Former Army Lineman Brett Toth Given Military Waiver to Play for the Philadelphia Eagles

Former Army offensive lineman Brett Toth is headed to the NFL. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, [...]

By Brian Jones

Former Army offensive lineman Brett Toth is headed to the NFL. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Toth was given a military waiver on Friday and he will sign a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. He served one year of military active service and he was waiting for the Army to give him the go-ahead and make the transition to the NFL.

Now, the next step for Toth is making the initial 53-man roster. It will not be an easy task because he's been out of football for a year. However, when Toth was playing for the Army, he was considered a strong prospect for the NFL. In fact, after the 2017 season, Toth played was selected to play in the Senior Bowl and he was the first player from West Point to play in that game. That led to NFL teams showing interest in the offensive lineman but it's clear the Eagles wanted him more.

Earlier this year, Toth spoke to USA Today about making it to the NFL. He didn't think it was a reality, but President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum in June which allowed student-athletes from military academies to play sports after graduation and defer their service obligation.

"The NFL dream waits until my service is done," Toth said. "You have that dream ever since you started playing ball, or even being young and in the backyard playing ball. But again, being at West Point, initially thought it was going to be five years (of military service), for me at least. Going in, I didn't think (the NFL) was going to be something for me. But now, under the current administration, the requirement is two years, so it looks like I might be doing both."

Toth is joining an Eagles team that is on a mission to get back to the Super Bowl. In 2017, the Eagles became champions of the NFL when the defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. In 2018, the Eagles reached the playoffs and defeated the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round. However, they lost to the New Orleans Saints in the following round and the Saints went on to lose to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game.

The Eagles will kick off the 2019 season on September 8 and they will face the Washington Redskins.

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