id I mention that Love Hurts? Oh I’m sure the view from Philadelphia Eagles’ Eli Ricks’ earhole is lovely this time of year, but it’s not, let’s say, as lovely as the view from the First Daughter’s earlobe after a few swirls of a fine Syrah line-dancing on the cornerback’s tongue would be, before deciding which angle to take as he approaches his, uh, pardonne-moi, newest highly rated target.
Eagles cornerback Eli Ricks missed his dream girl Ivanka Trump’s visit to the Birds’ facilities on Friday and then soon afterwards went down during a training session with what Sam “May Day” Malone might have dubbed a “la la loin injury” – watch below.
First it was a note.
Then a wink.
Then a stretcher.
He shot his shot.
Cupid shot back.
You train for blitzes.
You study to eliminate surprises.
But sometimes you just get beat.
The other guys get paid too (especially one’s whose Dad’s run the U.S. Treasury Department).
Eli Ricks has been making headlines this offseason – but not for a pick-six or a locker room dust-up. Instead, the second-year defensive back has found himself at the center of a surprisingly charming off-field storyline involving none other than Ivanka Trump (btw my personal crush on D1 pre-dates Rick’s ninth birthday when we graced the cover of Philadelphia Magazine (well she did, I was a mini-blurb on the back page).
It started during the team’s White House visit following their Super Bowl victory, when Ricks took to X/Twitter to proclaim Ivanka was “exactly my type.” The tweet made the global rounds, sans North Korea, part flirt, part fanboy fantasy, part feel-good and most assumed that would be the end of it.
It wasn’t.
Last Friday, Ivanka Trump visited the Eagles’ facility with her son’s flag football team. Ricks wasn’t there to meet her, but she left a handwritten note on his locker anyway:
“Stopped by to say hi! Sorry to miss you! Go Birds – Ivanka”
A wink in ink, if you will.
By the time Ricks found the note, it was too late for a meet & greet & sweet but not too late for a reply.
“My apologies,” he posted, “I owe you a glass of wine now xx!”
Harmless fun, right?
Eli Ricks couldn’t stop smiling. Not because of the Super Bowl ring still glinting on his finger or the standing ovation he got at the Eagles’ team awards banquet recently. No, this smile was powered by pure, unfiltered adrenaline. That tingling kind of feeling, you know the kind you get when your childhood crush writes a handwritten note on your locker saying something other then “get lost slime-ball” (I’ve saved all of mine ya know just for posterity’s sake and all).
Ivy’s message was a swish – “Stopped by to say hi! Sorry to miss you! Go Birds – Ivanka”
Getty Images
He stared at the note like it was the game-winning pick-six. Because to him, it was. But just as fate handed him this sweet moment, karma came flying off the edge like Micah Parsons on a 3rd and long.
That’s when, just like this bed-time, tongue-in-cheek (see what I did there?) story, things took a dramatic and strangely cinematic turn. Later that evening, paramedics were photographed loading Ricks into an ambulance after what sources described as a heat-related incident during an off-season training session. In a now-viral image, Ricks appears to be smiling from the stretcher, IV in one arm, and what looks like Ivanka’s note in the other. Or maybe his smile came from a place knowing that his EMT crew wasn’t the same one that dropped the Dallas Stars’Mike Madano circa 1994 – watch below
Eagle Nation Love Struck
Fans quickly ran with it:
The relatively quiet but always sage fellow ‘Bama alum quipped this as he witnessed his teammate got ambulated to Jefferson, “Bro passed out from love. First crush cramp in NFL history.” He also snapped a picture of his crest fallen teammate that went viral.
I’d say it could probably qualify as a lower body injury if we’re being honest. Wink, wink, and probably an electrolyte imbalance or two.
Of course, the timing could be purely coincidental. Ricks is reportedly recovering well and should be back on the field shortly. But in an offseason packed with OTA updates and contract chatter, this unexpected rom-com subplot has given Eagles fans something else to cheer for – and maybe even root for.
The pic showed Ricks smiling deliriously with an IV in one arm and the Ivanka note clutched in the other.
Social media dubbed it: “The Loin Injury Incident.”
But even as he lay in that ambulance under the pulse of red lights and first responders, Ricks was already plotting his comeback – and not just to the field.
From the stretcher, he posted:
“My bad @IvankaTrump, next time I’ll have the wine and the electrolytes. xx”
The internet melted. And so, apparently, did Ivanka’s heart. She reposted with a kiss emoji and a GIF of Cinderella’s glass slipper. The message? Game On.
Well this morning, as Ricks was recovering, a mysterious bottle of vintage wine showed up at the NovaCare Complex. No name. Just a tag: “For #39. Hydrate first.”
And so, the rom-com continues.
Because what makes the world go round isn’t just in the air – sometimes it’s in the IV bag.
But Seriously
Okay, so maybe not all of that happened exactly like that.
But what is true is this:
Eli Ricks did publicly shoot his shot at Ivanka Trump after the Eagles’ White House visit, tweeting that she was “exactly my type.”
She did tour the team’s facility shortly after with her son’s flag football team.
He wasn’t there.
But she left a handwritten note on his locker:
“Stopped by to say hi! Sorry to miss you! Go Birds”
And Ricks?
He followed up with his own message:
“My apologies, I owe you a glass of wine now xx!”
The whole thing, from tweet to locker note to flirtatious reply, reads like a Netflix script waiting to be greenlit. No confirmation yet on wine or dinner plans – but the internet’s already rooting for a second act.
Because sometimes love hurts.
Sometimes it cramps up.
And sometimes, when Cupid comes off the edge…
Even a high-end cornerback can get caught flat-footed.
