Nick Foles On Eagles 2017 Championship Run, Carson Wentz & Retirement

Intro if somebody wanted to to build a or write a QB headstone for you what's the most honest assessment of your career because your career is so unique you know what I think one of the greatest compliments I had was from oan in Chicago I remember I stepped into the Huddle and I said certain things that calm the Huddle we went down players made plays score a touchdown get the two-point conversion win the game that o linman came up to me after the game and said man I don't know what you did but like you were able to calm the entire huddle in a chaotic situation and let us just play ball and not think about anything else like thank you so I don't know what you put on a headstone but that was one of the greatest [Music] compliments this is the moment that we've all been waiting for I've been waiting for this moment I was waiting till my dear friend Nick Foles retired to bother him as a member of the media and say hey come on my show so I can ask you a bunch of tough questions we got him ladies and gentlemen we got him he's here Nick FES joining me on Zoom what's up dude what's up Chris thanks for having me decide to see where this conversation goes it's going to go a lot of places dude but maybe not some of the places you think I'm on my best behavior today Nick um because my yeah we'll see my old Super Bowl MVP backs joining us so I got to act like a grownup um Nick you're retired we'll get into all this stuff but you are also maybe most importantly now a hat guy and uh an apparel guy and Nick's DAD SZN Hat Collection you have sent me some of your hats and I am not blowing smoke dude they are the most comfortable hats that I have ever worn and that is the key to a great hat tell me about your your new Venture yeah so Pat o'donell and I were teammates in Chicago Pat was a longtime punter there um you know still wanting to play right now but we you know he really had the idea for Dad season in 2023 as I was leaving the league and we just kept talking about it and you know we had some shirts some uh hoodies I'm wearing one of the hoodies right now um nothing crazy but then in January I had taken enough time away where I was really just you know we were talking so much about the brand and what it can be what Dad season can be and I was just very passionate about it because I'm a dad myself I'm fortunate to have a wonderful father that pushed me and has always been there for me um and it just resonated so we're always talking about this brand I'm like but I really like hats I think we got to have a hat line but where do you start right well it's just Pat and I and our wives were figuring it out and we printed on all these random hats and they weren't what we wanted and we were fortunate enough to find you know a hat guy and Scott his name is Scott he's awesome and uh we we flew to Denver we designed our first generation of hats and we really had to learn it was a lot more than we thought because I wanted like specific fits I wanted specific Comfort um styles so like we're getting samples we're like measuring like I get the samples I'm like this is too much depth we need a little bit less depth in the XL we made two sizes a lot of them have Flex fit not all of them but my my my thing was I want a really high quality hat that guys love to wear they're proud to wear um and that's where we'll start the message is you know Dad season you know fatherhood being present with your children but a lot of guys are working they're not always around but they they still love their kids right so there's all different walks of Dad so we design these hats we're really proud of them um we we have four more yesterday I was on a call we have four more new designs coming out that we're working on it's been fun for me and Pat to you know talk through designs what can we do next and just keep creating high quality hats I mean everything's custom I mean you got the custom logo custom on the side inside you know it says no days off because once you become a dad even if like you're out I know been that true bro isn't that true I thought we were going to have days off when I signed up for this I mean you can get I mean and there's a lot of moms out there obviously moms are so important the most important um and you know they're always like I've even heard you know my husband has a lot of days off the point is you know even if I'm gone on like a work trip or like say I fly to Philadelphia there there's always going to be a moment where I'm going to get a phone call and have to jump on you know get to jump on a call with maybe my son maybe he's having a tough day and and the point is like the heart like you become a dad you're always a dad your kids go to college like they might be there but you're always there for them um I experienced that you know calling my dad from home even still having conversations with this brand uh my dad has done restaurant business my whole life and I'm like Dad like what would you do in this situation I know what I would do but you've done this a lot longer so it's even been fun from a entrepreneurial standpoint you know talking to my dad about how to do this the right way um customer service caring and it's small I mean it's and I like that though we get to grow it our way um and have a great heart behind it and we're just excited about great products great message and you know hopefully someday we're doing like a you know stories like a podcast like yourself where we get to jump on a you know jump in a conversation and talk about career fatherhood and tell those stories that impact dads out there that you know are in it you know I'm I'm in it right now with seven four and one and uh each days its own adventure but I'm super grateful for the time I get with them right now and uh most of my calls designing these hats and growing this brand uh Pat and I have kids screaming in the background so it's really organic and really fun um but yeah it's been a fun journey and I'm excited about the future of the company Fatherhood man you got a beautiful family uh I'm really lucky too 85 and one so both me and Nick are in the thick of it um is there anything you've learned that you wish you could have told Nick Foles seven years ago when you were sitting in the hospital getting ready for child number one I think the biggest thing I'm learning is you know I felt like when you become a parent like you're trying to instill everything in your kid and guide your kids and help your kids grow along the way but by letting them you know fall and you know lifting them up at the appropriate time they have to go through things so like that's my whole idea of as I'm preparing for Parenthood through my faith through reading through to just watching and then seven years later um I was just at a dinner with my wife and another couple last night and I'm like they're you know they're asking about kids and what it's like being parents and my biggest thing was you know what I'm learning more about myself being a parent of three children than I am probably teaching them and I did not expect that I thought you know I have this figured out you know I'm the adult I'm going to guide them but I grow every single day as a parent and you know that can be like staying calm through a tantrum which I'm not perfect at you know I we got you know Lily's really good and we got the two boys that you know test me every day um but I feel like my children are making me a better person each and every day and I'm super grateful for that and I didn't see that coming yeah it's funny I think one of the biggest uh misn numbers in the world is you're something that's just you think when you're a kid you're like all the adults have it figured out they're fully formed one day I'm G to reach this point where I just have it all figured out and nothing changes and that's just not the case I mean I think you'll find that now where you embark on this new journey in retirement it is truly Dad season for you every day and there's a lot that I've learned over the last man I keep Retirement saying five years but it's going on six now of my life without football and so I wonder for you as you stare at this kind of expanse I mean it really is an expanse it's like the next 60 years of your life hopefully what you wonder it's going to be like what are your fears do you have any um when it comes to leaving football what are you excited about yeah I mean you just never know I mean football has become such a part of like who we are right I mean we've done it I mean I remember in first grade they asked you what you want to be when you grow up and uh it was I want to be a professional athlete at that time I didn't know football but I knew that Sports were such a huge part of my heart and like what I wanted to do and then you know we've done it for such a long time so it's like all right when I don't have that structure when I'm not playing that game um what am I going to do and you know my faith in Christ has been a huge part of my identity it is my identity and that's been a huge part of the transition um but over the last year with you know going through the emotions and making sure that it was the right decision to retire um it started out tough like you know every week you know a couple nights I'd really struggle in the sense of mentally because you're used to a schedule you're used to discipline you're used to going to work you're used to going to practice you're used to watching film and then you know I'm home all the time and I'm with the kids and it's wonderful and then I feel bad because all of a sudden I'm struggling but I'm like this is such a blessing that I get to be home with my kids and my wife but at times it's hard because I'm used to how could I be struggling how could I be struggling is that selfish of me to struggle yes and I had to deal with those emotions but fortunately I have a you know amazing wife and Tori that we've gone through so much together through her health Journey with um postal orthostatic teoc cardia syndrome pots for short um my career having children moving different organizations um so this was just a new test and I wasn't always probably easy to deal with because it's you know every week you know I'm doing good then all of a sudden little bit of an emotional break and then it happens again but then I just kept going I kept moving I I found structure in my life I found I wasn't thinking so much about football and I wasn't missing lacing it up but I was missing the guys I was missing the structure um it was just different not going to work and achieving something at work like man I had a really good practice I feel good about what I put in the weight room today like it was different but then I learned in this next chapter of life like being around the kids all the time you know coaching the you know I coach kindergarten girls flag