Wish come true for Blake's son

Veteran QB signs 1-year deal with Birds

By LES BOWEN

bowenl@phillynews.com

TREY BLAKE, now 8, has been bugging his father about something for 3 years. Though Trey has never lived in the Philadelphia area, he's become a big Eagles fan, for reasons not readily apparent to the rest of the family. Since his father is an NFL quarterback, Trey decided he'd be much happier if his dad played for the Eagles.

"I kept telling him, 'I can't go to the Eagles just like that - they might not be interested,' " Jeff Blake said yesterday.

Yesterday was a big day for Trey Blake, and a decent one for his father. The Eagles, who were not thought to be in the market for a veteran quarterback, signed 33-year-old Jeff Blake to a 1-year free-agent contract, thought to be for something around the veteran's minimum of $760,000. Blake's agent, Ralph Cindrich, did not return calls from the Daily News seeking comment.

Blake, who started 13 games for Arizona last season, said he'd be here for the upcoming passing camp, which starts Wednesday.

The move is surprising in that the Eagles were expected to choose a rookie to replace the departed A.J. Feeley - probably Delaware's Andy Hall, whom the Birds drafted in the sixth round last month. The team also signed Ohio State's Scott McMullen as an undrafted free agent. When McMullen couldn't attend this week's rookie minicamp because of final exams at Ohio State, the Eagles brought in well-traveled former Lehigh QB Phil Stambaugh.

The timing of yesterday's signing, at the end of the rookie minicamp, might indicate that the Eagles have come to believe none of the younger QBs will be able to help them this season. Since practice squads have been expanded from five to eight players, the Eagles might be able to stash a youngster there, but if Blake makes the team, it seems very unlikely Hall, McMullen or Stambaugh will see the active roster. In fact, it seems likely that McMullen and/or Stambaugh would be released pretty soon, since six signal-callers is an awful lot, even for an 84-man training camp roster.

"It's good to add a veteran quarterback to the mix," coach Andy Reid said. "We're looking forward to bringing in Jeff for his experience and his quarterbacking ability he has displayed over the last 12 years."

Adding to the intrigue, Blake told reporters on a conference call that his understanding "definitely" is that he will compete with Koy Detmer for the job of backing up Donovan McNabb. Detmer, an Eagle since 1997, has been McNabb's backup since the 2000 season. He also is the holder for two-time Pro Bowl kicker David Akers, something Akers considers important to his success.

"I'm capable of being a backup and a good one," said Blake (6-1, 223), who has a dozen years of NFL experience with five teams.

For Blake, there were two good reasons to sign with the Eagles, aside from pleasing his son. First, he didn't have a job after being released by the Cardinals. And although he said there were calls from the 49ers, Broncos and Packers, they all wanted to wait until after the June 1 salary-cap compliance date to see how the QB market shook out. Second, though Blake has appeared in 114 NFL games and started 100, there is one thing he hasn't done.

"I've never played in a playoff game," Blake said. "The Eagles have played in the last three NFC Championship games...I've played on [teams such as] the Cincinnati Bengals, the New Orleans Saints and the Arizona Cardinals. I've only played on one team that made the playoffs - the Saints in 2000 - and I got hurt and couldn't play in the playoff game, Aaron Brooks played."

Blake said he knows McNabb through the informal network of African-American QBs, and thinks he can give McNabb the benefit of his experience.

"At this time of my career, getting on toward the end of my career, I feel like I have a lot to give back," Blake said.

Blake said he isn't worried about learning Reid's complex offense.

"I've been in West Coast offenses, all kinds of offenses," said Blake, who has a 78.1 career passer rating and has thrown 132 touchdown passes, along with 98 interceptions.

In 1995, Blake threw for 3,822 yards and 28 TDs with Cincinnati, making the Pro Bowl.