By Julie Bacanskas
Behind every nickname is a story. Such is the case for “Axe Man.”
From the time he could carry the smallest of sticks, Jeremiah Trotter worked beside his father, Myra, every day in Hooks, Texas. He, his dad and his siblings chopped logs into firewood, selling what they could to earn a living. The Trotters didn’t have much, but they did what they could to pay the bills.
The hours spent splitting wood taught Trotter more than he could have ever imagined. It was through that labor - and his father’s guidance - he learned the importance of hard work and what it would really take to accomplish his goals and support his family.
Until middle school, Trotter was content with his daily schedule. He didn’t realize something important was missing.
Seeing his friends on the football field dressed from head to toe in equipment, Trotter knew he wanted to play. His father though, wouldn’t budge on the matter.
“It seemed like everybody in town wanted my dad to let me play football, but he never would,” Trotter recalls. “He didn’t want me to get hurt and he needed me to work and I had to go to church. I couldn’t miss church.”
Two years later, Myra suddenly had a change of heart.
After hearing his son ask the same question time and time again, the answer finally changed. Trotter, headed into his freshman year of high school, would be permitted to play football if he continued to do his work. It was a deal.
“I would practice and then come home and split up the wood that he had ready for me to split. I didn’t care. As long as I was playing football, I would have stayed up until two in the morning if I had to,” he says.
By his senior year, Trotter suddenly had scholarship offers to play football in college. It was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up and just like that, he was off to Stephen F. Austin State University. After three successful seasons, Trotter had a decision to make. It wouldn’t be a difficult one.
The linebacker felt he’d accomplished all he could at the collegiate level, but more importantly, it was clear his family was in need. Trotter’s father, who was 75 years old at the time, was ailing. The aging process had taken a toll on his dad’s body and the days of chopping wood with ease were a thing of the past.
Trotter knew what he had to do for his family.
“When I told him I was leaving college a year early, he said, ‘Well, you have to do what’s best for you.’ I told him, ‘I am. It’s my time to take over the family.’ He was too old. He couldn’t work anymore. A lot of the bills were stacking up and when I made my decision to come out, I remember sending him money and taking care of the bills and him being happy,” Trotter says.
“It was the best decision I ever made. It was kind of like he held on long enough to pass the torch, and then his health started to decline. That was tough to see, but I always wanted him to be able to relax and enjoy life and travel and do all the stuff that we couldn’t afford to do when we were little. God had different plans.”
Sadly, the Thursday before Trotter was scheduled to begin his first NFL minicamp with the Eagles, his father passed away. It was a loss the linebacker wasn’t prepared for and one that turned his entire world upside down.
The Trotter family buried Myra on a Saturday. The next morning, Trotter was on a plane back to Philadelphia and for the first time in his life, he wanted no part of the game he loved.
“All of a sudden now, you’re the man of the house,” Trotter remembers. “The family is looking to you for answers and direction and help, and the person that you look to is not there anymore. The person that you look to for guidance, words of encouragement, anything you need to ask, he’s not there. And now, I’m embarking on an area of life that I’ve never been in before in the NFL, the highest level of football, in a new city by myself and that person’s not there.
“I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t focus. I really had lost my desire to play football. But, the only thing that kept me going was I promised my dad before he died that I would take care of my mom (Ethel) and that was my means to do it. I remember going to practice and it seemed like I was in a haze, just like you’re there but not really there. I would catch myself staring off and I got behind on the plays. In the NFL, once you get behind, it’s tough to catch up. I remember just going back into my hotel room over by the airport and burying my face into the pillow and crying until I fell asleep.
“That happened every day.”
Trotter spent the better part of his rookie year inactive on gameday. The linebacker knew that if he persevered, he’d get back on track. His father taught him that.
By his second season with the Eagles, Trotter was in a much better place in his life. He still couldn’t talk about his dad without becoming visibly upset, but he was once again able to focus on his playing career. First-year head coach Andy Reid named Trotter a starter and the linebacker did everything in his power to be a productive member of the team.
As he continued to improve and become a dominant figure on the field, Trotter knew he needed to do something to remind himself of where he came from and of who showed him the way. He wanted to pay tribute to his late father and “Axe Man” was born.
“One game I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to try the axe.’ I made a big play and I came over and did the axe chop. I chopped and I held it right there at the bottom,” Trotter recalls. “I was in the training room a few days later and one of the equipment guys was like, ‘Trot, we think when you do the axe chop you should throw your hands up.’ I was like, ‘Man, that’s corny!’
“The next game I went on the field and I made a tackle. I rolled and jumped up real quick and I did the axe chop, but I was off-balance. It made me kind of throw my hands up and when I did it, it was real nice. So, from then on, I would do the axe and throw my hands up.”
Trotter continued to be an impact player for the Eagles throughout his time in Philadelphia. Now entering the team’s Hall of Fame, a very meaningful honor to him, the linebacker can’t help but think of his father.
Myra never saw his son play football, but Trotter is certain his father has been watching over him all these years.
“There’s no one else I’ve had more respect for. He taught me everything I know about being a man, respecting others, demanding respect from other people, being humble and the most important thing, putting God first,” Trotter says. “He taught me how to be a hard worker. Nothing in life is given to you. Anything you want, you have to be willing to work for it and the work you put into something is what you get out of it.
“I know he’d be proud of me. He’d say, ‘Hey son, I’m proud of you.’ My dad wasn’t the type to show a whole lot of emotion, but I know he would definitely smile.”
