Philadelphia Eagles Player Josh Sills Indicted on Rape Charges 10 Days Before Super Bowl

Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Josh Sills has been indicted on rape and kidnapping charges in his home state of Ohio, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. Sills was indicted on one count of rape and one count of kidnapping by a Guernsey County (Ohio) Common Pleas Court grand jury, and both counts are first-degree felonies. The charges are from a  December 2019 incident where "Sills engaged in sexual activity that was not consensual and held a victim against her will. The crime was immediately reported, and the Guernsey County Sheriff's Office conducted a detailed investigation," according to the indictment. 

Sills was summoned to appear in Guernsey County Common Pleas court on Feb. 16, which is four days after the Eagles will face the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. The 25-year-old reserved offensive lineman signed with the Eagles as an undrafted free agent last year and played in one game during the regular season. He played college football at West Virginia (2016-2019) and Oklahoma State (2020-2021) and would finish his career as a two-time First-team All-Big 12 selection. 

In an interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia, Sills talked about how his first job is on a farm and worked with his high school agriculture teacher.  "I basically did my internship with him," Sills told the outlet earlier this month. "We just normal farm stuff, built a fence, vaccinated cattle, planted corn, mowed hay, baled hay. That was really about it. I knew him. He actually went to school with my mom's brother, my uncle, so I knew him a little bit before then and just became really good friends with him. I asked him if he would be comfortable with me doing an internship with him. Of course, he said yes. I did my internship with him over the summer, so it was probably a couple months."

The Eagles have not commented on the situation as of this writing. This is one of the few low points for the team this season as they are playing in their second Super Bowl since the 2017 season. The team is led by quarterback Jalen Hurts who scored 35 touchdowns this season. Additionally, the defense registered 70 sacks this year, the third most in NFL history.