Kiko Alonso: 'Very Surprised' I Was Traded, 'Can't Wait To Get To Work'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- He had 22 tackles in one game, totaling 159 in his rookie season, third most in the NFL. That same season, in 2013, he tied the NFL record for most ever interceptions by a linebacker in September with four. He had his own hashtag titled #TheLegendOfKikoAlonso.
He is, the most interesting new Eagles linebacker in the world. His name is Kiko Alonso.
"I'm stoked," Alonso told Angelo Cataldi during his debut interview on 94WIP on Friday morning. "I'm loving Philadelphia so far, and can't wait to get to work."
Alonso, 24, missed the entire 2014 after tearing his ACL and was traded from the Bills to the Eagles this offseason. He heads into 2015 with a little chip on his shoulder.
"I was very surprised," the NFL's 2013 PFWA Defensive Rookie of the Year said of being traded. "I couldn't imagine getting traded, but you know it's a business and wherever I go I'm gonna give it all I got and that's all I could really do at the end of the day.
"All that matters is I'm somewhere playing football and I get to do what I love to do."
The 6,'3", 240-pound linebacker played under current Eagles head coach Chip Kelly at Oregon from 2009-2012. During his senior season, Alonso started in all 13 games and earned second team all-conference honors tallying 87 total tackles, a sack, four interceptions, seven pass deflections and two forced fumbles.
"He gives a lot to his players to put them in the best place to be successful," Alonso said of Kelly, "But at the same time he asks a lot of his players."
