One-time Eagles phenom still trying to recapture magic

He was a brief blip in Eagles history, an obscure practice squad receiver, then out of nowhere the best wideout in the NFL for five weeks.

And then just as suddenly? Back to obscurity.

Travis Fulgham is one of the strangest stories in Eagles history.

After getting released by the Lions and Packers, Fulgham was in training camp with the Eagles in the summer of 2020. They released him at the end of camp, signed him to the practice squad, then signed him to the 53 out of desperation in early October.

For five weeks, it was magic.

From Week 4 through Week 8, Fulgham led the NFL with 29 catches, 435 yards and four touchdowns. In his first five career games playing wide receiver, he was the best in the league.

He had the 3rd-most yards in Eagles history by a player in his first eight career games ... even though three of those games were with the Lions.

“It was amazing, a dream come true,” Fulgham said recently in an interview with the Athletic’s Broncos reporter Nick Kosmider.

“I’ve probably never been happier in my life, just going out there and balling and doing what I love and being able to help a city like Philly win some games. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, but people saw what I can do.”

It lasted five weeks and ended with a thud.

After joining DeSean Jackson and Terrell Owens as the only Eagles wide receivers in the last 25 years with four straight 70-yard games – including 152 yards in Pittsburgh and a 4th-quarter go-ahead 42-yard TD from Carson Wentz San Francisco – Fulgham fell off the face of the Earth.

He caught just nine passes for 104 yards the rest of the year, going from 87 yards per game in his first five games as an Eagle to 13 yards per game.

He still managed to lead the Eagles with 539 receiving yards, which probably says more about the 2020 Eagles than Fulgham.

The Eagles released him after training camp last year and he spent last year bouncing between the Miami and Denver practice squads. He played in one game for the Broncos at the end of the year, getting seven snaps on special teams and two on offense.

By the time the 2022 season opens, he’ll have gone 20 months without catching a pass.

But Fulgham hasn’t given up.

The Broncos saw enough from Fulgham at practice last year to find a spot for him on the 90-man roster this summer, and according to Kosmider he’s looked good in OTAs over the past couple weeks with a touchdown catch from Russell Wilson on a red zone route and a catch on a deep ball from Josh Johnson.

Fulgham is only 26, and although he’s still fighting an uphill battle just to make the Broncos’ roster, there aren’t a lot of guys out there who’ve had 435 yards in a five-game stretch or a 150-yard game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

There’s talent in there somewhere.

So far, he’s spent time with five NFL franchises over parts of three seasons and had one incredible five-game stretch and 2 ½ years of virtually nothing.

“It’s definitely a business first, I’ll say that,” Fulgham told the Athletic. “All I can do is stick to my game and do what I do.

“I didn’t go anywhere. It’s just kind of how the situation ended up. But I haven’t gone anywhere. My game is still here. I can take over a game if I want to.”

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