football and that was really fun for me to be in football in that situ situation and find the root of where it all begins um with my daughter and a couple of my nieces and then all their friends which coaching kindergarten girls play football is no small feat like that's a big feat like you're trying to stop cartwheels you're trying to line them up but at the end of it all I I had wonderful coaches with me and the girls were awesome and we we actually started having a lot of great success and it was a lot of fun seeing them have fun I you know and I wanted them to you know I was like hey you pull a flag cartwheel you score a touchdown cartwheel all that cartwheels but we're gonna find we're not just going to cartwheel after every play and I've talked to other dads that coach like man the cartwheels I'm like it's so much fun but we can't but we can't line up to get a play on but I found myself just being more present and being more just where you know like we always talked about in Philly like you know be where our feet are yeah I had to adjust to that in this new chapter this new season you know Dad that's sort of Dad season new season of life and now I'm sort of catching stride where um you know it's Summertime Summertime I laugh too because as a parent I'm learning so much I'm like now I know why like during the summer my parents sent me to camps all the time yeah I'm starting to figure that one out yeah it's uh you know we my wife is wonderful we had a conversation the other day because she's like the last month of Summer I don't want the kids in any camps I want them at home and I want us to spend all this time with them mhm and and I looked at her and I was like you know what like you are an amazing mother but you you just destroyed you're going to destroy us this month this is going to be hard um but I was like you're an awesome mom and we get to do this together um but this is going to be a month like we're going to have to you know figure this out but we are and it's been great and the kids have really enjoyed it and uh like right now she's taking the kids to the beach and going to wear them out and then we'll do another activity in the afternoon and we get this time and I'm grateful for football for allowing me to have this time to be with my children at an age that you know they'll this will they'll cherish this forever I'll cherish this forever that's exactly right there's no way we could be as present if we didn't you know get blessed with what we got blessed with in the last chapter you know which was a career that provided for our families and um you know I think it's a it's a gift and a curse because when you're doing it it's really hard to be present but if you can get the hang of the the next chapter you get all this time I I I wonder for you how important Nick's Coffee Service for the 2017 Eagles working out is still we were talking about that um yeah a little bit offline dude I got my free workout right here which is what because you used to just drink Bulletproof coffee and a little like you you were on the MCT oil and all the the the the stuff that was above my pay grade what is it now hey I'll tell you what we were T I was making that all the way up to the Super Bowl and after I mean I think we had like 10 guys drinking that every morning even in Minneapolis this story was probably never told we ordered a bunch of Bulletproof Coffee stuff a bunch of butter bunch of oil and I I you know my thing of servitude was to make it for whoever wanted it in the morning before film so like at 6:00 am so even in Minneapolis at the hotel I think I ran coffee to like the six or seven coaches in the QB room had it because I'm like you know what I can't just stop because we're here I have to finish this strong yeah because at the end of the day I also wanted the coaches to have enough energy to not like to make it through the day cuz we all know like as much as we love our coaches is once they start getting tired some weird plays get in that Playbook gry all Blitz and you know yeah taking shots yeah it's uh I mean there's times where like we go through a game plan and I'd be like man like and I I'd always ask the question I always like to know why like why do we have this play in and then all I was like did y'all put this play in like 11 o'clock last night like yeah yeah I'm like oh we can't have this play like I I know where yall's Minds at at like 11 or midnight like I this play like you got this from some random like who knows what no we're not doing this but you know that's the fun of football um that's the you know we all have the stories and you know coaches go out there and grind like crazy um and you know I don't know how they do it are you are you you said five six days a week and what do you think about Kelsey's Working Out in Retirement recent mandate from his wife Kylie to work out three days a week you know I think I think it's uh I think she's being really nice to him I think she understands that you know three days a week I mean you know I feel like he can do a little bit more than that but I don't know the quality of workouts he's putting in I I I imagine knowing Jason that they're going to be like quality I I I would think so so I mean he might be putting in like a two-hour workout that's like that's good man like get that day of recovery that's good and but she knows that he needs that or else he's going to be super grouchy and I know for me I have to train or I get super routy so right now um you know I was doing six days a week a lot of lifting um and I was having a lot of fun doing gained a lot of strength that I lost in the NFL because you know we have this weigh-in thing in the NFL and I'm I'm a big quarterback big boy I entered the league at like 243 and that's out of college and then you keep lifting you become a man and you have children like you're not going to stay that weight like I was in really good shape then so but then there was coaches like hey we want you under 245 I'm like dude that was like my senior year of college like yeah when we go back to high school now that I'm done I was like you know what I'm just going to lift a lot I'm going to gain I'm going to just lift and see what happens and uh so I've done that now I'm transitioning more you know I did a poll on Instagram the other day like you know hey if I did a challenge of like a 10K half marathon Marathon or like a ultra marathon what should I do and you know Ultra was winning which would have been like epic because that would have been past the marathon um which I would love to do one day I think that'd be a lot of fun to do like a 100 mile race or something have a cool crew do it for let me know bro include your boy include your boy I got a little pipe include you okay yeah all right cool that'd be good you know you could you could go I I watch all these I mean for any Ultra Runner whoever watch this I watch y'all like I love it I love the grind um I love the documentaries on YouTube I I'm a fan and it motivates me every day when I wake up I'll watch a little something before I get going but you know I just started doing like a half marathon program again with some weightlifting and then I you know I know a lot of people I think Marathon one so I got to figure out what Marathon I'm going to do um but right now I'm just trying to build that base um but yeah I think just throwing this out there Chris I mean J I'm sure there's people out there I know a lot of people listen to your podcast but I mean if Jason wants to go out there and do the Philadelphia Marathon I know you mentioned you might walk it let's do it I'm do it know I'll run it pretty epic I run two miles a day now Nick I think I could get to 26 pretty easy or whatever I think I think a half marathon would be great I think half marathon's a great distance I did yeah it's a great starting point um I did two last year I did not train for my first one um I was just like in the shape I was in and uh I was very humbling but I told myself I would not walk and I got to a strong Shuffle at the end but I did not walk I couldn't and after was like I'm never oh man at the end of it I'm like I'm never doing that again I finished I finished 205 no training um which pretty solid for a big boy 205 bad yeah um and then I was like I'm never doing that again two days later I'm like I can't wait to do that again I found a training program for uh eight weeks and ran the Orange County half and ran like a 148 something which was like a 818 pace so I was like all right this is cool that's not bad holy [ __ ] well no you still seem like you're in shape so when I ask you this question it's only because I don't get to ask a lot of guys this I mean like you you just retired you were a great quarterback um um there's no more secrets right are you coming back are you are you going to make a comeback at some point do we have to worry about a Brady thing with you no there there's no there's no worry the uh Monday Night Football game in Philadelphia will be the last two raw and I just become I I mean I am a fan now I get to watch the Next Generation and I so we're uh we're good the only thing you might see me doing is like intramural pickle ball and like intramural Golf and stuff like that don't pop your ailles man just don't pop your Achilles here's what I'm wondering what you know when it starts because as a position player and you when I was Knowing When To Retire with you in 2015 in St Louis like that that was an injury shorten season for me and the whole thing but I was still in the prime of my career and then you know like when we played together in Philly later I was like older and you could probably see it I mean there you can tell when you watch a player that he's getting older but the player only knows what that is defined by like for me it was I couldn't turn the corner this same my ankle flexion was going you know I'd come in from practice and my knee would be blown up I never had knee problems earlier in my career or shoulder or you know for me it was I couldn't keep muscle on the same and I lost a little bit of explosion what happens for a quarterback towards the end when you know it's towards the end and your body's breaking down a little bit is it torque is it your hip is it your shoulder and like what goes away you can't make certain throws like take me through the anatomy of a period of contempla retirement partially at least because of your your physical state yeah I mean and just to comment on you I mean obviously I was with you in 15 um which is you know several years before we were together in Philadelphia and one you know what was it your second Super Bowl yeah really what wasn't two years right yeah two years uh and you I mean you're still a beast I know you're saying you lost the step and stuff but not only that just such an awesome guy for I mean you were one of the key guys in that locker room the