Chip Kelly wants players who love football

As the flurry of names and faces flew into and out of Philadelphia this offseason, much of the commentary surrounding the changes in the Eagles roster had to do with the addition of so-called "Chip Kelly players."

Naturally, the inquiring mind went in search of a definition.

"Someone who works hard and is passionate about playing the game," Kelly told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Those, also, who "love playing football, not what football gets them," he said two seasons ago.

As the number of zeros that follow pro football salaries rise with every passing season, and too the millions more that come with endorsement deals and TV commercials and reality television shows all make such a wholesome character a scarce commodity.

Sure, players may not entirely lose that innocent love of the game they had when they first put on a helmet in their youth.

But, as they got more talented, won more games, got more attention, eventually played their way onto college rosters, and even found themselves the subject of adulation on Draft Night, that pure devotion to craft most likely will morph into a crass and single-minded materialism.

But admist the rule, there are exceptions, most easily found in the pre-draft evaluation period, according to Kelly.

That personal meeting and getting the feel of each potential player himself was one of the motivations that drove him to take the personnel position he was named to this offseason. It was something, after all, over which he had complete control when the head coach at Oregon.

"I think you've got to sit down and meet with them," he said. "Obviously, in free agency, you don't get that opportunity, but in the draft process, you do. I think in this year's class, we've got guys like Eric Rowe and Nelson [Agholor] and JaCorey [Shepherd] and those guys, that love playing football. 

"[A]t the beginning aspect of this, when we get exposure to them, whether it be at the Senior Bowl or the Combine, or when we visit their campus, or they come to visit us here -- just trying to figure out what that individual's all about."

Kelly has been trying to build a culture of his own since joining the Eagles, slowly taking control over more decisions, introducing his own brand of sport science, personally engineering the diets, exercise regimens, and even sleep habits of his players. 

Sure, any player who finds themselves on Chip Kelly's roster will be handsomely paid, but they'll have to really love the game to endure what he'll put them through. Only time will tell if it's worth it.