Just a little prelude to this story… This was written a few days after Carson Wentz’s ACL Injury that forced him to miss the rest of the season. This happened about 2 months before Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles miraculously defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52.
This was the first sports story I ever wrote, and wanted to decribe what lead up to the return of Nick Foles as the Eagles starting QB, and went on to speculate the feat he would accomplish if he led the Eagles to a Super Bowl Victory in 2017. Well… as we know, the rest is history.
December 11th 2017
In the Philadelphia sports world there has been one man that has unknowingly become the Eagles “chosen one”. In 2017 Nick Foles is a name that Philadelphia Eagles fans are trusting to bring their promising 11-2 squad to the Super Bowl after MVP candidate Carson Wentz went down with a torn ACL. Foles’ wild history with the organization is a driving factor in why many fans believe that he can lead the team to a title. To know why Eagles fans still believe that 2017 could be the year their beloved football team finally wins a Super Bowl, even with star QB Carson Wentz shelved, we’ll need to take a trip down Eagles memory lane: The year is 2012, the Eagles draft class includes future all-pro Fletcher Cox, Brandon Boykin, Vinny Curry, Mycheal Kendricks and one Nick Foles out of Arizona.
Fast Forward to week then of the 2012 season, the Eagles are not playing strong football and hold a record of 3-5. Early in the second Quarter of their matchup against the rival Cowboys, the Eagles are trying to convert on a short 3rd and 2, starting quarterback Micheal Vick throws a ball over the head of Lesean McCoy coming out of the backfield, after the throw Vick was slammed on his head by the Cowboys’ Ernie Sims. Vick would subsequently leave the game with a “pretty serious concussion” per Head Coach Andy Reid. With Vick out, rookie QB Nicholas Edward Foles takes the field, and from this moment on, football in Philadelphia will never be the same. Foles goes on to finish the game, and would have finished the season had he not suffered a broken hand in week 16.
In the 2013 offseason the Eagles fire Head Coach Andy Reid, and hire Chip Kelly, revolutionary college football coach from Oregon, adopting his high volume and fast paced spread offense. Head Coach Chip Kelly announced that Nick Foles and Micheal Vick, will compete for the starting QB position in training camp. Mike Vick eventually won the starting job, but Foles would hit the field in week four, and then take over as the starter in week five, after Vick left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. Foles would go on to start week six and throw 3 touchdown passes beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and in week nine would place his unlikely name in NFL record books, throwing for 7 touchdowns against the Raiders. At this point in the season the Eagles are 4-5, but begin to realize they may have something special in Nick Foles. Foles and the Eagles break off five straight wins, one of them being the famous “snow bowl” in week 14 against the Detroit Lions. The rest of the Eagles season would include a loss to the Vikings, an absolute annihilation of the Bears, and in dramatic fashion a defeat of the Romo-less Cowboys to win the NFC east, and set up a date with the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs. The unlikely Nick Foles posted stats that are mind-boggling. A 27/2 Touchdown to Interception ratio, beating Tom Brady’s previous best ration of 36/4, the third best season passer rating of 119.0, trailing only Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning, a 64% completion percentage and 2,891 passing yards in just 13 games. “Saint Nick” as Eagles faithful and Sports Illustrated dubbed him, was truly a sensation and took the football world by storm. Foles and the Eagles came up short on wild card Saturday, despite Foles’ 2 touchdown passes, and lost by a field goal. This brought an abrupt end to the Eagles story book season, while Nick Foles went on to play in the 2013 Pro-Bowl.
In 2014 Nick Foles looked to build on an outstanding season in 2013, and he was doing just that, leading the Eagles to a 6-2 start before he suffered a Broken Collarbone and was placed on injured reserve. Set to take over the starting role was Mark Sanchez, who signed as a free agent in the offseason. The Eagles continued with a 9-3 record before imploding and posting a 1-3 record in December, and eventually missing the playoffs, finishing at 10-6. If things couldn’t get any worse for Eagles fans, on March 10th 2015 they learned that Nick Foles was being traded to the St. Louis Rams for Sam Bradford, star Quarterback with major injury problems that he could not escape till this day. This marked the end of the Nick Foles era in Philly, along with Foles, Lesean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, Trent Cole, and Evan Mathis are departed. With Nick Foles now in St. Louis, the Eagles finished 7-9 in 2015. The city of Philadelphia went dark.
