‘High-Effort Dude’
Tennis Background Pushes Reserve Birds DT Into Max Effort
PHILADELPHIA — It’s been a while since Eagles defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV last picked up a tennis racket – his introductory to sports – but a specific conversation last week perhaps rekindled a desire for Booker to unearth one of his Wilson rackets from the closet ahead of his next vacation.
Booker, the Eagles’ third-year defensive tackle, comes from a long lineage of standout athletes, and especially tennis players.
It’s a common thread shared throughout his family, with the exception of his mother.
His father, Earl Thomas Booker III, was an all-state tennis player before ultimately transitioning to football, playing linebacker for the University of Wisconsin.
So when you observe the fluidity, quickness and balance with which Booker navigates the trenches, the correlation between tennis and his blistering traits becomes palpable.
While the two sports are a stark contrast from an ideologic and philosophic standpoint, at its core, tennis prepared the burly defensive tackle for a distinguished career on the gridiron.
“I think for me, specifically, my lateral agility and my lateral quickness has definitely benefitted from [tennis],” Booker said. “And being able to anticipate lateral movements, for sure, because that’s kind of all tennis is.
“My dad always used to say, ‘There’s nothing on a football field that’ll move faster than a served tennis ball.’ It’s not too many things on a football field that are potentially going 110, 120 miles per hour.
“I also think, mentality-wise, tennis is not a team sport. It’s individual. If you’re losing, it’s completely on you. If you’re winning, it’s completely on you. So you’re truly fighting a mental battle between yourself, the elements, and the other person you’re going against. I definitely credit tennis with a lot of my movement skills and some of my mentality when it comes to just playing sports.”
Even though Booker’s athletic course was altered years ago, his movement and muscle memory remnants from those tennis days never dissipated.
In fact, now with proper background, it’s apparent that those attributes – agility, especially – are pronounced, becoming exclusive hallmarks of Booker’s game.
So even though the game itself has been placed on the back burner – at least for now – the physical demands of the sport have stuck with him.
“I think a lot of the things that you do as a kid, like some of your first sports, influence the way that you move a lot,” he explained. “A lot of wide receivers you could tell played basketball. A lot of their breaks kind of look like crossovers.
“Same thing with some d-linemen and some edge guys, you could tell they make inside moves more easily. I know Micah Parsons played basketball, and you could see that with some of his side-to-side moves. I think it influences a lot of the way that you move.”
For Booker, 24, his opportunities have been limited so far as the team’s fifth defensive tackle, though it appears the Stanford product has carved out a steady rotational role under defensive mastermind Vic Fangio.
He’s logged just 72 snaps through six games – about 12 per game – but his production has been fruitful.
Whether disrupting a run play, pressuring quarterbacks, defending a screen pass – which he did against Falcons running back Bijan Robinson – or pursuing a ball carrier downfield, Booker has turned relentless effort into an art form.
One would be hard-pressed to identify a player on the Eagles’ roster who makes as much of an impact in such a limited role. He consistently flashes.
In many ways, Booker embodies the DNA of Philadelphia’s fan base – inherently equipped with a full-tilt mentality and blue-collar work ethic.
“For me, I’m a person who gets riled up for mastery of things,” he said. “And I’m a high-effort dude. I’m high effort and I’m present. So, wherever I’m at – whether it’s a meeting room or a practice field – I’m completely locked in at that moment to what I’m doing.
“So for me, it just feels like natural to give the highest amount of effort that I possibly have at that given moment. Because when I’m on the football field, no one really has to tell me to play til the whistle blows.
“That’s just how I am, in general, in my life. So it just naturally comes over to that. Also, because I train it in practice – running to the ball, all that sort of stuff – even if the play might look like it’s over. Because I’ve seen way too many times on film where people think a play’s over, and somebody slips out of a tackle, or maybe a ball gets batted up and if somebody had been running to the ball a little bit sooner, they could have gotten the pick.
“And those are the type of plays I wanna make. There’s so much production to be had in this league just by hustling.”
Booker, who spent the 2023 season on the Eagles’ practice squad, is wired differently than some of his peers. His game is predicated on hustle, determination and selflessness.
Some might call him a throwback player.
He arrived with the Eagles after being jettisoned by the Houston Texans, the team that drafted him in the fifth round in 2022. He came with nothing assured but an opportunity.
Through consistency, Booker defied considerable odds during training camp to make the 53-man roster.
In his first off-season with the Eagles, Booker said he attacked each day with the mission of developing his pass rush.
Typically waking around 6:30 or 7 each morning – sometimes later depending of the schedules of those accompanying him for the workouts – Booker would head to the facility to train.
While others trickled in, the usual morning contingent included Brandon Graham and Tarron Jackson.
Following a warm-up period, the group would partake in a 90-minute training session before heading outdoors for another 30-to-45 minutes for more pass-rush technique and drill conditioning.
They’d even film the outdoor sessions in real time to ensure the process met their standard.
To cap the day, Booker would head home for recovery and relaxation.
Since his 2022 rookie season to this point, Booker has shown growth and development in multiple areas, though he was able to pinpoint why and where his biggest strides were made.
“I think pass-rushing has definitely been one of them,” Booker said. “I think that in terms of having a tool kit of pass-rush moves that all kind of look like the same thing until they don’t, has been a big focus for me.
“I think another thing that’s been really helpful to my game is just being able to understand situational football, understanding formations and just little things that can help me have a more successful down, just off of alignment and mentality in terms of what I should be ready for.
“That’s been huge, with back alignments or tight end off, knowing what kind of blocks I can usually get from that. It just helps me be a more successful player when you can get a lot more information and glean a lot more information pre-snap.”
The Eagles’ defensive tackle room is young, with Milton Williams serving as the elder statesman at 25. Booker, by the way, turns 25 next month.
But that hasn’t prevented the third-year pro from asking questions when it comes to the film room.
Booker, who said he’s extremely vocal when it comes to asking questions, believes one way to play faster is to have an all-encompassing understanding of the job – clear ideas of roles and understanding of any and every situation that can arise.
He said proper preparation eliminates ambiguity, which can inhibit play speed.
“That’s why a lot of offenses try to keep defenses honest with alignments and all the rest of it,” he explained. “Because when you have ambiguity, you don’t know what’s gonna go down. All of the sudden, your reaction time goes down as well.”
Though playing time has been relatively scarce through six games, Booker hasn’t altered his approach. While there is some comfortability with Vic Fangio’s scheme and the one in which he played at Stanford under former Fangio underling Lance Anderson, Booker isn’t wired to take his foot off the gas.
He also isn’t fixated on playing time or accolades, instead focusing on maximizing his value to the team, owning his current assignment.
“Everybody wants to have an opportunity and everything like that,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the only way that you get larger opportunities is by owning what you’re currently sitting in.
“For me, however I can contribute to the team winning more games – whether that’s me playing 25 snaps or whether that’s me playing seven snaps – all I can control is what I’m doing when I’m out there. So, for me, that’s being high-effort, that’s being dialed into my technique, that’s understanding the situation that I’m going into.
“And just handling my box. We talk about dominating your box all the time. So, that’s what I try to do.”
– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.
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