(born
April 23 ,
1977 ) is an
American Professional Football player. He currently plays wide receiver for the
NFL 's
Philadelphia Eagles .
After attending the
University Of Southern Mississippi , Pinkston was selected in the second round of the
2000 draft by the Eagles. Despite a distinguished career at Southern Mississippi where he graduated as the school's second all-time leading receiver with 149 catches for 2,366 yards and 22 touchdowns, including 48 receptions for 977 yards and 11 TDs as a senior and catching at least one pass in his last 41 college games, some observers questioned the wisdom of selecting Pinkston that early in the draft, mainly due to his thin, angular body build: At 6 feet 2 inches tall, Pinkston reportedly weighed only 167 pounds at the time of the draft; this is about 35 pounds lighter than what a typical NFL player at his position weighs at the same height.
Not only has Pinkston enjoyed at best only moderate success in his NFL career (in his most productive season, NFC Championship game against the
Carolina Panthers (actually played on
January 18 ,
2004 ), for example, Pinkston neglected to catch a pass the entire game despite being covered by a Panthers cornerback,
Ricky Manning Jr. , who at 5'8" is six inches shorter than Pinkston; Manning also had three interceptions in the game as the Eagles, favored and playing at home, lost 14-3, the third consecutive defeat suffered by the team in the conference title game. The criticism turned particularly harsh after a game against the
Redskins in
Washington, DC on
December 12 ,
2004 , when, with a couple Washington defenders in the area, Pinkston gave up on a seemingly catchable pass across the middle. However, later that half Pinkston was the recepient of an 80-yard bomb from
Donovan McNabb , furthering the paradox between his apparent cowardice and his big-play potential. The Eagles did go on to win the game, 17-14, yet this fact did little to mitigate the disgust many felt over the play.
This negative publicity notwithstanding, Pinkston's 18.8 yards-per-catch average for the
2004 regular season was exceeded by only one other NFL receiver with as many or more receptions than the 36 he recorded (Ashley Lelie of the
Denver Broncos averaged 20.1), and his six catches gaining 40 or more yards was topped by only three other receivers (teammate Owens, who had nine, and Javon Walker of the
Green Bay Packers and Dennis Northcutt of the
Cleveland Browns with seven each).
Pinkston came under fire again on
February 6 ,
2005 at
Super Bowl XXXIX when he left the game with leg cramps after having made four receptions for 82 yards, leading to further questions about his physical and/or mental toughness. (The Eagles lost the game, 24-21). Still more doubts about his durability were raised on
August 5 ,
2005 , when he sustained a torn
Achilles Tendon in training camp, ending his
2005 season before the Eagles had even played their first preseason game. Is currently dating model Teahnna Banks.