In the 2016 offseason the Philadelphia Eagles fired head coach Chip Kelly and brought in Doug Pederson, they packaged free agency busts Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso along with the 13th overall pick to Miami for their 8th overall pick. The Eagles then packaged that pick along with several others and acquired the 2nd overall pick in the 2016 draft from the Cleveland Browns. The mess that Head Coach/Head of Football Operations Chip Kelly made was being cleaned up perfectly by new Head of Football Operations, Howie Roseman who took over with the firing of Kelly. Roseman almost completely removed every trace from the dreadful Chip Kelly era in Philly. The Eagles then went on to get their guy in the draft, Carson Wentz, their first true Franchise quarterback in Philly since Donovan Mcnabb. With Nick Foles now in Kansas City as a backup for Alex Smith, the Eagles turn to Chase Daniel to replace Mark Sanchez as their QB2. Although Wentz showed plenty of promise and a sign of good things to come for Eagles fans, their record of 7-9 didn’t show it. The Eagles knew they had to build a supporting cast for their future star, and an offseason of great moves by Howie Roseman will set up Wentz and the Eagles for a great run in 2017, but there was one move that Roseman made that will set up a potentially amazing story in the present day.
The 2017 offseason saw the additions of Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, LeGarrette Blount, and Ronald Darby. These were star studded pickups that create a tremendous supporting cast for Carson Wentz, and a major boost the Eagles secondary. Amidst all the hype there was one signing that brought nostalgia to the city of Philadelphia. On March 13th 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Quarterback Nick Foles, two years and three days after trading him to the St. Louis Rams. Although fans knew Foles would just be the backup to second year phenom Carson Wentz, their lovable journeyman has made his rounds back to the city his NFL story began. Foles took meaningless snaps in 2 blowout wins to the delight of fans everywhere. The Eagles are flying high at 10-2, with the possible league MVP Carson Wentz leading the team into Los Angeles to play the 9-3 Rams. This is where our blast to the past meets the present day. Wentz is removed from the game with a season ending torn left ACL, and in steps Nick Foles to create the beginning of a perfect storm. Foles will finish 6/10 with 42 passing yards, along with a crucial 3rd down pass to Nelson Agholor to help seal the victory. There is now heavenly chaos in the city of brotherly love.
In the present moment, Nick Foles, once a Philadelphia sports hero, is now in control of the 2017, 11-2, Super Bowl favorite Philadelphia Eagles. If anyone would have predicted this to happen in 2012 while Foles was backing up Micheal Vick, or even in 2013 when Foles took the league by storm, they would be crazy. Now Philadelphia Eagles fans turn to Nick Foles, who they thought was their franchise quarterback in 2014, to take the reins from their present franchise quarterback Carson Wentz. The question is, can Nick Foles write possibly the craziest story in sports to ever come full circle? Can Nick Foles take over the 11-2 Eagles and bring them to the first seed in the NFC? Can Nick Foles carry the Eagles through the playoffs and into Super Bowl 52? Can Nick Foles solidify himself as a Philadelphia sports folk hero, and lead the Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory? Only time can tell, but what a story it would be if Nicholas Edward Foles, Eagles 2012 3rd round draft pick, Micheal Vick backup, and 2013 pro-bowler, could come full circle and lead the Birds to a Super Bowl win in 2017. Finishing the job that he started in 2013, and never got to finish in 2014, and then ride into the sunset, leaving the keys for Wentz to returning 2018, leaving absolutely no doubt in his mind, and the minds of the fans, what could have been if he was never dealt to St. Louis for Sam Bradford. Buckle up Philadelphia Eagles fans, the “chosen one” is set to make his triumphant return to the Linc.
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