leaders in that locker room that were so important we're such a huge DNA of that championship and you know I got to I'm so grateful I got to be with you in St Louis and then got Philly being together again it it's just like it's so special um but for a quarterback you know everyone's different you know there's guys that you know wait till you know playing in the NFL is a great honor and privilege and it's a childhood dream of everyone and there's some guys that wait till you know the body no longer can do it and then for me you know we we had had our third um we had moved moved around several times um the last four years of my career I say of our career because Tori and I were in it together and every time you go you just sort of you get to a new locker room new situation it doesn't always like uplift you but it's such a privilege so you go to work every day you build all these new relationships and for me it was just seeing the toll of like moving starting over moving starting over and realizing like when we went to Indianapolis I told Tori you know what no matter what happens you know you know we excited Frank reich's there we we were super pumped to play for him I was like we signed a two-year deal I was like you know this will be the last stop this will be so we just mentally can be like all in this is the last stop you know Frank's the coach he just signed an extension let's go get be the best teammate we can be let's do what we can for this team and this is it no matter what happens if I go out there and ball out and there's a new like this is it because then at this point when we're done here let's focus on raising our children and then unfortunately that year took a lot of crazy turns um and it didn't go the way I think anyone thought it would but I'm super grateful for you know being there that year to be in that locker room see the type of locker room they have like I'm not surprised the success that team's having because the locker room was so great like you know the GM's really good with Chris Boward um you know unfortunately you know Frank I love frank great coach it's just just things happen in this league that we don't understand sometimes and you know Shane sten's awesome so so I know why they're having success at locker room is solid great guys I know they've added some guys as well um but for me it was more just like heart like the game had changed for me um it wasn't like it was in Philadelphia like that locker room in Philadelphia you could play for so long because of the Brotherhood and everything about that City and that team and even when I look back at my career I'm so grateful for the other teams I played for besides Philadelphia I'm so grateful because they gave an opportunity to play they gave me an opportunity to be a part of their organization their city but when I look back in my career the only time I felt at home was Philadelphia and maybe that's because they drafted me and then brought me back or maybe it was just like the locker room and then the city Bond I mean that city is so unique and like the people that make up the fan base and are in the link on Thursday Sunday Monday or whenever they game is um but for me I I still right now like throwing the football I can throw it just is good I'm probably stronger than I was when I was in the NFL because I don't have to worry about putting on muscle or weight um which is really exciting um but I'm super honored and grateful for the time the NFL gave me the 11 years um it's you know my rookie year I was like I don't know how I'm going to play this game past my rookie year this is crazy and to play 11 years I'm so grateful grateful for the what the NFL gave me and then excited for what the future holds um you know being a husband being a dad being an entrepreneur growing this brand being in a community talking to guys like yourself I think it's just so cool and I'm excited for the Next Generation I mean just seeing what's out there the young quarterbacks the young players um it's going to be a lot of fun watching the NFL and seeing where it goes from here two things you said that really resonate with me number one and you know like I don't want to make it seem like I was broke down to where I couldn't play anymore I left playing good Ball but I didn't want to start over you know I in 2018 was a weird year for me for all of us right and coming off that 18th season um they had signed a guy that was going to he meant that I would be on the sideline on third down at the very least and probably take less sneps on first and second so hoe had kind of told me listen like you know if you want to be somewhere else next year you can and uh there was some interest from teams out west and I just I looked down the barrel and I said what am I doing you know like I've done everything I want to do there's nothing left to do anything I do from here on out it's going to be selfish it's just going to be me trying to you know accomplish a personal goal and at what cost you know picking up my family moving again starting over again and the gamble you take every time you walk into a locker room and for you that's a highly um variable gamble because quarterback it's a fit thing you know if the coach doesn't like you you know there's only one one quarterback that's going to play even for a defensive end you walk into a certain building and you know you just might not land on the right side of the rotation so there was that and then also as a guy only spent two years in Philly I wish I played a lot longer there um and what you said resonated a great deal because of you know the place and the locker room and you having been there twice I know it had to be Bittersweet like a lot more sweet than bitter but you know you had that record breaking season and then you get traded to St Louis to hang out with me in the cold tub uh and and you know I wonder if there was any resentment and then how you were able to kind of push past that when they needed you again was that harder than it looked on the surface yeah I mean you know I think when I was traded away to St Louis like that was a weird situation um I was coming off a fractured collar bone I remember I had healed from it I was in the best shap my life and I got a call from Chip Kelly in the offseason I was really excited about going into my fourth year I felt like my second year was a record-breaking Year my third year we were six and two when I got injured and I wasn't playing as clean of football because I now looking back I mean it's hard when you're not a guy that's like highly touted coming out of college but you get drafted and then all a sudden you break on the seed and like you're like everyone's looking at you to be perfect every game and when you're not it's like it's strange and I didn't realize the amount of pressure that was because I was just used to playing and then when he called me and traded me in that one minute conversation and then all of a sudden I'm talking to Jeff fiser on the phone like can't wait to meet you it was really strange and then going there that year it's like you said like sometimes you fit with a coach sometimes you don't and it doesn't always work out but that was a really tough year but we got to be together um lot of great guys in that locker room that I you know got to play with again down the road which was really cool to have like Rodney McLoud Robert Quinn like you know Rod you and me got the win a Super Bowl together like how cool is that like you know because we got to experience St Louis and everyone you know that's tough and all a sudden we get to go to the highest peak together it's really really special um but then that was a tough year to where I even contemplated you know was well documented like stepping away from the game after four years I just I've I've always believed football is a game that is played from the heart you have to have heart to give you that extra energy in the NFL to do something great for your teammates because if you just go out there with your mind and just doing it for the wrong reasons it's hard to it's hard to do that I can't do that I have to play with heart yeah and I lost heart because of what happened in St Louis but then I you know I went Having Fun in KC & Coming Back to Philly in 2017 through a journey God allowed me to go through a journey and it was really my relationship with Christ um that allowed me to get out of that dark hole and then sort of you know Andy Reid reaching out going to Kansas City for a year being with him Matt naggie and that crew Alex Smith and those guys in that locker room I had so much fun I I learned how to work the right way I learned how to have a great routine I learned what a championship team looked like and then after that year I become a free agent and it's uh Philadelphia well there's another team I think Tampa Bay was really interested Dirk cutter who was there he had I had originally committed to him at Arizona State in high school so I had an opportunity to go actually play for him and they offered me a pretty sweet year deal for two years and then Howe Came Calling like hey we'd love to have you back it was a great deal I was super honored it was actually less than Tampa and we just had to sit there and my wife and I talked because we were pregnant with Lily and or either that or we had just had Lily and we really were like all right what is best for our family like yeah Philly traded me away and that's tough but we love Philly or do we go to Tampa Bay and just start over and we just sat there and we're like you know what let's go back to Phil that just always felt like home we know a lot of guys in the locker room you know I'm going there to help a young Carson Wentz I'm I'm not going there to take over like that's my role we can focus on being a dad and going to work and being the best teammate I can be so it was a quick conversation and we're like we're super pumped to go back because I knew what God had done in my heart has given me the genuine perspective and genuine heart to go there and be like I am here to help this young starter to help my teammates in the role that they've given me as opposed to a younger me is like once you become a starter like how do you not be a starter like I didn't know that because I'm like if I'm not a starter I don't know what that looks like college all those things yeah and I had a heart change and then all of a sudden the year happens the way it did and it sucks when people get injured but I was ready based on because of my year in St Louis because of my year in Kansas City that equipped me and callous me to prepare me for what was to come in Philadelphia because without those years I don't think I'm ready to handle what came in Philadelphia in 17 so I'm super grateful for those trials yeah that prepared me for it and I couldn't see it till down the road I'm like wow okay God I see what you were