New Eagles running back D’Andre Swift saw only one carry for three yards in Philadelphia’s Week 1 win at New England. Everyone knew that needed to change in Week 2, and it certainly did.
The 24-year-old Philadelphia native rushed for 175 yards (which led the NFL and was a career high) and scored a touchdown on 28 carries in the Eagles’ home-opening 34-28 win against the Minnesota Vikings last Thursday night.
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Swift was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday for his memorable homecoming performance. Following the game, he thanked God.
“It’s a blessing,” he said when asked what it was like to rush for a career high only five miles from his high school, Saint Joseph’s Prep. “I can’t thank God enough. He put me in this position and gave me an opportunity.”
D'Andre Swift talks about his career night with our @KayleeHartung! #FlyEaglesFly
28 carries
175 rushing yards
1 touchdown@PrimeVideo | #TNFonPrime pic.twitter.com/vWhIueQVPB— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) September 15, 2023
Swift was introduced to the Christian faith as a child by his mother, Ayanna Holloway Swift, who sat down with CBS News Philadelphia before the team’s Week 2 victory. She said she prays with her son before every game, calming D’Andre but more importantly giving glory to God.
She regularly did devotions with D’Andre as a child and says faith is the backbone of her family.
“I needed him to know that God is always with him,” she told DawgNation.com in 2017. “That’s his foundation.”
Swift has carried that faith on into his football career, knowing God is responsible for any success that comes his way, and He alone is to be glorified. Swift is known to pray in the end zone before games and after touchdowns.
On his left shoulder is also a tattoo of hands held together in prayer, and under it, the Bible verse Galatians 6:9 is quoted. It says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
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After a legendary career at Saint Joseph’s Prep that saw him break nearly every rushing record, Swift headed off to college at Georgia as a highly-touted recruit. In Athens, he was named second-team All-SEC in 2018 and first-team All-SEC in 2019, after which he declared for the draft. The Lions picked him in the second round in 2020, and in his three years in Detroit, Swift emerged as a rushing and a receiving threat.
Through it all, Ayanna always believed her son would one day suit up for the Eagles, the team D’Andre and her late father — whom D’Andre called “Pop Pop” — used to watch together. At long last, that belief has become reality and D’Andre’s career has come full-circle.
“Everything fell in place,” Ayanna told CBS News Philadelphia, “and you’re like, ‘Wow God, thank you!'”
After being traded from the Detroit Lions to his hometown team during April’s NFL draft, Swift figures to be the headliner in Philadelphia’s backfield. Ayanna will be cheering him on, as well as the rest of his teammates, as the Eagles attempt to get back to the Super Bowl they fell just short of winning last season.
Hoping to continue their undefeated start to this season, the Eagles will travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers (also 2-0) on Monday night. The game is set for 7:15 p.m. ET.
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