that I was going to retire. He and I embraced and sort of cried a little bit. You know, Dick did a lot of crying. He told me, 'Now, if you change your mind, you can always come back.' I told him, 'I really appreciate it, but it was time for me to move on.'"

Outlaw's first move was from the field to the sideline. He spent 11 seasons at North Carolina Central University as an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. His next move, especially coming from a football background, was in a word: unique. In 1990, he joined his friend, Bernie Bickerstaff, who was with the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets.

"He was taking the job as president and general manager and asked me if I wanted to come and work with him," said Outlaw. "They had a position open in community relations. So for four years, I worked in community relations and then I moved over to the basketball side. I did some scouting during the NCAA tournaments and was a scout for a year and a half and worked my way up to director of college scouting."

After two years with the Washington Wizards as assistant coach and advance scout, Outlaw is currently heading into his third season as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Bobcats.

"I'm more of an administrative coach rather than an X's and O's-type coach," Outlaw said. "(My role during a game) is basically to watch the shot clock and keep hustle charts. The hustle chart includes things such as long rebounds, loose balls, steals, blocked shots. I just mainly keep everybody alert to what's going on. We also all evaluate college talent and prepare for the NBA draft.

"I enjoy being around the players. They keep you young. You come in the locker room and they have the hip-hop music going. I'm not a hip-hop person, but hey, I have to endure it while I'm in there," he laughed. "There's a lot of things you think that you've done and you sort of forget and then you see them doing some of the same things that you used to do, so it's pretty enlightened. I enjoy coming to work every day."

Outlaw has also enjoyed the rare opportunity to be involved with the two very different professional sports, as a player and a coach, and sees some similarities among the men who play each.

J.J. Outlaw was a standout wide receiver and return specialist for Villanova

"You find in basketball that you have some pretty tough players,' Outlaw said. "We don't have pads. Everything out there is shorts and shirts. It's a physical game in a certain aspect, but it's more of a controlled game because you just don't have the contact that you do in football. In football, you block. In basketball, we set screens. So there's a lot of similarities."

In football and basketball, these guys really love what they're doing. You can see the intensity. You can see the athleticism. They're just good athletes. In basketball, everything is up and down. Your motor has to constantly be running, so the conditioning level of some of the basketball players is amazing. The quickness and the flow of the game... they never miss a beat."

It has been 33 years since Outlaw beat a path to the Eagles locker room as a free agent. And now, borrowing a Yogism, it's "deja vu all over again." Well, sort of.

Outlaw's son, J.J., is an undrafted free agent with the team. In four years at Villanova, the three-time all-conference receiver hauled in 199 passes for 2,326 yards and 16 touchdowns.

"We didn't think that J.J. would get drafted, we were just hoping once the draft was over that some team would invite him to a camp," Outlaw said. "And sure enough, at the beginning of the seventh round, the Eagles called and told him that if he wasn't drafted then they would sign him as a free agent."

Now, the younger Outlaw has his work cut out for him. The Eagles have a deep group of receivers and the odds are against him. But the elder Outlaw insists they wouldn't have signed J.J. if they weren't impressed.

"He had a very good pro day and then a week or 10 days later, the Eagles invited him over to their facility to work out," Outlaw said. "He must have been a little bit impressive because they signed him. We understand that it's a long-shot, but I told him the key is to stay healthy and try to impress every day."