After forging a brotherhood at Temple, Eagles’ Haason Reddick and Bills’ Dion Dawkins meet at the mountaintop

In preparing for his homecoming this Sunday, Dion Dawkins has three potential destinations for a much-anticipated cheesesteak — but only one doughnut place will suffice.

It’s an under-the-radar spot, according to the Buffalo Bills left tackle from Temple.

“Federal Donuts,” Dawkins said in a phone interview Friday. “You’ve probably never heard of it.”

It turns out Dawkins is as protective of his favorite Philadelphia eatery as he is of Josh Allen, at least when facing the notion that the secret’s out about the doughnut franchise.

“If you’ve been there, what did you get from Federal Donuts?” Dawkins asks, half-accusatory and half in jest.

Upon hearing the correct answer, Dawkins starts to face the music: “You’re telling the truth! The chicken sandwiches are the best.”

The first regular-season game at Lincoln Financial Field for the 29-year-old from Rahway, N.J., is a momentous occasion for him, but the trip to Federal Donuts and one of Ishkabibble’s, Max’s, or Dalessandro’s will only be the second biggest highlight of the weekend.

The first will come when he sees Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick across from him and the rest of the Bills offense on Sunday. Over their shared time at Temple, the two endured one of the lowest moments of their lives together, came to blows on the practice field on North Broad Street, and forged a friendship through fierce competition.

When they reunite at the Linc for the time since 2016, they’ll meet at the proverbial mountaintop.

“I just can’t wait to see Haason on the football field,” Dawkins said. “I saw him in Arizona [when Reddick was a Cardinal] … but it wasn’t the same. I don’t want to make it about a-me-and-Haas thing, but I’m just honored and blessed to really go through what we went through together and to share the field together.”

» READ MORE: Haason Reddick changed his career path with the help of family and hometown ties

Dawkins and Reddick spent three seasons together at Temple from 2014 to 2016 as NFL prospects on opposite sides of one another. They left Temple with a self-described “brotherhood” forged in part because of an inflection point where it felt like their NFL prospects hung in the balance.

It came in 2015, when the two faced aggravated assault charges in an incident involving another Temple student that led to them being suspended from the football program. The charges were dismissed when a judge found there was insufficient evidence against them and they were reinstated in time for the next season. But the memory of getting arrested and booked by Philadelphia police that year helps add perspective to their current situations for Dawkins.

They’re both NFL veterans, both at the top of their respective positions.

“We went to jail,” Dawkins said. “Just to be on the football field and both of us to be on the top of our game after what we went through, it’s just a blessing for us both to be doing this at this high level on the same stage, same time, same place and doing what we both love. It will be a special moment, truly.”

Dawkins was drafted by the Bills in the second round of the 2017 draft and has been their starting left tackle since his rookie season. He’s been named to the Pro Bowl twice in his career and has logged 100 starts.

Reddick, a first-round pick by Arizona in 2017 who joined the Eagles last year as a free agent, has become one of the league’s best pass rushers since joining the Eagles last year and is coming off the first Pro Bowl season of his career. He has 55.5 career sacks, including 24.5 in his 27 games with the Eagles.

“We’re not at one of the highest moments,” Dawkins said. “We’re at the highest.”

On the field, Dawkins and Reddick grew close by way of feisty practices constantly lining up across from one another.

“They went against each other all the time,” said Texas A&M interim coach Elijah Robinson, who coached defensive linemen at Temple during their tenure. “One-on-ones, team, whatever it was, they always competed. They both were alphas. It truly was an example of iron sharpening iron.”

Dawkins added: “It was gritty. We would freaking kill each other at practice. We would literally kill each other. The competitive edge was so high, it was ridiculous, but [then-head coach] Matt Rhule bred toughness, so every play, we were trying to rip each other’s heads off.”

The time spent across from one another helped each of them. At 6-foot-5, 320 pounds, Dawkins gave Reddick a gifted tackle with prototypical NFL size to practice against. For Dawkins, working against Reddick’s speed was instructive for him, especially once he made it to the NFL.

The intensity is what stands out most, though. The two toed the line often and would sometimes cross it, leading to at least one fabled fight between them during practice.

“We had some good battles back in the day at Temple, making each other better,” Reddick said.

Dawkins added: “We had fights. We had fistfights, we had all types of stuff. If you ask any Temple guy that was on our team about the Haason and Dion fight, they can run the whole story for you probably word-for-word. … It was literally clash of the titans at Temple on that day, and it was definitely one for the history books.”

» READ MORE: Haason Reddick went from a walk-on to a standout at Temple. Now he’s joining the Eagles.

Reddick said he’s looking forward to the matchup against his former teammate, with whom he has spent the last three offseasons training.

Even in the two weeks the Eagles spent preparing for the Chiefs game, Reddick was already asking Eagles edge rushers coach Jeremiah Washburn about Dawkins in anticipation of the reunion.

“I talked to Wash about him already just to see how he was doing,” Reddick said after the Eagles’ 21-17 win in Kansas City. “From the film Wash saw, he said he’s playing well, and I expect no less from guys going out of Temple. It’s going to be a battle. I’ll be ready, I know he’ll be ready.”

Dawkins said he and Reddick laid plans to wear each other’s jerseys to the Linc on Sunday, although the logistics still have to be ironed out. Reddick spends the vast majority of his time lined up against opposing right tackles, so Dawkins will likely see much more of Josh Sweat than Reddick during the cross-conference clash, but the evidence of their time together will be apparent nonetheless.

There will also be a mutual respect, because they know what it took for each other to get there.

“We’re connected, Temple guys,” Reddick said. “We know what it means to get into the league, we know how hard we had to work to get into the league, so we respect that about each other and we keep our connections and our bonds. Even though he’s on a different team now, just based off of college, he’s still a brother to me.”

The Eagles host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest story lines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.