doing but man it wasn't easy when I was in it but thank you yeah well I I always think back to that trip to LA and you know we were rolling we'd come off the Seattle loss and we were Carson's Injury in 2017 trying to secure a number one seed it was a huge barometer for us going to the West Coast and playing those teams and we were playing so d well and Carson Dives for the pylon I think Mark Baron Clips his leg and you know when it was happening because he ran off the field and because he's a tough guy I didn't know anything at the moment I'm wonder if you could walk me through in real time kind of your thought process as that all went down were you just able to click into all right I got to finish this game or were you sitting there kind of thinking about big picture of what's going on with Carson how hard was it to focus yeah I mean I saw him get hit and I saw him get up and I you know I've been around Carson's a tough dude great quarterback tough dude I'm a huge fan of him but at that time I knew just watching him and he stayed in for a play and threw a touchdown the next play with his knee which is epic yeah which is baller status um in my opinion but I knew something was wrong so you know what it's like when all of a sudden you start playing your body starts changing like adrenaline starts coming through it the butterflies start coming your body starts like acclimating for what is to come and that is a high press situation where you have to calm the nerves and go out there and execute and bring a calmness to the Huddle so I knew my body knew what was going going on so he came to sideline he had to go to the tent he had to go get checked um I knew right then and there like what was coming I knew something had happened just because of how tough he is and how he was walking and how he was grimacing something was different um I knew going in that game like you know I had to calm my mind and just go out there and execute and we able to execute and I remember you know there was like a third down in eight or something and we called all lightning and earlier in the game you know Carson had a great game that game he threw like four touchdowns and I think he threw an interception on the same play they went two man which lightning and the lightning verse two man it's like a eight- yard stop route your only answer is your slot receiver because outside you got the safeties over top they're going to be underneath um you can't throw outside and then inside is not great it either because the guy doesn't have to worry about getting beat over the top he can Trail because the safety is over top but if you have a really good slot receiver that knows how to play you have a chance so I have Nelson aguar so I trust Nelson I saw arm a ball to the side he catches it game over and it's because Nelson ran a great route and he recognized two man and I recognized two man and we're on the same page um but after that going to the locker room I mean you remember like we win the game um I think we clinched a playoff spot with that win and it was pretty demoral like it was a rough Walker out the game like guys weren't like super celebratory um and I understood man it wasn't like I I felt for Carson like my first thing when he got hurt was man I said a prayer and I'm like God I hope he's okay um because like you don't ever want to see a teammate hurt and then after the game like yeah we won and everything but like Carson's having such a great year such a big reason we had success I mean it took the whole team but he did such an awesome year in his Year too of really developing that team and playing at such a high level and just creating this energy right um but yeah that was a wild turn of events and then you know you get the news shortly after that his knes you know he's going to have this major surgery and that you're playing the rest of the year and um that's in I mean I'd say the first 24 hours with that news uh I was with Nate sudfeld in the QB room and man there was not much film watching it was uh just Tim and I talking through life talking through the situation and feeling the pressure of what felt like a m some amount of weight um but I'm so grateful for like that relationship with him and like Spencer Phillips and a few others where we just were able to talk through it as instead of watching film that day and just realized like you know what it's going to be okay we're not doing this alone all I have to do is prepare and do my part we have a great team we have great coaches we just have to trust each other and take one step at a time but it took 24 hours of being in a QB room just like chilling talking to get to that perspective because that perspective was not that way when we entered into that little little little storage room that we had yeah it was a storage room yeah it was epic it was cool though yeah it was I thought it was when we came together you know it was really hard but it was also a moment that that trip was kind of where we came together especially considering the circumstance and I I remember hearing this out of your book you know not everybody was jazzed about you taking over you know you you you overheard some conversations maybe at a restaurant or something to that effect where people were doubting our chances of of doing the thing we set out to do and you know what I I I understand that from their perspective like it's easy to think like man like because it really had never happened in that situation where I know there's been backup quarterbacks you know maybe before that winning like a Super Bowl um but in that situation where you need the quarterback you know defense is balling special team's playing great but like Carson's playing at a high level like very high level like MVP status so to step in and take over like I could see why the fans would think that but fortunately for us like What mattered was the as much as we love the fans what matters the most is the facility in that locker room and what we think and I think that's what's special is you know in the locker room because I had been there previously a lot of those guys knew what I was capable of doing so they weren't worried they just wanted me to get up to speed of what they knew I could do and that takes time like going in and playing at the end of the season when everyone's playing their best ball and your team's playing their best ball and you have not been playing other than scout team and we all know scout team you lose all your fundamentals now you develop a lot of ball but like fundamental wise you're not very good because like stuff's breaking down all the time so I had to home back in but you know we were able to acclimate in the final three games of the season and uh make something happen was the like Relationship with Carson Wentz you know I'm a fan of Carson's too and I've spent a lot of time on this show being like you know I didn't ever like the unnamed Source thing I didn't like a lot of that drama um because he was doing the best he could and I know it's the hardest position in sports and I know he wasn't healthy like even when he came back in TW 2018 you know I don't think a lot of people realize this the reason you had to bail us out again was his back was really [ __ ] up and you know like he pred his back yeah that affects your whole mechanics and the whole thing it's not just how's your arm doing it's like your whole body and and he was stubborn he didn't want to come out he he wanted to play and I think most fans would appreciate that but when they don't know what's going on they're like hey this guy isn't playing well and then there was the whole is it awkward between you guys and you know like once they put the statue up of you I know you've probably thought about this from his perspective but like you're human you know like you want to be the one with the Statue you want to be you felt like it was your story and as bad as Carson wants the team to win the human being can't help but be like man this could have been me and I wonder how different reality was inside that quarterback room from the perception of reality I think a lot of assuming goes into that perception but was it awkward between you guys and was there any tension you know what I wouldn't say there was tension between us because we always got along in a respectful manner um but yeah like for him I did look at like man like that's not easy for him you know to play the year he had to get injured and then see the team you know go and you know he's so happy like Super Bowl ring we win a Super Bowl that's not easy because he wants to be out there playing like he's a competitor so there's definitely emotions that go into that and I'll let him speak on that but at the end of the day between us like it you know it was always a respectful relationship even to this day like I like people ask me about Carson you know they'll be like how's Carson I'm be you know what tremendous player um I cheer him on like I was just texting with him the other day I sent him some Dad season hats for the guys in Kansas City that that was my contact and I'm like hey Carson like do you mind like hey take we'll get send you whatever hat you want and like you know he sent me he didn't have to do this like he sent me a picture of you know the Dad season hat his coffee and reading the Bible um and he's like hey man uh just appreciate it you know and I'm like dude that's so cool so then I sent him one back and then you know he sent me one he wore our golf hat to the game I'm like he doesn't have to do that um but it's like so cool that like he wants to support what we're doing because he's a father as well um and he knows like my heart and what we're trying Pat and I what we're trying to do with this brand I'm like that is so cool and so like we put it on the Dad season story and I just was like this should show people like there's no like issue with like what happened but like that's not I know that people in the locker room know that hopefully but people just they they kind of extrapolate and and and project what they would do project how they would feel you know yeah and drama drama Sals right drama Sals you're you know you get to You' doing speaking podcast in drama Sals but you know what's keep it simple um you know I love that Carson's in Kansas City back in up hat I think that's a great fit um I think they're very lucky to have I mean Pat Mahomes best quarterback in the NFL yeah I know you could have like there's other guys that are unbelievable I mean you can't argue with what he's doing there no um but if Carson needs to play Carson will help them succeed and do what they need to do one because he's a good player great player but another one because they have a great team yeah well isn't it interesting that he's taken the same path you took to get back where it's like and I don't know if he'll ever end up back in Philly they got their