GOEDERT SETS EAGLE'S TE TOUCHDOWN RECORD

    Britton-Hecla and South Dakota State University graduate and Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert made a couple of big headlines during the past week.
    Number 88 caught his 11th touchdown pass of the season against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, setting a new franchise record for touchdown receptions by a tight end and breaking a mark that had stood for 60 years.  Goedert was also named the state’s 2025 Sports Celebrity of the Year by the South Dakota Sportswriters’ Association for his role in helping the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship a year ago.
    Ironically, Goedert broke an Eagles’ record held by another SDSU player, Ellendale, ND, native Pete Retzlaff.  Retzlaff caught 10 TD passes for the Eagles in 1965 and is a member of the Eagles, SDSU, and South Dakota Sports Hall of Fames.  Interestingly, he played fullback for the Jackrabbits for two years in 1951 and 1952 but never caught a pass.  When he was converted to a tight end for the Eagles he became one of the first tight ends in the NFL to be a receiver as well as a blocker.
    The Goedert and Retzlaff careers have some other interesting parallels.  Goedert, also known as a strong blocker and receiver, won a Super Bowl championship with the Eagles last year, and Retzlaff won an NFL championship with Philadelphia in 1960.  In his eight-year career to date Goedert has 409 receptions for 4,676 yards, including a career-best 60 receptions this season, while Retzlaff ended up with 452 catches for 7,412 yards in his 11-year Eagles’ career (1956-66).
    There was a time when it didn’t seem like Goedert was going to be a member of the 2025 Philadelphia Eagles.  He played just 10 games a year ago and with a year remaining on his contract there were trade rumors, but the contract was restructured for the 2025 campaign. 
    That has led to the 30-year-old veteran coming up with one of his best career seasons.  He has played in 15 games for the team this season and has set new career highs in receptions and touchdowns to go along with 591 receiving yards. 
    Rams’ wide receiver Davante Adams currently leads the league with 14 touchdown receptions on the season in 14 games. Goedert is tied for second place in the league with Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride and Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.