PRIDE OF TIMBER CREEK, JIHAAD CAMPBELL, PICKED BY BIRDS IN FIRST ROUND
- Al Thompson
- Apr 28
- 7 min read
Updated: May 2
The Philadelphia Eagles took a chance picking an injured but talented player out of Alabama in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft.
Offensive lineman Landon Dickerson rewarded the Eagles with three Pro Bowl selections, two NFC Championships and a Super Bowl win last February. It was just the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
Eagles Executive vice president/general manager Howie Roseman rolled the dice again this year with another injured but talented player from Alabama.
This time it was Jihaad Campbell, a Crimson Tide linebacker who is a South Jersey native.
The former Timber Creek standout was projected by the Eagles and other teams as a top ten pick. But he fell in the draft because of injury concerns.
The Birds moved up to get the No. 31 pick and grabbed Campbell, the Chiefs got the Eagles’
No. 32 selection and one of their four picks in the fifth round, No. 164 overall.
The Chiefs took offensive lineman Josh Simmons out of Ohio State.
At his midnight press conference, Roseman was asked if reports were true that he tried to move up to grab Campbell earlier in the first round.
“It was. Again, this was a top-10 player on our board,” Roseman said. “We do not have any long-term concerns with his health. We look at the draft as a long-term opportunity for our team. We have a lot of confidence this guy's going to be here and play at a really high level for a long time.
“When you're in a draft and you're picking at the end of the first round, you don't have an opportunity to get a top-10 player on your board. A guy who can affect the quarterback, a guy who can affect the passing game. For us, it was a no-brainer. Local kid, great character. So we were really excited to add him.”
Here I an excerpt from According to alabama.rivals.com: on what Campbell slipped to the Eagles at No. 31.
“On paper, that seems like a steal for a player who led Alabama with 117 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and five sacks before clocking a 4.52 time in the 40-yard dash during the NFL Combine.
“According to multiple reports, NFL teams were concerned with the linebacker’s injury status after suffering a slight tear in his labrum he suffered during Alabama’s bowl loss to Michigan. While Campbell was able to participate in testing at the combine in February, he underwent surgery on his shoulder in March.”
Howie Roseman was asked about Campbell's status health wise and if he will be ready for training camp.
“We'll get all into that when we bring him in here," Roseman said. "Obviously, our guys had an opportunity to see him at the combine and the re-checks, and we're very excited about what he's going to bring to the team from our perspective.
"All that stuff will be sorted out. But again, we're looking at this, this wasn't a need-pick. This was, for us, a player we had tremendous passion about, and somebody that when we started the process and continued through the process was very high on our boards.
"We've got to look at the draft that way. Obviously, there were other players we liked at the spot we were picking, but this stood out to us and very excited to get him and we didn't want to lose him.”
Campbell was asked about who he considers his support team, especially as he pushes his rehab to get ready for the 2025 season.
“I would say really my parents, mentors, trainers,” he said, “just for helping me on the path that was in my life, guided and mentored in a certain way of just attacking each and every day like it was my last. I mean, that's what I did and I'm still doing that.”
TIMBER CREEK AD TALKS ABOUT RECENT SUCCESS OF THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM
Timber Creek Athletic Director Dina Tomczak talked about how excited everyone at the Erial, NJ school was after the pick.
"It's an incredible feeling — honestly, it's hard to put into words," Tomczak said in an email to Footballstories. "Seeing Jihaad drafted in the first round by the Eagles is just such a proud moment, not only for me personally, but for our entire school community.
"I've always said our students are like extended family, and moments like this truly feel like a family celebration. It’s very surreal to know that I was one of a few cheering the boys on from the sidelines during a Friday night game and will be one of over 65,000 cheering him on at the Linc this fall. I can’t wait!
Tomczak talked about some other Timber Creek athletes who reached the pro ranks
"To have former students like Tarheeb Still (Chargers 2024), Devin Leary (Ravens 2024) and Jihaad Campbell drafted in back-to-back years is a testament to the hard work, commitment, and character these young men bring every day. It also highlights the strong support networks around them—families, coaches, teachers, and teammates.
"Previous alumni like Damiere Byrd and Tyreek Maddox-Williams have reached the NFL, and I am confident that more will follow in their footsteps. We are immensely proud and will continue to support all of them throughout their journeys."
ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
In an interview with Footballstories in July 2020, Campbell confirmed he already had scholarship offers from Boston College, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, Virginia, West Virginia and more...all among the elite college football programs had offered Campbell a scholarship.
He was going into his junior year at Timber Creek.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association limited the number of games that could be played in 2020 and canceled the playoffs because of the COVID pandemic.
The state limited stadium crowds to 500. Rosters were down and the Chargers struggled to a 3-4 record.
Campbell was still a big time recruit, but wasn't playing.
Although Campbell hasn't specifically revealed that fears of losing his senior season was the reason he finally agreed to play his senior season at the controversial high school sports compound known as IMG Academy, it is not hard to see why he was tempted to go there.
Apparently the Bradenton, Florida school had been recruiting Campbell in previous years and been turned down.
The year before, former Michigan star quarterback and Minnesota Vikings first round draft pick J.J. McCarthy moved from Illinois to Florida for his senior season to attend IMG Academy because his home state had shut down football for the year due to COVID.
The 2021 IMG Academy schedule produced nine wins by a 37.4 point margin per game. Not exactly an “iron sharpens iron” schedule.
Campbell's first game for the Chargers was against the now infamous Bishop Sycamore, the fake high located in Columbus Ohio that was featured in an equally fake “documentary” entitled “BS High.”
That tragic piece of film making may have cost some folks at HBO their jobs. That is just speculation, but no one should be surprised if it did.
Bishop Sycamore played two games that season and was never heard from again.
IMG lost its season finale St. Frances Academy of Baltimore, MD 34-24.
LOTS OF BAGGAGE
The controversial sports compound in Bradenton Florida is the scorn of many public and parochial high school football and basketball coaches around the country who have had their rosters pirated of players they had actually developed into elite players.
IMG Academy's football is basically plays a barnstorming schedule around the country every year.
Several New Jersey head football coaches have communicated with Footballstories over the years their desire to the NJSIAA take the same action as their counterparts in California did back in 2018.
The Los Angeles Times ran a story in April 18, 2018 that detailed how the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) decided to put a halt to barnstorming high school programs.
In 2018 the CIF Federated Council voted unanimously to approve a rule that started in the 2019-20 school year. The new policy banned California teams from playing schools around the country that don’t compete in their state championship playoffs.
That meant Florida’s IMG Academy, Nevada’s Findlay Prep and Virginia’s Oak Hill Academy are not eligible to play California teams.
The article stated There was push back towards the CIF for banning these prep schools from California.
“Here’s the problem: Those other schools are not playing by the same rules as the schools competing for state championships. They’re allowed to recruit. They’re sports factories.
“Their balance between academics and athletics and the way they attract kids is not consistent with what you see in traditional high schools,” said Terry Barnum, a member of the Federated Council. “Playing these kids doesn’t fit with our mission as an organization.”
There is interest in a similar ban in other states in America including New Jersey.
In the summer of 2019, IMG Academy saw two of the college admissions officials arrested and serve prison time for their roles in the infamous “College Admission Scandal.”
William “Rick” Singer and Mark Riddell were running a racket where Riddell was traveling the country taking SAT exams for the children of wealthy people including several movie stars.
No athletes at IMG Academy were ever implicated as having their SAT exams taken for them by Riddell and Singer.
HOME SWEET HOME
So after experiencing all that, it is understandable why Campbell wanted to sign his letter of intent at Timber Creek...a real high school with a great reputation academically and with athletics.
Timber Creek head football coach Brian Wright told the Philadelphia Inquirer that when Campbell made the decision to go to IMG Academy he and the team felt a “little heart broken.”
Wright said Campbell showed a lot of class and character by inking his college commitment as a Timber Creek Charger.
Roseman echoed those attributes about Campbell. He then talked about how Campbell can impact the Eagles as a player who can impact a quarterback.
“You just look around the league, the teams that we have to get through to get where we want to go,” Roseman said.
“They have fast explosive quarterbacks, players in their backfield that we've got to bring down at all levels of our defense, and we need a tremendous amount of front seven players to contain those guys. It's always been a priority for us. This doesn't deviate what we believe. We believe in affecting the passing game on offense and defense, and this guy can affect the passing game on defense.”
Some information from MaxPreps.com
Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com
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