thing pretty figured out right now but you know La then a year with with Andy and I wonder for you and for maybe for Carson like what can a year with Andy do for your development and what makes that guy so special schematically having been in those those rooms you know what Andy does a good job of retaining most of his coaches so he's got great coaches um they do a really great job um the locker room and how he has created that environment Andy is biggest saying is let your personality show so if you ever see any Clips on Instagram YouTube whatever you watch the guys are having fun at practice but watch them have fun and dance but then watch them lock back in jog back to the Huddle get back in the Huddle right like they have discipline extreme discipline but also extreme personality and that's very difficult to have I've only been on teams that are extreme personality not a lot of discipline or a lot of discipline and you hate what you're doing he has found that balance but that's because every day Andy demands that and he instills that and he holds the star players accountable like I've been in meetings I'm not going to name names but like he has held like the star players accountable when they mess up and they know from being with them like this is the right thing to do and it's but like a lot of coaches like if they're a star player like they let them get away with stuff he does not allow that because he knows like these guys need to drive the team because they also need to be the leaders not all star players are leaders but he wants to develop them into leaders um I thoroughly have always I love Andy Reid I love coach Reid he drafted me he brought the Love of the Game back and you know 2016 for me just being a part of his team in Kansas City uh you know it's just he's really one of the greatest coaches of all time and I'm so happy of the success he's having uh it's just you know there'll be a documentary on him if there isn't one already like it'll be thorough down the road that'll be pretty epic and I know like the city of Philadelphia loves them yeah and uh it's just you know I'm honored that I got to play for him for you know two different years that's yeah it's incredible another great reunion for you probably no better reunion than that one a lot of reunions yeah dude that's what it's all about all right let's go to the Super Bowl guys can you SB LII Film Review pull up a couple uh clips for me I wanted to Nick I was on the sideline for these throws and I was just praying you would make them because we couldn't stop a we couldn't stop anything uh we needed you to score I don't know if you remember me walking around do you remember this the week of the Super Bowl me walking around and asking every offensive guy including you how many points can you score this week do you remember that I Pro yeah that didn't how many point how many let me ask you this as as we set these plays up what did you think it was going to take to win that game and was there a number in your mind like when you watch that defense where you're like hey we could score 30 we could score 41 points or was it like you know it's going to be a tough day at the office but we have to do these specific things you know what I uh I kept it pretty simple um you know your dad I'm a dad we try to teach our kids things they don't like to listen right but they'll listen to someone else we did the same thing when we were kids I mean you know your dad knew what he was probably talking about you know for because he did it at such a high level but you probably still didn't listen yeah um I was the same way and going into the Super Bowl I took a lot of what my dad taught me as a kid and put it into play and kept it simple in the sense of this my dad always told me never look at the game clock never look at the score play as hard as you can until that clock hits zero and just see where you stand at there because he didn't want me to change the way I played based on what was going on with the score or what was going on with the clock because we all know that there's been teams that have huge leads that feel comfortable and stop playing and stop executing yeah so the way that worked for me was the only thing I looked for was the shot clock and that was it and then every now and then you see the game clock but I wasn't really consciously thinking about that I was just thinking about execution of plays ex hey Doug calls a play execute the this play Doug calls a play execute this play understand what the game situation be is like I remember going to Doug at one point um I think when we got the strip sack from uh BG and being like hey what are we thinking here because there's like a couple minutes left we're up like are we wanting me to like milk the clock in the Huddle or we wanting to be aggressive and score like what are we wanting to do um he's like we're going so that was the one time I remember like sort of like confirm with Doug like what is the situation other than that it was just execution execution execution and then I just remember looking up when the clock hit zero when that ball hit the ground and that was the first time I felt like I like took a breath and just like let everything relax and not like in a I wasn't tense but I was in this like Flow State of just playing ball and just like mentally in such a good position to play the game where it was like peaceful but aggressive and at that time I just let everything relax and be like it's done we did it we executed we scored 41 points and that was what we needed that's exactly what we needed and your answer I think was 35 not I think you were trying to be like [ __ ] hey [ __ ] off Chris like I'm I'm trying to get into a flow State and not look at anything but I'll give you a number I think most of you guys told me in the 30s you know uh which I thought would be enough I thought it would be enough but we really we really we really it was down to the wire there all right so pull pull up this play I want I want Nick to see this play okay talk me through it is what is it uh 33 this is early in the game all right roll the tape Cowboy you can see it Nick um right here is a touchdown I want you to talk me through your thoughts on this play as it's happening yeah this was just uh I mean I forget what we call it's probably double post yde deep cross um as we you can see pre snap man coverage then man goes with the motion you know it's man so typically the the Deep cross is actually the throw right but I also am a player that plays with Instinct and gut at times and my gut wanted to throw Alshon a sort of lean it post which is a you know he keeps it thin because it's man coverage and then as you see at the top he sort of leans away and creates separation and makes an amazing catch but if you're like a coach and you're watching this and you're teaching this you're probably telling your quarterback you're going Nelson down to the back right now like that's your throw and you potentially if the safety Cuts Nelson you have another cross coming the other way that's a man alert but I would say the leanet post is not high on the list um and so this was just gut instinct trusting a player feeling it and then alson alsha making like spectacular one of the most amazing catches you can I mean like let's keep it real like it was a good throw minded their job all this stuff but like that catch is unbelievable and the fact also like he's sponsored by Jordan brand and he's up in the air with his Jordans making this like that brand is doing so well and then now they're doing even better so um that's just that's just playing good ball that's just teammates um that's just a lot of fun so probably gave us confidence Nick worked out Nick that gave us confidence it was like oh we're gonna do the same thing we've been doing okay put it to the next one this is uh fourth and one uh second quarter I know this play this is the Philly special so pause it right here cowboy and this goes back to like I've heard a story where when you came in that year Doug was like what do you like running and this is the culmination of that it's like hey fourth and one in the Super Bowl what do you guys want to run yeah this is a I think in this situation right before this so there was a timeout um we had I don't know if you remember watching us all week in um practice but we had a speed option from the shotgun and every time we butchered it and it was awful so that was actually the play that was called and then we called a timeout and I ran over to the sidelines and asked for Philly Philly to this day I have no clue why I asked for Philly Philly um because it's Philly special I I I I I've I've thought NFL films like and now with artificial intelligence I know that you can create voiceovers and stuff so there's part of me that thinks that could have happened but in reality my brain was just probably in a weird State and I said Philly Philly and now we have the Philly Philly dad hat line and clothing line so it's yeah we do um but yeah I mean we when Doug and I talked about this because we were going to rep this against the Vikings in the NFC championship game but we decided not to and I just threw a touchdown to alsha and made it easy got to save the play we were going to R we were going to run this second half to go up by two scores MH not first half to get up in general um but I ran over there and I think that that situation where I'm asking for the play from Doug is a culmination of like you know when I was drafted Doug flew to Austin Texas to work me out at Westlake High School that was the first time I really got to build trust with him they draft me he's my quarterback coach then I come back to Philly and I'm the backup quarterback and then everything that happens I go over there and Doug Trust me enough cuz he knew me enough to know like Nick is feeling this let's execute this cuz he could have over rode this play call but he pauses and he said let's do it and then we run this and I remember going up there you know we had a shift um we had to have like a some acting that took some time like right here and lane lane was the trigger for Kel to snap the ball to Cory and uh then you know Trey makes a amazing throw I mean people don't realize like Trey made an awesome throw that made it easy for me but I was just worried about the DN right here but the second he went down and I paused and I was out I was just like look this ball all the way in and just catch it and tuck it and score and I didn't realize what this play would be um for the city of Philadelphia or even the NFL I just realized like man this play worked to put us up on the Patriots going into halftime which is huge and and yeah and it is good acting buddy and and a great catch with the whole world watch and Brady didn't catch the ball when they threw it to him that's neither here nor there um Nick when do you remember when we were