Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Of all the new Eagles this year – Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, Byron Maxwell, etc. – Kiko Alonso still seems to be a bit of a mystery. He missed time in college (and a full season in the pros) due to injury, but we still don’t seem to know all that much about who he is. Tim McManus wanted to help us with that. And we like this dude already.

A lot is said in Philly about how your appeal as a pro athlete has to do with attitude, effort, and all of those intangibles. Of course it helps if you’re awesome at football. But a great attitude will get you far in Philly, and Alonso’s got it. There’s a monster inside of Alonso that just makes him want to swallow offensive players, according to this tidbit from Josh Huff:

There are a host of Ducks that can attest to that. Josh Huff was a year behind Alonso. He remembers his first football encounter with the middle linebacker quite well.

“Freshman year of college,” Huff recalls. “He was just like, ‘Don’t come across the middle. I’m going to have your head.’ … I’m just glad he’s on our side of the ball this year when we play the Bills and not on the other side.”

It’s not just college Kiko, though. On the day McManus talked to players, Alonso told Kenjon Barner, “I hope you’re ready. I’m going to hit you today.”

The players weren’t wearing any pads.

Alonso will obviously have to perform on the field to really earn the love of the Eagles fanbase, but his attitude may get him there fairly quickly.