Wentz talks faith and football at area event
EAST ROCKHILL, PA. » Wearing a North Dakota State jersey with Carson Wentz’s Number 11, Liam Hurley’s attire got a stamp of approval as he took a photo with the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback.
“He said “Nice jersey, man, official, official, I like it, I like it,’” said Hurley, a student at Lehigh University. “And I couldn’t think of anything to say. I was ‘Thanks man, I like you.’”
Wentzylvania was alive and well at Pennridge High School in suburban Philadelphia on Wednesday night, as fans decked in the green of the Super Bowl LII champions packed the school’s auditorium for “The Faith of Carson Wentz,” the Birds QB touching on a number of topics — mainly football and his faith — during the talk, with the proceeds of the event going towards the Revivals Outreach Center in Perkasie.
“I really liked Carson, I liked him in the draft, too,” Hurley said. “When we traded up, I was one of the few people who was like, ‘Yes, I want Carson Wentz.’” But I don’t know, I like his style of play, he’s gritty, he’s Philly.”
Before the talk, Wentz held a meet-and-greet to take pictures with some of the fans. Hatfield’s Erin Casey was there with her two sisters, the trio making sure to share the time they had with the Eagles signal caller with their four brothers.
“Oh yeah, we’re sending them pictures and everything,” Casey said.
Prior to the event, Wentz visited Revivals as it served meals. First Baptist Church of Perkasie purchased the formerly closed restaurant, renovated it and turned it into a outreach center which opened in October.
“We’re opening very slowly to try and meet the needs of the community. I always say we’re trying to make a healthy community healthier,” said Sandi Naso the counseling director at Revivals. “But we really want to bring hope to people who need it, OK, and we want to do that through the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
During Wentz’s talk — which had First Baptist teach pastor and Revivals general director Chris Heller directing questions at him — Wentz said Revivals’ mission reminded him of his Audience of One (AO1) Foundation.
“I thought it was really cool. Obviously a very nice building lot of cool things going on there but just walking away hearing your (Heller) heartbeat for it and really the staff and seeing the people come in,” Wentz said. “It’s so cool to me because that’s the same heartbeat I have with the AO1 foundation and the things we’re doing because everything it show them that love, provide something but at the end of the day you’re providing more that just something in the physical, you’re providing something eternal.”
Wentz’s off the field work with AO1 — including raising money for a sports complex in Haiti — has helped make him a fan favorite as much as his on the field abilities, which had him in the league’s Most Valuable Player discussion last season before tearing his left ACL in the win over the Los Angeles Rams Dec. 10.
“I think the fact that he has such strong morals and such good character that obviously builds from his faith and everything,” Casey said. “It’s really inspiring to see and sets a good example.” Wentz’s season ended at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but with Nick Foles in a quarterback the Eagles went on to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl, beating the New England Patriots 41-33 behind an MVP performance from Foles.
“I’ve dreamt of being on that stage holding that Lombardi Trophy ever since I was a kid but obviously envisioned it in my shoulder pads. Obviously envision it in my uniform. And that’s not how it was,” said Wentz. “That’s just plain as day, that’s just not how it was. But at the end of the day, I just had to swallow my pride and know that God was working through it and my favorite part about the whole thing was Jesus Christ still got all of the glory through Doug Pederson, through Nick Foles and the rest of the guys on that stage.
“And it wasn’t about me, which was ultimately what I dreamt about anyways. So, just a cool platform for Jesus just to get the glory.”
Earlier Tuesday, Wentz had limited participation in the Eagles’ first organized team activity (OTAs), perking up hopes the quarterback’s rehab will have him ready for the team’s season opener at home against the Atlanta Falcons Sept. 6.
“I don’t know, so I’ve torn my ACL, too and I know the recovery process so he’s going to be right about that what nine months — still tough to come back but it sounds like he’s on schedule and he’s doing well,” Casey said.
Wentz, however, was not ready put an exact date on his return to action.
“I got to play the politically correct card and we’re working on it. We’re working on it,” Wentz said. “You guys have no idea how bad I want to be out there but at the end of the day I’m going to make sure I’m a 100 percent healthy because God-willing I have a long career and a lot of things ahead of me, so that’s the politically right answer but I’m going to do everything I can to be out there I promise that.” FAN-ADELPHIA » Wentz said Eagles fans’ enthusiasm have exceeded what he heard about it after being the second pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
“The fanbase is unbelievable,” he said. “You hear about it coming in out of the draft you hear all this talk about just how nuts the fans are, the passion. All you hear is the word passion over and over. And I’m like ‘Great, I got passion, too,’ I love this game, I’m kind of wired the same way. But it’s just something different, you know it’s something different.
“You guys are next level and it’s just really cool. You hear about throwing snowballs at Santa Claus and I wasn’t there but I could definitely see it happening again. The fans are just incredible and we love playing for them.”