getting ready for this Super Bowl going to do walkth through at the stadium and we were running a bunch of fake plays do you remember this and I came up to Doug and I'm like what the [ __ ] is this play Doug and he's like oh we're not running this play he's like he's like we're worried the Patriots are up there in the uh in the in the bleachers somewhere like are they're hiding in the state like 13 guys on the field and stuff yeah dude oh yeah so you remember you guys a couple fake plays oh dude we we had 13 guys in the Huddle and we were making we knew what formation we're making but then we're like just line up and do something random so we could run our plays but it would it didn't look clean because we had 13 I mean we were shredding papers after every meeting um we had I mean it was crazy the you know what we were trying to do and you know they just they like you know getting every Advantage they can um but fortunately this play this play worked well and uh helped us out a lot and yeah that worked out well okay let's go to the third quarter it was a good play Let's go to the third quarter I think we'll keep it 22-19 725 to go I believe we got another touchdown here it's third and six and if this is the ball might be Falcon stiffy yeah Falcon stiffy baby falcon stiffy okay so walk me through Falcon stiffy including like Cory's not that open and he's waving his hand like he's naked oh yeah well I mean he's a rookie right he's a rookie at this right so you know you're really wanted man coverage versus this um and so I start my progression right to left keep my eyes normal for the play because it's a typical play we run all the time we want to get the safety out of the middle and really just get a one-on-one with Corey yeah and so I drop back and I look and then when I peek at Corey I see like basically triple coverage I'm like oh man but if you watch closely the defender has a so I'm like I'm just totally in like my subconscious thought there's a slight little stumble for the defender that maybe slowed him down 0.1 miles hour and my body like I'm not going to throw it and all a sudden my body triggered and threw the ball um because I saw that and I just threw it and then you know Cory makes a great catch there's three guys around him I think I had a a fellow Arizona wild cat on them um you know flowers sorry bud yeah sorry but uh Maris well I mean MC shows up kind of late you know where you're like oh [ __ ] and the ball's probably already gone yeah so like look at my eyes like you know going starting right keeping it normal look down the middle find them and then just like there's a split second where it's like this look I mean it doesn't look good even when it's caught it does not it is not clean at all but there was something inside me that felt yeah he was inbounds they looked at that thing a lot yeah I agree Nick I tend to agree okay hit the next one here we got the fourth and one and this was the the biggest play of the damn game I you know and no surprise you go to Zs but talk me through the thought process here yeah this is Maestro so left to right read really built for man coverage you have a Zone read but so we get this and I remember dropping back and your your first Read's the back and we hit a big play to Cory clment earlier in the game but they you know they in peels then the next is the shallow so the guy the cornerback drops off so Ur is like open for a split second but if you look at it I get pressure so I got a side step left put it on him he makes a great play fortunately he's a yard past the line of scrimmage I mean that like you said this is like one of the biggest plays in the Super Bowl because you New England gets this play right here game ball game's over probably probably probably I mean this we were all puckered up on the sideline and you can see yeah the the end peeling with the back and if you have more time maybe you could hit him on like a wheel or something but you know is the guy but does such a I mean he does such a great job if you watch him like sure handed but watch his route so Trey's running or no it's selic so cel's running her does a great job of sort of lifting his Defender and then cutting flat like look here lift him boom that's because of obviously celic being a very Savvy vet great tight end but then Z and him working together to make this happen naturally and knowing it's man coverage the only person that could mess up the play um off it but Ur made a great play and we got enough for the first down by a yard and then we've got the the final nail in the coffin here 32 well yeah we're close here but 32 to 33 this is the go-ahead touchdown uh third and seven on the 11 yard line yep we're basically seeing the back in motion it's um really you really have if you have numbers to the back it's really like a bubble screen but you're really trying to push the whole defense to the right and Get Ur your best one your best route Runners most short-handed guy on a lesser Defender and having them run a slant yeah and what happened is they you know I think we barely got this ball off with the shot clock and uh you know I look and just Ur makes a great play he's so open I I threw him like a really clean softball I did not fire this thing in there very very catchable ball I know that like at the end of it he took like three or four steps and dove in the ball popped out and everyone's like is this a is this a catch I'm like right this isn't a catch the NFL is in a weird position he just took like three or four steps like this is a touchdown like he's over the white um but this was this was FaceTiming Tom Brady a lot of fun so we win the game this is not a this I'm not mining for drama here but you know I love Tom the handshake thing was that much to do about nothing or have you guys ever gotten together and shook hands since like you know if you see him at like something else are you going to walk up and extend your hand and be like hey you forgot something you know what um since then I've actually been around someone that is very close to him and ironically facetimed him when I was with him and Tom just showed me the utmost respect and how much he respected me showed me some stuff from the Super Bowl he had and how you know he told me some personal things as well about that situation of like how he felt so at the end of that conversation I felt like wow you know he just he really does have respect for me as a player and stuff um and you know yeah we did not shake hands after that game or after when I was in Chicago and Tampa Bay but for him he's also a competitor yeah yeah I just I just you know I threw out there but at the end of the day I did have a conversation with him it's just a thing but honestly now I look at it as like a a means of respect right like I got and he let me know like he does respect that and maybe we got under his skin I got under his skin a little bit but that was from respect and you know Tom being you know one of the greatest if not greatest quarterbacks of all time and leader you know guys that have done it is uh you know for him to respect that is huge because you want to have respect from your competitors right um win or lose so since then we've had a you know FaceTime conversation have the utmost respect for him I know he's doing a lot of great things with TV and everything so I I knew I know people would be excited to hear about the the FaceTime because I don't think people realize like uh it's not always what it what it seems and there's a thousand things going through somebody's head and you know like uh you guys are both awesome people and i i two of my favorite quarterbacks both delivered me Super Bowls what can I say um that year I thought RPO usage was a 2017 Eagles Offense huge deal for us and it kind of feels like if you if you went back and tried to run that same offense again it might not work the same do do you feel that way like you guys were a little ahead of the curve there yeah I I think we were ahead of the curve um you know we executed really well our o i mean o line tremendous those guys are unbelievable I mean people don't give them enough credit you can't have success without a grade Old Line we had a grade Old Line felt so comfortable the way they communicated made calls executed up front tremendous that's huge part of the O RPO game is points blocking execution guys on the exterior you know receivers running the correct routes at times versus coverage man coverage we had a you know alert alert where we would change the routes to more rub routes and they had to be on it they're fantastic our coaches did a great job teaching it um we did a really good job now the NFL these defenses are very very good and the one thing I've realized through my time in it they adapt so fast so if you get away with something one year you will not get away with it next year um unless it's the brotherly shove and then it's just impossible because they're just so good right let's keep it real that you can't stop who was there and you got Jaylen Herz back there that can squat like 500 lounds yeah I mean dude's a beast uh but yeah I think we're ahead of it we executed and it became more difficult but the where we were also ahead of it was um coach stoutland did such a good job of making our so in the Super Bowl I I've watched things back in the commentary is like man these coaches are geniuses Doug Peterson's a genius everyone thinks RPO is just a slant router or stick but we're throwing go balls and that's because our play action was past 67 past 66 which is an R it looks like an RPO play action you're hot if two come off like the put where the running back's coming from but other than that backside you can see you're hot you're protected in the back because the back is going to funnel and help yeah with number four and so but it's a it's a drop back pass but it looks like RPO so we executed left and right in the Super Bowl and that really started with like Chip Kelly and it was called like past 246 past 247 we changed it but we had all signals with chip so Scotland sort of Blended Two Worlds and it it worked really well because everyone was so afraid of the RPO because we were really good at it I was good at executing rpos um but then all of a sudden you add dropback to it the key to defense is make everything look very similar but do a lot of different things out of it because you don't you want them to be a step slower when defenses know what you're doing based on your personnel and based on alignment they're very very good and they're very good at stopping plays but if you can keep them a a half step behind you you're going to be able to execute at a good level and hopefully score more points yeah especially on the quick stuff and we I mean it just was like peeling bananas for us that you're right you mentioned Stout who's a who's a guy on that staff that you think didn't get enough credit for