Eagles rookie Myles Hinton didn’t watch his father play football but is eager to follow in his massive footsteps.
Back in his prime, Chris Hinton probably could have wrestled an alligator and lived to tell about it.
Of course, he didn’t. But, in true dad fashion, that’s what he told his son.
Eagles sixth-round pick Myles Hinton chuckled at rookie camp last week when explaining that his father, the former Pro Bowl offensive lineman, told him when he was a kid that the scar on his leg came from wrestling a gator. It was actually a surgery scar from a football injury.
“I don’t know how old I was when I realized it was a fake story,” Myles Hinton said.
Hinton also didn’t really realize how good his dad was at football until he was around 13. The rest of the football world, meanwhile, was very aware.
While many remember Chris Hinton as the player who once got traded for John Elway, Hinton had a near-Hall of Fame career of his own. Dad was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1983 draft out of Northwestern. He played 177 games over 13 seasons in the NFL, was a seven-time Pro Bowler and has been a Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist.
But Chris Hinton’s last NFL season came in 1995 and his second son Myles wasn’t born until 2002.
“He didn’t talk about it much,” Myles said last week. “But once I started really getting into football and playing O-line for real, like really understanding what was going on, is when I kind of understood that he was that guy. So I do some research on him, watch YouTube videos and whatnot. But yeah, dude, it’s crazy.”
When Myles got old enough, he and his dad sat down to watch some old film. Chris Hinton’s first college game at Northwestern was actually against Michigan. So Myles got to watch his dad — then a tight end — play at the Big House, which became home for Myles in 2023 after transferring from Stanford.
After they watched tape of Chris as a tight end and even a linebacker before eventually becoming an offensive lineman at Northwestern, father and son moved on to the NFL tape and that was at times dominant.
“He was tearing s— up, you know?,” Myles Hinton said. “It’s big shoes to fill. I’m ready.”
The Eagles drafted Hinton with the 191st overall pick in the 2025 draft and the 23-year-old will now get a chance to learn from veteran offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland in Philadelphia. Stoutland seemed pretty excited when he got on the phone to talk to Hinton from the Eagles’ draft room just after the the pick was made.
Hinton definitely sees some similarities in his game and his father’s.
“Yeah, for sure, for sure,” he said. “He was super strong, explosive. I feel the same way. Out there mauling and I feel like that’s what I’m gonna do.”
According to Myles, his dad never pressured him or his older brother Chris Jr. (now a defensive tackle with the Chargers) to play football. In fact, Myles thinks that’s why Chris was so modest about his football achievements; he didn’t want to add any extra pressure.
“I commend him for sure, because he did a good job with letting us find football on our own,” Hinton said. “And I love that about him. I know people that have dads that were also in the league that kind of pressured him to play and it made him have a disdain for the sport and that’s not where I’ve ever been at. So, he let us find on our own and I feel like it fostered more love for the sport in general.”
Hinton said his love for football came when he was in 8th grade, playing on the defensive line, when he realized he was bigger and faster than the other kids. He really liked being able to throw around his peers.
Maybe Hinton was always going to fall in love with football. Maybe his genetics were just always going to eventually take over.
After drafting Hinton and Drew Kendall (son of former Pro Bowler Pete Kendall) on Day 3, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman didn’t poo-poo the idea that bloodlines are something the Eagles pay attention to in the pre-draft process. “It’s certainly part of the player profile,” Roseman said.
Hinton’s genetics helped him grow into a 6-foot-6, 323-pound offensive tackle in the NFL. Hinton is a massive and athletic prospect who might just be big and strong and quick enough to take down a gator.
Or at least fib to his future kids about it in 20 years.
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