Birds officially ink Andrews

The Philadelphia Eagles officially signed unrestricted free agent offensive lineman Stacy Andrews to a six-year contract.

The older brother of Eagles right guard Shawn Andrews, Stacy (6-7, 342) now joins Shawn to become just the third set of brothers since 1951 to play together on the same offensive line, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The others are Jay and Joel Hilgenberg (New Orleans Saints, 1993), and Dave and Doug Widell (Denver Broncos, 1990-92).

The 27-year-old Andrews spent the first five years of his career with the Cincinnati Bengals after being selected by the team in the fourth round of the 2004 draft. After being designated as the club’s franchise player in 2008, Andrews started at right tackle in the first 15 games of the season before suffering a knee injury at Cleveland (12/21/08) that rendered him inactive for the team’s final contest.

Andrews saw his first significant action as a starter in 2007, when he began the season as the team’s starting left guard before shifting to right tackle following the sixth game of the year. That season, Andrews was part of an offensive line that set a team record for fewest sacks allowed (17). In his career, Andrews has played in 62 regular season games and has notched 32 starts.

Andrews' signing also likely spells the end of Jon Runyan's career in Philadelphia. Runyan, who recently underwent microfracture knee surgery, is an unrestricted free agent.



Andrews, who had scant football experience before entering the NFL draft in 2004, first began playing the sport as a junior at Ole Miss in 2002. That year, he walked on to the team and was subsequently red-shirted. Andrews later saw action in five games as a senior in 2003 for an offense that averaged 433.2 yards per game.



A collegiate track and field star, Andrews earned All-America honors in both indoor and outdoor competition as a junior. He set school records for the indoor weight throw, the outdoor hammer throw, and discus that year.



The Camden, AR, native attended Fairview High School, where he earned letters in both track and field, and basketball.