Brian Baldinger On the Eagles

It first hit me when my American Airline Jet put the landing gears down on my return flight from the Super Bowl. The Captain said we were 10 minutes from “another touchdown” in Philadelphia, home to the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles.

When did it hit you?

Because it hit us all, and more importantly, it touched us all. Deeply!

This championship traveled through generations of families. It was larger than a trophy. It was larger than a game. it was like the feeling of childbirth and I don’t feel like I am overstating how monumentally big Super Bowl L11 was.

How did it happen?

Jeffrey Lurie purchased the Eagles in 1994 and promised multiple championships. He never wavered from that statement but after 20 plus years of moderate success the words ringed hollow after coaching changes and front office upheaval. But Mr. Lurie never stopped trying.

When he decided to bring Howie Roseman back as the GM, that was a bold step. He believed that after much research that Howie actually had a keen eye not only on college talent but on free agent talent as well and had a command of the league. The move to Roseman was bold and brave.

To Howie’s credit, he went out and sought the best talent evaluator in the league today, Joe Douglas. and his confident, Andy Weidl, and together they formed an incredible team. They decided over the past two season’s that beyond the talent level; every player that they brought on board had to meet the following requirements; they needed to LOVE the game of football. They needed to check all egos at the door. And they had to take the practice field everyday competing for their job. Nothing would be handed to any player, and no entitlements would be awarded to any player.

The hiring of Doug Pederson was masterful, and the staff that he assembled was equally masterful. And when a mistake was made at the wide receiver position, they fixed it after the first year when they hired Mike Groh.

Doug P. turned out to be above everything else AGGRESSIVE.

The kind of aggression needed to bring home a championship. Fourth down attempts were common place. Passing when a run was expected. Running when a pass was expected. And the proper use of chicanery when everyone least expected it.

I can and should heap mountains of praise on every corner of the NovaCare Complex, however, there isn’t enough space in this column.

The fact is, is that, when Carson Wentz went down in week 14 there wasn’t a lot of confidence that Nick Foles could, in eight weeks time, become the MVP of THE Super Bowl.

How did Foles accomplish the unlikeliest of feats?

The entire TEAM rallied behind Foles. Everyone picked their game up. Think about how consistently good Big V. was? Do you recall a single costly drop by any receiver in the postseason. Special Teams were special. Jalen Mills played like a big-time player against the pass but was really good vs. the run as well.

The tackling was crisp. The trenches were dominant. And while the defensive line did not have their best performance vs. Tom Brady; Brandon Graham made the single biggest defensive play of the game when the TEAM needed it most.

But Nick Foles is the STORY. On a six-day stretch from Christmas night to New Year’s Eve, Nick Foles looked like he lost any mojo he might have possessed from a week 15 performance vs. the New York Giants where he tossed four TD passes and looked like the second coming of Carson Wentz.

I announced the week 17 loss to the Cowboys where the Birds were shutout and Foles did little to establish confidence with the fans and even people in the front office.

I saw many blank stares after an inauspicious display vs. the Cowboys. When I asked some executives after the loss what the formula was for the postseason, they simply said, “we need to run the ball.”

But Foles went on a postseason tear unlike any NFL QB in history. Completing over 72 percent of his passes, combined with 9.2 yards/attempt while throwing for six TD’s versus one interception.

But it was his third down and fourth down conversions which kept his offense on the field and would eventually break the sword of all three post season opponents.

I could easily say that Doug P. painted a masterpiece with his combination of RPO’S, screens, and healthy play designs but that would short change how great Foles was throughout the postseason.

After the Cowboy loss he addressed his lack of confidence and also understood how the fans and media would lack confidence in how underwhelming he performed in the seasons final two contests. The most difficult part of being a professional athlete is how to regain confidence after it has abandoned you.

It happens to all athletes in all sports. Hitting slumps to great players are frequent. basketball players and golfers lose their shot making ability. Sometimes it ends careers or creates new endeavors for legions of psychologists brought in to rewire the athletes mind.

Nick Foles did not have time to team up with any psychologists. Within a 12 day span Nick Foles not only found his MOJO; he climbed a new mountain top of confidence.

Every time the Patriots had a chance to get off the field on third down and get the football back to the G.O.A.T., Foles stuck a bulls-eye to Ertz, or to Alshon, or Agholor, or Smith. or Clement.

It was a combination of strong belief, uncanny accuracy, feathery touch, and bold aggression.

Every quality necessary to become the Super Bowl MVP. In less than a fortnight Nick Foles morphed into Kurt Warner.

The story going into SB52 was Foles and how he would respond on the NFL’S biggest stage; and the story during and after the game was FOLES and his MVP performance.

It’s a story that will be told and retold in NFL folklore and it will be retold around dinner tables and in pregame parking lots of Eagle fans for decades to come.

Nick Foles is the reason why live sports is still the most coveted event in all of television.

We will always watch. And when the story is as unlikely a hero as NICK FOLES, we watch and we re-watch because Nick Foles and this Eagle team has a little bit of US in the championship run. We love an underdog. Its a story as old as the bible. When David can slay Goliath it gives us all hope that we may overcome all odds and rise up and conquer our own Goliath.

The best part of this Super Bowl Championship season for the Eagles is that no one can ever take it away.

It’s not mythical. It’s not fitted by a Rocky Statue in Hollywood folklore. It’s real. it’s ours.

And the story will never get old

Welcome to Philadelphia; Home of the World Champion Eagles. Keep the celebrations going. *