Hopkins, ‘one of best’ Eagles safeties, dies at 57

PHILADELPHIA » Wes Hopkins, one of the most popular of Eagles players during a 10-year virtuoso career spent entirely in Philadelphia, passed away Friday morning, the team announced.

Hopkins was 57. The cause of death was not immediately reported.

On a team that often had no defensive equal in the NFL of the late 1980s to early 1990s, Hopkins was a safety who held nothing back.

“He was coming up wide open,” former teammate Garry Cobb said Friday of Hopkins. “He had his foot on the gas pedal; wide open.”

In a statement, owner Jeffrey Lurie called Hopkins, “one of the best safeties in the history of our franchise. He played a major role in the team’s success during his time here in Philadelphia.”

Lurie bought the Eagles in 1994, the year after Hopkins retired, but was well aware of the impact the hard-hitting safety had on the team.

“He was well-respected among his teammates and coaches, not only because of the way he played the game and what he was able to accomplish on the field, but also because of the way he carried himself and the type of leader he was,” Lurie said. “He had a genuine love of the game, and that’s one of the reasons he connected so well with the people of Philadelphia.”

A second-round draft pick in 1983 out of SMU, Hopkins spent all 10 years of his career with the Eagles (1983-86 and ‘88-93). He was an All-Pro in 1985, and missed much of 1986 and all of 1987 with a knee injury. He was inducted into SMU’s Hall of Fame this year.