After Getting Cut 10 Times, Eagles' Andre Chachere Thankful for Latest Chance

After getting cut 10 times, Andre Chachere thankful for latest chance originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

He’s been released 10 times by six different teams, so you can understand why Andre Chachere is so grateful every time he walks into the front door at the NovaCare Complex.

You read all the time about 1^st-round picks and multi-million dollar contract extensions and massive signing bonuses.

Chachere is on the other end of the NFL spectrum, an undrafted player who has nothing guaranteed and knows he has to out-work, out-play and out-perform everybody else just to keep his job.

“Any opportunity I get, I’m very thankful,” Chachere said. “Especially around Thanksgiving time, you like to count your blessings. 

“Every time I’ve been let go and picked up, I’m always thankful, whether it’s just a workout, practice squad, finally making a roster, whatever it is, I’m just thankful for the opportunity, and I’ll never take it for granted.”

Chachere played at San Jose State and was third in the Mountain West Conference with four interceptions in 2015 (one more than Wyoming’s Marcus Epps). He graduated in 2017 and then bounced around NFL camps and practice squads for three years without playing a snap.

“Started with Houston and went to Detroit and then went to Arizona, then to Carolina and back to Arizona, and then to Indianapolis and then here,” he says, listing all his NFL stops with a laugh. “Crazy.”

He was released nine times before he ever got to play a single down in the NFL. But he kept going. Every time he got cut, every time a team gave up on him, it only made him hungrier and only made him work harder.

“It definitely motivates me more than anything,” he said. “I remember the first time I was released, I was pretty down, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was already looking for flights to go back to California, packing up the apartment with my wife and kids.

“But around 30 minutes later I got a call (from the Lions), and once I did get that call, the switch flipped really fast, and I realized, ‘You know what? If I keep doing what I’m doing and keep working, I can stick around,’ and from that first time I got cut I never let it get me down too much, I’ve always used it as motivation and I still do that to this day. 

Chachere arrived in Philly for the first time last September just before opening day after he was released by the Colts. The Eagles claimed him on waivers, and on Sept. 12, he made his NFL debut with 18 special teams in the win over the Falcons.

It was his first meaningful football game in 1,387 days - since Nov. 25, 2017, when San Jose State finished the 2017 season with a win over Wyoming.

He wound up playing 16 of 17 games – he missed the second Washington game with COVID – and established himself as a core special teamer.

It would be great if I could tell you he made the team out of camp this summer, but these stories often aren’t that neat and simple.

The Eagles released Chachere in final cuts and signed him to the practice squad the next day. But after using up his three game-day elevations – for wins over the Jaguars, Cards and Cowboys – the Eagles signed him back to the 53-man roster on Nov. 8, and he’s played 45 out of a possible 51 special teams snaps vs. the Commanders and Colts.

“I definitely appreciate all of it,” he said at his locker Wednesday. “Each day I get to come into this building – or any building – whether I’m on the practice squad or the roster, whatever it is, it’s a blessing, and I never take it for granted. Every day I try to give it my all at practice, in meetings, no matter what it is. I always hold that true to myself.

“It’s definitely one day at a time. You never know what’s going on upstairs, and you just try to control what you can control, and all I can control is how I prepare make sure I my best foot forward every day and try to leave good impressions on everybody, and whatever happens after that happens, and I know whatever I did, I’ll be happy with it.”

Chachere was 22 as a rookie with the Texans, and he said two veteran defensive backs – Tyrann Mathieu and Johnathan Joseph – kept him grounded as he got started on his NFL journey.

“Those are two guys who definitely let me know, ‘Hey, you got this,’” he said. “I was with (Darius) Slay in Detroit, and we got pretty close and he let me know said the same thing. Everywhere I’ve been there’ve been some of the top guys in the league that have helped me realize that, ‘Hey, you’ve got it, just don’t stop, keep working.’”

Now Chachere is 26 – the same age Mathieu was in 2018 – and even as he tries to establish himself as an ascending NFL safety, slot corner and special teamer – he makes sure he takes the time to share the lessons he’s learned along the way with the Eagles’ latest batch of undrafted guys and late-round picks.

“I try to do that now as much as I can with the younger guys,” he said. “Any information, any help I can give them, I try my best to do it. Don’t worry about things you can’t control. And just stay positive.”

Andre Chachere roster moves

May 11, 2018: Signed with Texans
Sept. 1, 2018: Released by Texans
Sept. 2, 2018: Signed to Texans’ practice squad
Nov. 20, 2018: Released by Texans
Nov. 21, 2018: Signed to Lions’ practice squad
Dec. 19, 2018: Signed with Lions
Dec. 29, 2018: Released by Lions
Dec. 29, 2018: Signed to Lions’ practice squad
Aug. 30, 2019: Released by Lions
Sept. 11, 2019: Signed to Cards’ practice squad
Oct. 11, 2019: Released by Cards
Oct. 21, 2019: Signed to Panthers’ practice squad
Dec. 18, 2019: Released by Panthers
Dec. 25, 2019: Signed by Cards
May 12, 2020: Released by Cards
Aug. 23, 2020: Signed by Colts
Sept. 5, 2020: Released by Colts
Jan. 11, 2021: Signed by Colts
Sept. 2, 2021: Released by Colts
Sept. 3, 2021: Claimed by Eagles
Aug. 30, 2022: Released by Eagles
Aug. 31, 2022: Signed to Eagles’ practice squad
Nov. 8, 2022: Signed by Eagles

Source - Pro Football Reference