that run I mean I'd say the guys that I mean we that was one of the most impressive coaching staffs I've been a part of um just from the teaching and from what they brought to practice every day what they brought to the film room but I think on most staffs the guys that don't get enough credit are the quality control guys the guys that are doing the grunt work the guys that are putting the playbooks together um you know like the Spencer Phillips of the world who now Spencers in or coaching high school ball and doing a great job of it I always like to look at the quality control because those are the guys that are grinding that are getting the coaches ready giving them the material to breaking down the film so then the coaches can do their jobs and it really takes everyone um so I'd say our quality control staff that year um was the unsung heroes yeah at the tail end of your career I kind of Wonder it was hard for it was hard for me past my Prime to be like Oh I'm not that guy anymore I wish I was still you know like I'm I'm winning I'm having a great time but I wish I was who I was a couple years ago and like for you part of that is situational being in the right spot with the right coaches and the right team and that it's harder for quarterbacks but do you ever look back like and say the last couple years I was thinking about trying to get back there or were you just being where your feet were as you said it earlier like was it ever almost like a gift and a curse to succeed at that level and then the last couple years you're like you've tasted it you know no I think that's a great question Chris um the honest answer is I remember playing the Saints in the playoffs and you know 19 and I remember you know we don't win the game we become we get real close I don't play like a clean the cleanest game in the world but like we executed and had a chance at the end and I remember just dropping back and playing in the Super doome and like playing with the guys and running that offense and getting the play calls and changing things and doing stuff and I'm like man this is so much fun I love this I can play this forever like this is my offense this is what I do like if I got to run this offense and play with these guys and wear this midnight green like I could do this forever like this is so awesome the reality of the situation is things change real quickly you know and I you know leave and you you go somewhere else and when I look back you the blessing was I was able to have success in the NFL and do it with a great group of guys um the hard part was you know I didn't get to always spend you know I didn't get to spend that time with just that one team but also moving different teams taught me so much and I got to meet so many different people I got to meet so many great teammates like got in Chicago sharing a locker with like you know right next to Jimmy Graham and khil Mack for two years like that's pretty cool Pat o' Don is one of my best friends we started Dad season because we both are passionate fathers and we want to instill things that's from Chicago Sam Ellinger in Indianapolis is 10 years younger than me and went to Westlake High School we developed a Brotherhood being together just because we're in Indie yeah there's all at Jacksonville like being around those guys and now they're having success and now you know having them tell me man you told me what this was like we didn't believe it this is so cool I'm like yes so I'm so grateful for that um but definitely looking back the hardest part was feeling that way in Philly and tasting success and knowing what I could do at a high level and then going elsewhere and everything's different and personalities are different and you can't do you can't play like there's just things like that change I should say and it's not what it used to be yeah um and then even at the end of my career when I kept like even last year when I'm thinking about playing right I'm making sure I'm done there were moments where like I'm like man I I missed it in the sense of like my time in Philly like and even in like 18 which was a tough year like we almost made it back to NFC Championship game but that wasn't an easy year for any of us no um but what I had to come to to the conclusion was that team is no longer there those coaches are no longer there this is different it's great that we have those memories but all they are are memories so move on yeah um so it was a mixture of all worlds and I just chose you know through the course of this last year doing emotions just to look back and have gratitude yeah like how cool is that I got to play in the NFL for 11 years got to be around great men and women um and do you know go through some really tough times some teams which taught me a lot about myself taught me more than winning and then to have success and win that's really special because then you realize it's so hard to do that but the losing gave me perspective of like how to handle the winning so all that I get to take into this next chapter of life and I'm super grateful for that yeah it's going to serve you well thinking like that here's a couple on the NFL right now we'll get you out of here Patrick Mahomes but the the momes thing it feels like we're watching The Last Dance I interviewed last week and I was like dude I feel for you CU it feels like you're living in the Last Dance you're trying to rewrite that story and be you're trying to beat Jordan you know you you're trying to keep another Last Dance from being shot in real time I who who is the number two in the NFL we know who the number one is there's a lot of debate year to year about is it Joe is it Josh is it Lamar you know could it be Herbert in a couple years like how do you see that top five land Escape shaking out I mean that's hard I mean all those guys like I I think there's just some things you can't rank um I think you can I think what you just said is like tier one like tier one there's tier one tier two tier three and then tier three are guys that eventually jump up to tier one I mean um but I'd say right there those are all those guys have the potential and ability to lead their team to the Super Bowl therefore they're the right guy to be playing for that team right that's how I it how about Justin because this is a big year for him with Harbaugh and you know like Justin Herbert some everybody that watches Justin Herbert's like wow what could be you know and and I I don't as you know gosh your career is is a prime example of this and I always tell people this is like it's so hard to just look at a player's body of work in one place and be like that's who that player is there's only a few players who can transcend any scheme any context and I look at your career and it's like a perfect example is like you're the Super Bowl MVP what do we make you look like in St Louis you know like it's not like you forgot how to play football Herbert's had a lot of change around him and you know he hasn't been always in the best situations he comes into this season he's got planner fasciitis um for for a guy who probably is had this at some point when you come out of camp with an injury like that in your lower third what do you think the effect of that is on your mechanics and do you do you have a positive outlook for somebody playing through that yeah I mean that's frustrating I mean coming out of training camp I mean you're always going to be like sore a little banged up just cuz it's a lot of stuff but when it's something that's significant that hurts your fundamentals it's frustrating um in Jacksonville um going into like week one like it's the week before week one against Kansas City Chiefs um it was a really hot humid day we had just done some exercises in the weight room that really stressed my like you know core area and then I did like a a sprint out pass and like totally like strained like my entire side and I had to go into you know the game my first game like with it strained and that was frustrating then you know I shatter my collar bone and Jackson you know this is when I'm playing for Jacksonville and that's just like tough so like in his situation you know obviously he's Pro you know taking care of it boot um they're trying to calm it down and you know the training staff hopefully you know most of them are doing a great job um but is it pertains to the success you know that he could have with healthy I mean we've seen what he's done since he's entered the league um that is not a small feat I mean the guy has set records and is on a record pace and has succeeded in every situation he's been in including high school and college and I've personally been around him a little bit and I'll will tell you the guy is a very impressive individual very impressive athlete and you can tell just from being around him he's the type of guy in the locker room that guys resonate with and he can lead a team because he just seems like a genuine guy and doesn't try to be anything he's not and that matters as you know in a locker room like coaches players like if you're genuine even if you have a weird personality or different personality weird if you're like that like guys like you if you're someone that tries to be something and you're not really that way like it doesn't go over well um but I really like I'm a huge fan I want to have great success obviously Harbaugh is going to demand a lot from him and from his team he always has but I mean his record speaks for itself as well the guy had success all the way back to when you know he started coaching um and coming off you know a national championship that's pretty awesome and I mean it's not like he hasn't coached for a Super Bowl and done things like that I mean he's has he's had amazing success in the NFL so I think with a quarterback like Justin Herbert and the team that they're developing they got some good players I think that they're going to do really well with Justin Fields you only saw him Justin Fields for a year he's much different player than he was when you played with him yeah um I'm you know the talent he has is like tantalizing so I'm always like an upside guy and I look at him and I'm like somebody's got to be able to make him into a franchise QB how how steep is that climb watching him and what did you learn about him just in being with him for a year you know I was with him as rookie year and rookie years are always you know tough that was the last year of that coaching staff so all of us had to go through a lot he had to go through a lot as a rookie that's not easy but to see him I think when you look at Justin athletically like one of the best athletes in the NFL um you know and then you see him as a quarterback I feel like every year he's getting better and better and better and he's just coming into his own so I agree with you if he gets in the right situation with the right staff that builds the offense around