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Boardman High graduate Vallos back with Eagles
By Joe Scalzo
When the Philadelphia Eagles made Boardman High graduate Steve Vallos one of their final cuts last month, Vallos didn’t know if the NFL was done with him. All he knew was he wasn’t done with the NFL.
“I’m trying to hold on to this as long as possible,” said Vallos, chuckling.
On Tuesday, Vallos re-signed with the Eagles after Philadelphia lost center Jason Kelce to a season-ending knee injury. Vallos will back up Dallas Reynolds.
“It’s good to be back here,” said Vallos, speaking by phone on Tuesday afternoon. “I know the coaches, I know the players, I know the offense. I feel comfortable here.”
Vallos was a seventh-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2007 and, after spending that season on the practice squad, played in every game in 2008 and 2009 with eight starts. He was released the following September and picked up by the Cleveland Browns, appearing in seven games in 2010 and just one last fall.
“It was frustrating,” he said of his experience with the Browns. “In Seattle, I dressed every game, so to go to Cleveland be so excited about, it was hard to only dress for a handful of games.
“I did what I could and I feel like I helped the young guys as much as I could.”
After getting cut by the Eagles, Vallos talked to some friends he knew that worked in the athletic departments at Wake Forest (his alma mater) and Washington about his next career, but he made sure to keep in shape. Just in case.
“I hadn’t been in this situation before but I had been working out,” he said. “I’d go crazy if I didn’t.”
Staying in Seattle allowed him to spend time with his wife, his son (who is 1 1/2) and his daughter (two months). They had stayed back in Washington during training camp.
Now he and his wife are trying to find a place in Philadelphia. Quickly.
“Seattle is still home base until I’m done playing, since that’s where my wife is from and we have family there,” Vallos said. “After that, we’ll probably go wherever the world takes us.”