Nick Foles almost retired after the Los Angeles Rams cut him, now he’s a win away from being a Super Bowl champion.
People have a natural attraction to the underdog, something that is heightened when sports enter the mix. Twice this postseason, the Philadelphia Eagles have been underdogs despite hosting games as the NFC’s top seed; twice they’ve won.
Both times Nick Foles was under center.
When Carson Wentz tore his ACL and had his season ended prematurely, it looked to derail a potential Super Bowl run. Nick Foles was stepping in and he hadn’t been a starting quarterback since the early part of this decade. Everyone doubted he’d be able to slide in and replace an MVP candidate, and his final two games of the season hardly convinced anyone otherwise.
Jeff Fisher once told [Foles] he wasn’t good enough at his job to be on a team lathered in ‘7-9 bullsh***’ … now he’s a Super Bowl starter.
Yet, here we are with the Eagles punching their ticket to Super Bowl 52 after Foles dissected the vaunted Minnesota Vikings defense. He had one of the best games of his career — both in terms of stats and context — and he did it against all odds, literally. Vegas favored both the Falcons and the Vikings over the Eagles in the last two playoff games, mostly because Foles was the quarterback.
The odds will undoubtedly favor the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, but that only adds to the sweetness of this revenge tour subplot that has unexpectedly unfolded.
Everyone who was harping on Foles forgot that he was an MVP candidate himself back 2013. Even in that season, Foles wasn’t getting the respect he was due, with most of the credit going to Chip Kelly’s offensive schemes. He eventually lost his starting job and failed to recapture the success he had with his stops in Los Angeles or Kansas City.
Jeff Fisher once told him he wasn’t good enough at his job to be on a team lathered in “7-9 bullshit”. He almost retired after that and no one ever thought he’d be a starter again. Now Foles is going to start in the Super Bowl and is one win away from validating himself, forever silencing his haters.
Foles might not get the respect he’s owed, but it’s only added fuel to a tank we thought was beyond empty. He’s apparently more of a junkyard dog than we thought — but you wouldn’t expect any less from your new favorite underdog.