Fresh from attending yesterday's Eagles victory parade in Philadelphia, I'm still high on their championship. But I won't belabor the point, so this post will be my last on the subject. I'll cover three topics today: joy, story, and celebration.
Joy
When the playoffs began, I said something stupid. I told my kids I'd give them each $100 if the Eagles won the Super Bowl. As they advanced in the playoffs, I amended it to be $50 to them and $50 to their college fund- still far too much in the eyes of my wife, who (rightly) pointed out that I should refrain from such promises in the future. Very true. But there's an important truth here- when people are joyful, and mindful of what they've received, they give generously. It's a response to joy. It's why we give at Christmas, celebrating the gift of Jesus and His overflowing love by giving gifts to each other. May we always have in mind the gifts given to us, and give to others accordingly. But be wise about it . . . we must be good stewards. No more money for Super Bowl wins, kids.
Story
This Eagles season was special long before they won it all, due to the number of stories worth telling. Here are the main ones:
- GM Howie Roseman returned from 'banishment' to clean up the roster mistakes of his predecessor and build a championship team in remarkably short time. Roseman was GM before Chip Kelly, but was (effectively) demoted when the latter arrived. He could have gone elsewhere in disgust, but he hung around. And, his time clearly served him well, as his personnel decisions this time around were much wiser and reflected wisdom likely gained from his time away. We can all learn from that; sometimes a step back enables two steps forward. Demotions can benefit in the long run.
- Coach Doug Pederson, in just his second year, proved his doubters wrong. He was dismissed from the time of his hiring as too inexperienced; ESPN ranked him the
worst coaching hire at the time out of six new coaches. Well, two of the five guys ranked above have since been fired, one more led his team to an 0-16 record this year, and none made the playoffs. Pederson went 7-9 last year but improved the squad to 13-3 and won it all. He's an aggressive playcaller who trusts and listens to his players, commanding their respect. Now, he has the respect of all. Go Doug.
- Kicker Jake Elliott, who signed on when Caleb Sturgis was lost to injury early in the year. Jake's most impressive achievement came in week 3, when he booted a 61-yard field goal as time expired to beat the New York Giants. Nobody expected that . . . and such things can make or break a season.
- Wide Receiver Nelson Agholor. Nelson had a horrible first two years in the league; I wanted the Eagles to cut him after a disastrous season last year. But they stuck with him, and he showed why. He became a
critical piece in an offense suddenly full of weapons.
- Chris Long. The Eagles' Defensive End decided to
donate his salary to educational charities after the heartbreaking
violence in Charlottesville early in the season. His focus on, and dedication to, helping others is admirable and worthy of emulation.
- The quarterbacks. Carson Wentz displayed humility and a team-first attitude all year, as amazing stats and MVP talk could have destroyed him. Then, he was lost to injury, and enter Nick Foles- a backup with only one successful year (in his previous stint in Philly). Nobody thought Foles could do it . . . and he started (mostly) poorly. Yet, he
learned from his failures, and was amazing when it counted, playing excellent football in the playoffs and earning Super Bowl MVP. And Carson? He was watching on the sidelines, injured but actively involved in the team, helping Nick the entire way. That takes humility and sportsmanship.
- Next man up. The Eagles lost an impressive number of starters to injury this year (6, including special teams), and were without other key pieces for several games. But their 'next man up,' team-first philosophy saw them overcome anyway. Not many teams would have a chance if they lost their starting QB, OT, RB, K, LB, and special teams ace.
- Team. I loved this
team. Every team has standout players, but this group truly played together, with everyone making contributions and nobody making demands. No locker room drama. Nobody had gaudy numbers because they spread the ball around. They had such fun doing it (see my prior post for more on that). And they were underdogs for the entire playoffs . . . yet they won. Every. single. time.
This article backs up some of my claims. And check out some nice Super Bowl pictures
here.
Speaking of team . . . below are the depth charts for offense, defense, and special teams at the end of the season (as taken from their official site). Also included is their injured reserve, as six of those players were starters before they went down, and all continued to play a valuable role in mentoring the next men up.
Wins and losses fade; stories are what we remember. And I'll remember these 2017 Eagles.
I'll conclude with the thoughts of a drunk man. On the way home from the Eagles
, we were stuck on the Philly-Wilmington line with a man downing a bottle of hard liquor. He spoke for the entire hour, meandering from thoughts on money and women to making outlandish boasts (like he had 13,000 followers on instagram and could remotely start a car in Hawaii via satellite). He was annoying yet undeniably entertaining (and a warning to all on the dangers of inebriation). One thing he said, though, stuck out to me. "Disregard my condition," he said, which made me perk up, as I didn't expect one in his state to be capable of such words. He continued, saying something like "Today, we put aside our differences. People with different social status, economic status, race, and more came together and loved each other; celebrated with each other. We may not do that tomorrow, but it's great to be united today." Agreed; walking down the streets with 700,000 like-minded people celebrating the same happy event was an amazing experience. It's a small taste of our future hope, united with each other and joyous in the presence of our Lord. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
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