him every play call does not have to be perfect because he can make you right with his legs and with his decision-making so my hope for him and obviously Russell Wilson's there who is a is a future Hall of Famer so let's not take anything away from Russell Russell's a still got some in him he's still you know going out there and doing his thing but I think it's awesome that Justin Fields gets to be with Russell Wilson because he gets to see how Russell conducts himself how he works and how he studies film that's valuable as a young player I got that you know when I was with Alex Smith that was year five and we got to I got to feel that structure that worked for me and that was year five So Justin's in that same situation where this is going to benefit him greatly and I think we'll see if it's not this year because Russell may say Russell's a quarterback like we will see big jumps from Justin fields and what he does because he's with Russell Wilson and he's going to get to learn how to prepare is my hope for him and I hope he succeeds can you speed up somebody's processing because I I know that's the one thing when I watch him I'm like it could be a little quicker you know getting through the progressions reading the full field um obviously he can make a lot of great throws and he's a smart guy but processing is a is it's not just IQ you you know like processing is a feeli thing and I I wonder how much in your experience you've seen guys get better at processing or is that just kind of a thing that you are what you are you know what I don't think it's uh you are what you are I think a lot of that has to do with coaching staff and game planning and type of offense around you um I think as a coach it's important to recognize the type of players you have and where their strength and weaknesses are and build a offense game plan around those because that will give you the ultimate success there's two frames of thought coaches that build around their players and put their players in a position to S to succeed and then there's coaches that have their offense and say this offense has worked you will make it work and that there's no choice um I've played for both my favorite is Andy Reid is a we're going to put you in a position to succeed and we're going to B build around our players and we're going to have fun doing it so I prefer to do that Doug Peterson was much like that as well so I think with Justin Fields the success the key to success is how do you allow his mind to be calm when he plays like if you're a coach that's like you're going to make every mic Point you're going to make every protection call and then you're going to read the coverage then you're going to Audible and do that I wouldn't like that I didn't like that I when when I was in Philadelphia Kel made all the calls for all his quarterbacks and then I would give him time to adjust calls and very seldom did I ever change what he did maybe once or twice and I I like to bring that up to this day to kelse because there was a couple times that I over Roe him and he's like you were right but that's like 0.1% of the time yeah that helped me out and then I go to teams it's it's like hey you got to make the mic point and then you got to change the mic point and then you got to do this and you got to do that and it's like you only have so much amount of time when you get to the line I wasn't great at that I needed to work together to do what I need to do o line if I need to override you so the key to success to any quarterback is knowing how they process and how they function to be before the ball snapped and then what plays are you calling and how are you teaching them to read the coverages and plays to e to most importantly execute the play to move the chains like there's some coaches that it's too much you want your mind simple so you can play Fast the NFL is too fast to play slow so I think with any quarterback we're talking about Justin Fields recognize who he is recognize how to make him better if you do that you're going to see a lot of success because if you have a good defense your offense will be dynamic and threatening we all know as defense like when you're playing defense and you know your offense is threatening and you can score points yall play better because you know that we're going to score points when you play on a defense that your offense can't score points absolutely sucks yeah it's awful so um that's sort of my tangent I hope that they build it obviously it's Russell Wilson unless you know I'm not in the news every day I'm not like watching everything yeah you a hey bro you ain't at that point yet where you you lose your mind and join the media that hasn't happened yet and I and I in respect to Russell the guy's a future Hall of Famer and like I'm I'm just talking about a young player that at some point in his career if it's two three years from now after Russ has you know decided whatever it is um I hope that he succeeds and he's ready to go because I see Justin having success in the right situation all right man this is this is the big one I wanted to ask you was I got a lot of little kids now that find out I played football like my Nick Foles Assessment of his Career my son's friends or even my kids like they'll ask me about players and then occasionally they'll ask me about myself they'll be like hey Dad were you really good or what were you better than this player I'm like man we don't need to get in all this but if if somebody wanted to to build a or Rite a QB headstone for you you know your career just ended they want to succinctly put what kind of player you were or what you're going to be remembered for what's the most honest assessment of your career because your career is so unique you know what I think one of the greatest compliments I had was from o linan in Chicago we were playing against the SE Hawks I got the word Friday morning before we played on Sunday it was a snow game that I was playing so I got Friday practice that was my first practice with like the ones all year and uh so like not a lot of reps you're going to play against a team that's trying to play for the playoffs on the road and we have a two-minute drive to win the game and it's been a chaotic year that whole staff has fired at the end of the year I remember I stepped in the Huddle and I said certain things that calm the Huddle we went down players made made plays score a touchdown get the two-point conversion win the game that o linan came up to me after the game and said man I don't know what you did but like you were able to calm the entire huddle in a chaotic situation and let us just play ball and not think about anything else like thank you so I don't know what you put on a headstone but that was one of the greatest compliments because we all know that there's so much stress in football there's so much stress in life and we feel it um even in that situation going on two-minute drive like you know you're calm you're confident you're playing being present but like there's still a lot on the line um so being able to instill that in another player I would say I was a player that served his teammates to help make them better um that was always the goal and I got to be in different roles whether it was starter backup or even I was demoted to three um where for whatever reason and that was tough but it taught me a lot and I still got to impact players by how I handle myself each day and my goal was always to imp impact them and impact young players and you know what it is like you you go into a facility every day with the right mindset and then within five minutes something can shot like shoot that mindset down or someone can say something to you and you're in the dumps yeah I felt that I've gone through that by no means was I perfect at at all but I always strive to be the best teammate I could be no matter what my role was so that's that's how I wanted to play the game that's how I wanted to finish the game um was I perfect every time no but I I feel like I ran the race to the the best of my ability and I'm just super grateful for the time yeah man I think you hit it on the head man you you you were an amazing teammate I mean you really were and somebody that I still tell people I'm like he's just unaffected by success you know you have not changed at all and if I were to give you a compliment that would be it as like I've seen so many guys have success and whenever you're asked about your success you mention I asked you about the alson you're like hey let me keep it a bean that was an incredible catch um you you really did always lift the people up around you and as an athlete I'll say this to get into that flow state that you were in on that run or in the year with chip or what when you had your high moments like I have so much admiration for somebody who's able to do that and that that takes tremendous mental toughness and confidence without being cocky you never were cocky and so I just um I enjoyed my time with you man whether you were in St Louis and we were nursing our wounds in the in the cold tub thinking are we gonna retire is this hey or we're on top of the world hugging at the parade man it was you're the same guy and I think that's the people that that that that don't change and they remain true to who they are and you who you are is is not worth changing either but I was really appreciative of the time we had man I love you I'm just so happy for you I'm proud of you no I love you too man I appreciate it I mean you talk about that cold punch in St Louis but man how hot was that hot tub a hot tub was a hot tub was2 they were trying to kill whatever was whatever we were absorbing GR in nurse City they were trying to get out we had an Aaron Brockovich situation outside with the the burning trash under that Hill that we prac to man you get you get the wrong wind there that thing that place the landfill right next St well now now that I basically signed you off and told you how great you are my last question is do you want us to all grow up and stop using your nickname oh man you know what uh I feel like I have no comment for that I I can't tell a grown man what what not to do I think uh everyone find for some reason find so much joy in the nickname and I can't take away that Joy I mean I'd say the person that makes who do you think has the most joy in that nickname Brent cich should we shout out C does Cel does Cel celic loves to talk about that nickname in depth length and depth and uh and I I think uh I think you're bro I just think you're the best bro um I appreciate you and I'm so thankful that you you came on and and had this long conversation because uh you got to see it to believe it you got to hear it to believe it this guy is exactly what he seems and I'm just so lucky to play with him um Nick congrats man and thanks for coming on the show appreciate it Chris thanks for having me