Family man Foles finds time to ‘enjoy the love’
Super Bowl hero says best part of big night was sharing it with his wife and daughter
After his Super Bowl MVP news conference early Monday morning, Nick Foles and his family flew off to Disney World.
After that, how much do you want to bet the Philadelphia Eagles’ super-humble, supergrounded hero of Super Bowl LII guests on a few daytime talk shows? Because talent chasers for those programs must know by now the quarterback would melt the hearts of millions by the way he talks so glowingly about loving wife Tori and infant daughter Lily.
Foles, if you didn’t know, was a ball cap-wearing backup all season for the Eagles, until starting passer and MVP candidate Carson Wentz tore his left ACL in mid-December and was lost for the season. Enter Foles, who looked more than a little shaky in starting the last three regularseason games.
But in the team’s bye week before playing host to Atlanta in an NFC divisional playoff game Jan. 14, Foles and head coach Doug Pederson tweaked the offensive playbook to try to emphasize Foles’ skill set. After that, the sixth-year pro played like a superstar in piloting the Eagles to three impressive wins, the last on Sunday night at Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium, the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory, to the delight of Philadelphians.
Asked Monday to share what went through his mind when he first saw his wife and baby on the field in that green-and-white confetti hurricane, Foles turned to mush.
“Ah, these questions always get me emotional,” the 29-year-old said. “Just looking in (the baby’s) eyes, the whole world slowed down. And just seeing her look at the confetti, and looking into my wife’s eyes and embracing her, and just knowing that I get to spend the rest of my life with her.
“That’s what (this) is all about. It’s about that moment where you just enjoy the love.”
Sure, he joined his teammates at a big celebratory party after the game, Foles said. Not that he stayed long. Why? You got it. He missed his family.
“I went for a little bit, but my family wasn’t there,” Foles said. “They were pretty tired. My daughter had to go to sleep, so shortly after that I wanted to go see them. I had 20-plus people here.”
Right. Other family and friends. Foles said he just kicked back, reflected and merely “hung out” with them, in quiet.
“That’s it. Simple,” he said. “Just staying in the moment, enjoying the moment.”
Foles, who practically quit pro football a couple of years ago in frustration to become a preacher, gave a pep talk for the ages about never giving up, a mere hours after an unlikely Super Bowl performances for the ages.
“I think the big thing is don’t be afraid to fail,” Foles said. “In our society today, you know, with Instagram and Twitter, there’s a lot of (criticized) failure. But failure is a part of life. It’s a part of building character and growing. Without failure, who would we be? I wouldn’t be up here if I hadn’t fallen thousands of times and made mistakes.
“We all are human, we all have weaknesses. And just being able to share that and be transparent. I know when I listen to people speak and they share their weaknesses, I’m listening. Because I can resonate.
“So, I’m not perfect. I’m not Superman. I might be in the NFL and we might have just won the Super Bowl, but we still have daily struggles. I still have daily struggles. But that’s where my faith comes in, that’s where my family comes in. When you look at a struggle in life, that’s just an opportunity for your character to grow.”
So, after he’s done parading down Main Street U.S.A. in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Monday, and doing interviews in front of Cinderella’s castle (you can’t make this up, people), Foles may further spread his worthy messages on the tear-jerking circuit.
It’s a small world, after all.