Foles had a passion to reconnect with fans
PHILADELPHIA » Three million people, and some horses, and some who will act like horses, will cram downtown streets Thursday. There, they will prove what Nick Foles knew all along. There, they will show that Philadelphia can be the perfect place to play professional football.
Though it may have seemed that some weird tsunami of fate pushed him back to the Eagles this season, and then allowed him to make the career-altering injury to Carson Wentz fade from public memory, Foles did not return to Philadelphia by accident last spring. It was more calculated than that, more personal, more direct. The Kansas City Chiefs, who preferred the salary cap space to anything Foles may have provided as a backup to Alex Smith, agreed to allow him to go job-hunting. They’d recently done the same with Doug Pederson, but what do they know? Anyway, Foles didn’t shop for long. He knew where he wanted to run to, and there would not be an option to pass.
“I love it here,” he said. “My wife loves it here. We just love how the people are, and how much they care about the Eagles. We saw it before. This is where we wanted to be.”
Foles was saying that at his locker, not just this week in the spirit of a world championship, but last spring, during one of those organized-team-activities flurries. Then, he was chatting with a few football writers. And while it was on the record, it was also conversational. He was explaining, with no other reason than to help, why he would so actively maneuver himself back to a city where he was, at best, tolerated.
An Eagle once before, he’d begun to leak popularity not long after a season where he’d throw 27 touchdown passes, including seven in one game, against two interceptions. Some of that was because Chip Kelly doesn’t know as much about football as he thinks he knows. Some of that was because Foles could appear to be a step slow on certain plays. Most of it was because by that point in a championship vigil that had begun in 1960, Eagles fans had a minimum of patience with anybody. In, out. Try something else. Even some franchise legends were more remembered for their failures. Think Donovan McNabb.
Still, Foles was happy to return to the franchise that had made him a 2012 thirdround draft choice. The $11 million in guarantees didn’t hurt. Neither did a connection with Doug Pederson, one of the first to seriously scout him out of the University of Arizona, and one of the last to still believe he had championship ability. But mostly, it was about the city.
“Everywhere you go,” Foles said, “people are talking about the Eagles. Wherever you are. In the stores. Everywhere. You don’t get that everywhere else. So we knew that when we were here. That was important to us.”
Foles wasn’t supposed to play much this season. So, he didn’t act like he should. He patiently climbed underneath a baseball cap every Sunday while Wentz forged an MVP candidacy. He never caused a stir. Then Wentz was injured, Foles was promoted and, fast-forwarding a bit, fans started a run on dog masks.
Foles was back at that same locker Wednesday, and, as he should have been, was swarmed by reporters and cameras and some guy in the back who was hollering something. The Eagles were world champions. And in a day, there would be that parade. What to expect?
“That’s a great question,” he said, smiling. “I don’t think anybody reeeeallllly knows. We’re really excited about it. I know there is supposed to be millions of people. I can’t wait to go down Broad, go to the Art Museum and just see everything.
“This is what you dream of. So it is really cool.”
All professional athletes dream of a ticker-tape salute. Few, though, dreamed it as vividly as Foles. Fewer still would have been as willing to twist their careers so that it could be realized.
Back in the spring, Foles didn’t necessarily think he would be the Birds’ quarterback in a Super Bowl victory. He figured, naturally, that if it were to happen, it would be Wentz in the lead convertible. He did stress, though, that he still felt he could be a No. 1 quarterback somewhere in the NFL. On that point, he was clear. He was clear on his other point, too: That nowhere would that be as satisfying than right back where he’d started.
“We’re fortunate to be a part of this,” he said, on Parade Eve. “It goes back to us being fortunate to play this game and to be a part of this organization. This organization does things the right way, so it deserves this. The fans deserve this. It’s been a long-time wait. It’s really cool to be a part of this. It’s really cool to see the joy in everyone’s face, life-long fans, seeing how long they’ve waited for this moment. That’s really, really special. And go around this locker room and ask every player. It is really something special to be a part of.”
By Thursday, three million will be a part of it, too. Nick Foles, who can read the field, saw that one coming.
Contact Jack McCaffery @jmccaffery@21st-centurymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @JackMcCaffery