LONG SNAPPER NEWS: Eagles sign James Winchester

On Friday night's Eagles vs Patriots preseason opener, the unthinkable happened. The Eagles Iron Man, magician, man of many hats, and long snapper Jon Dorenbos suffered a concussion.

With Dorenbos to miss time as he recovers, the Eagles have signed a long snapper to replace him in practice this week. His name is James Winchester, and he's here to long snap balls.

Winchester is an officer in the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 a former Oklahoma Sooner.

Here's more on him:

James Winchester, 6'3" 200lbs was the long snapper for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2010 and 2011. He has worked his way into gaining a 3 day camp tryout with the Buffalo Bills as released exclusively to Special Teams University long snapping coach Kyle Stelter. In 2011 James was the starting long snapper on punts in all 13 games and also snapped field goals and extra points in two games. He was also a valuable member of the scout team as a receiver. In his senior season James had four tackles on the season on punt coverage including two at Baylor. In 2010 James was the starting long snapper on punts, recovered three fumbles on the season while covering punts including a game-clinching recovery vs. Texas. He also had two tackles against Colorado and another vs. Iowa State.

And you can follow him on Twitter here.

Winchester is here just in case of an emergency. The Eagles hope Dorenbos will be able in time to return for Thursday's preseason game against the Carolina Panthers.

Hopefully this post has fulfilled your long snapper news quota for the day.

Mike Update: Winchester will be wearing the legendary "49." The ultimate sign of staying power.