Many people hear the name Fletcher Cox and think of a few different things — football, Philadelphia Eagles, first round draft pick and Mississippi State Bulldogs – just to name a few. Not many think of Fletcher Cox, the drag racer.

Growing up in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Cox’s older brother was always taking Fletcher to Junkyard #1 Speedway in Canton, Miss. to watch the races and learn about the sport when he was around 11 or 12 years old. Of course, this got Fletcher’s blood boiling with the speed, the smell and the horsepower. During his teenage years, he was really looking forward to getting deep into drag racing and had visions of someday owning and building his own car to go out and compete in. During his high school years, his parents trusted Fletcher with his first muscle car, a 1999 Pontiac Trans Am, which Fletcher says, “I think it was a pretty amazing thing that my family trusted me in a sports car at that age.”

One of the well-known grudge cars in southern Mississippi – Golddust, owned by Fletcher Cox.

As Fletcher’s love for motorsports was growing, his play on the gridiron was dominant, and he steadily making waves through the college coaching ranks. After graduating from Yazoo City High School, Cox packed his bags and moved to Starkville, Miss. to join the football team at Mississippi State University.

During his years at Mississippi State, Fletcher continued to impress on the field, ending each season well up in the averages for the SEC and the entire NCAA. Following his junior season, Fletcher made the important decision to declare for the NFL Draft. While he was at Mississippi State, it was all about school and the football field, but his true love was still in racing.

Only two hours from home, he made many trips back home to the track in Canton to enjoy a night of racing with his family and friends. His older brother, Shaddrick, had a Fox Body Mustang named Golddust that the Cox Racing team ran in numerous grudge and no-time races. During the college years, Fletcher and Shaddrick took the time to rebuild and upgrade Fletcher’s baby, the Trans Am that his parents bought him as a teenager.

‘Fletcher’s Baby’ – the ’99 Trans Am that was rebuilt by Cox and his brother.

As the finishing touches were being wrapped up on the Trans Am after a long three-year build, the phone rang from the Radio City Music Hall: Fletcher had earned a spot to attend the NFL Draft in person — something few prospects are honored with.

The Philadelphia Eagles traded up in the 2012 NFL Draft to the 12th overall pick in the first round — that’s when the country boy from southern Mississippi had his name called in the bright lights of New York City — Fletcher Cox was now a Philadelphia Eagle, and accomplished the dream of every young athlete of making it to the professional level. But in the back of his mind, Fletcher was thinking about his Trans Am back in Mississippi.

His brother surprised him and sent a video to his phone with the engine in the car and completely ready for Fletcher to get behind the wheel when he returned home.

This is a familiar sight for those that know Fletcher – always smiling and putting the kids first. At Holly Springs earlier this season, Cox took some time to pose with two young fans at the Spring Shootout.

Fletcher continued his love for racing, taking out the Golddust Mustang that his brother had passed down to him. He stuffed a new powerplant into it and began running numerous grudge races in between his stints in Philadelphia. Cox and team won plenty of big money races with Golddust over the next few racing seasons, building his reputation as a mechanic and race car owner. On the field, the 2014 season was a breakout year for Fletcher, where he acquired 61 solo tackles, 4 sacks and multiple others stats that added up to earn him Second Team All-Pro honors. In April of this year, the Eagles, displayed their pleasure with his progression and what he brought to the team, picking up his fifth season option and keeping him in Philadelphia through the 2016 NFL season.

This season has been a big year for Fletcher’s racing hobby — after purchasing another grudge car, a 1979 Chevy Malibu, he turned his attention to class racing; X275, in particular. Fletcher mentioned the competitiveness of X275 and the fight to reach the top — much like the climb to the professional echelons of the sports world.

Cox purchased a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro and put a BES-built big-block under the hood with a single stage of nitrous oxide, tuned by Tim’s Automotive in Tupelo, Miss. Tim’s has been brought in to assist in the tuning duties and decision-making with both grudge cars, as well. In just two outings, the Fletcher Cox-owned, Jason Hutcheson-driven Camaro has already seen the 4.60 elapsed time range at over 152 miles per hour with a safe tune-up as the team gets a handle on the new EFI system and what the Bischoff-built horsepower likes and dislikes.

In numerous talks with Cox, he’s very excited for the rest of the 2015 racing season and the future of the team. “My future plan with the program is to possibly compete in the Radial Wars/Pro Drag Radial ranks.”

Cox has numerous companies helping his teams grow and be all that they can be, including Manasco Body Shop, Tim’s Automotive and Hutcheson Transmission. What really stands out to us at Dragzine is how thankful and appreciative Fletcher is to the great team of guys assembled together that love drag racing and take the entire program very seriously.