Foles delivered when Eagles needed him most
MINNEAPOLIS » Lately, there’s been a rhyming, unprintable nickname that Eagles fans have used when talking about Nick Foles.
But “Big Game Nick” works just fine too.
After Carson Wentz was lost for the year following his season-ending knee injury suffered in Week 14, Foles filled in with mixed results to end the regular season, but it wasn’t until the playoffs when he really started to shine.
That all culminated on Sunday night, when he outdueled Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to lead the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title, something he was emotional in discussing after the game.
“To be a part of the Philadelphia Eagles first championship, we’ve all waited a long time to be in this position to be world champions,” Foles said. “The people who bleed green; the people in Philadelphia and all across the nation who’ve supported the Eagles, they’ve waited a long time. Mr. Lurie’s waited a long time. Being drafted to Philadelphia, and then being fortunate enough to come back and be a part of this team and be a piece of this puzzle…it’s been a long time coming, and I know there’s going to be a lot of celebrating tonight.”
Of course there was. But none of that what would have been possible without Foles, who completed 28 of his 43 pass attempts for 373 yards, three touchdowns and one interception en route to winning MVP honors. He also hauled in a touchdown catch, shortly after Patriots head coach Bill Belichick tried a similar play and failed.
“That play, we’ve been working on for the last couple weeks,” said Eagles head coach Doug Pederson of the play, which he calls “Philly Special.”
“The guys executed it brilliantly. We just needed the right time, right opportunity.”
The same could be said for Foles, who spent the first three years of his career with the Eagles before playing the last two with the St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs before returning prior to the start of this season.
“I’m so happy for Nick,” Pederson said. “Just like this football team, a lot of people counted him out and didn’t think he could get it done. I believed in him, the staff believed in him, the players believed in him. We needed time together to work out some things…this whole postseason, Nick has shown exactly who he is.”
Who he is, is a starting quarterback in the NFL. Where he’ll do that next season, however, remains up in the air. Wentz is, unquestionably, the Eagles starter going forward once he’s completely healthy.
But there’s time for all of that to play out. For now, Foles just wanted to soak in the moment.
“A couple years ago, I was thinking about hanging up the cleats,” he said. “As people, we deal with struggles. That was a moment in my life where I thought about it and I prayed about it, and I’m grateful that I made the decision to come back and play…being on the podium with my wife and my daughter, that’s what life’s about right there. We’re Super Bowl champs, but time does stop when you look in your daughter’s eyes and you get to celebrate this moment, and I got to look in my wife’s eyes and got to celebrate this with her…to be in this moment and celebrate this moment, that’s what it’s about. I’m just grateful.”