On Friday night, we saw Matt Hennessy get selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round. Today, we see three more Owls: Harrison Hand, Shaun Bradley and Chapelle Russell get selected in day three of the 2020 NFL Draft. This is the fifth consecutive year in which multiple Owls were selected in the same draft, making Temple the only non Power 5 conference school to do such.
We start with Harrison Hand, who was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 169th overall pick in the 5th round. The Cherry Hill product first played under former Owls head coach Matt Rhule as a member of the Baylor Bears then transferred to Temple this past fall in his junior year. In his one season in the Cherry & White, Hand certainly used his hands to breakup 8 passes, force a fumble, force 3 interceptions and make 59 tackles. Altogether, Hand had 19 passes broken up, 4 interceptions & 114 tackles. Those numbers would have only looked better in a fourth season, but Hand opted to enter the draft, making him the fifth Owls CB drafted in as many years.
Outside linebacker Shaun Bradley was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 196th pick in the fifth round. This means that yes, Bradley will remain a bird and will continue to play in Lincoln Financial Field, but now it will be on Sundays instead of Saturdays and he will be trading in the Cherry & White for midnight green. In his time as an Owl, Bradley was considered one of the vocal leaders on defense, earning a single digit jersey in his junior year. Owls head coach Rod Carey was high on Bradley’s role and presence as a leader, “Shaun was one of those leaders that I don’t know I’ll ever have again in my coaching career. He led and people listened and it was a joy to watch. I know that will translate into the NFL for him. Really excited about his future.”
The physical linebacker amassed 256 tackles, 22 of which for loss. He was also disruptive in the pass game at times, with three interceptions. Bradley, the former Rancocas Valley HS (NJ) product will play high school, collegiate and professional football in the Philadelphia area. Fun fact: Bradley’s agent is former NFL linebacker Barry Gardner, who was a former teammate of Eagles head coach Doug Pederson.
Finally, linebacker Chapelle Russell was taken in the 7th round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lakewood N.J. native played four years with the Owls, and was considered a leader alongside Shaun Bradley in that linebackers room. “Chapelle was the second in charge for our team this year with Shaun [Bradley],” said Temple head coach Rod Carey. “Another great leader. Sound, sound football player that just continuously did his job. I know that the Buccaneers will enjoy that as much as we enjoyed it.”
In 45 games, Russell picked up 237 tackles, 19.5 of those being for loss, with 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 6 fumble recoveries. It will be an interesting training camp for Bradley who will be on the other side of the ball against arguably the greatest QB in NFL history in Tom Brady and fresh out of retirement TE Rob Gronkowski.
It is also worth mentioning that after the conclusion of the draft, two more Owls were signed as undrafted free agents. Former Owls WR Isaiah Wright is now a Washington Redskin. And DE Dana Levine has signed with the New York Giants, joining Wright and the aforementioned Bradley in the NFC East. Every Owl drafted/signed this weekend will be on an NFC team this summer.
Congratulations to every Owl drafted and signed this year, we wish you all nothing but the best in the NFL!
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