The play is one of the more legendary ones in the history of Super Bowls. There’s even a statue immortalizing the moment it was born outside the Eagles’ home stadium, Lincoln Financial Field.
Of course, it’s the Philly Philly. Or the Philly Special. Whatever name you prefer, the bottom line is it worked and was key ingredient to the Super Bowl LII victory the Eagles cooked up over the New England Patriots on a frigid evening in early February of 2018.
Nick Foles was the architect of it and on Monday night, before the Eagles and Atlanta Falcons kicked off their Week 2 game, the quarterback talked about it during his retirement news conference.
Yes, he’s retiring as an Eagle. It was Philly where he did his best work, and not the five other cities he played in – St. Louis, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Chicago, or Indianapolis. He spent five of his 11 years in an Eagles uniform, playing 40 games with 32 starts.
But what an impact he made in that short time – Super Bowl MVP, throwing for seven touchdowns in one game to tie an NFL record, passing for 27 touchdowns to just two interceptions in one season, a blowout of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game. Philly Philly is right at the top of the list with those iconic moments.
It was near the goal line late in the first half when the Eagles went for it on fourth down. The ball was snapped to Corey Clement, who lateraled it to Trey Burton who unleashed a perfect pass to Foles in the end zone for a touchdown on the way to what would become a 41-33 win over Tom Brady and the Pats.
Foles shed some light on how Philly Philly came to be. He said the play was supposed to be a speed option.
“I think all of us were like, ‘Oh, no,’” he said. “So, thank goodness we called a timeout. The play just didn’t look good all week. And I love Doug (Pederson) and I love our coaches, but I’m still shocked because the last time I ran that play well was at Westlake (Texas) High School. So, it probably wasn’t going to work and I don’t know if was going execute it well.”
On his way to the sideline to convene with Pederson during the timout, a thought occurred to Foles. He asked for Philly Philly and Pederson said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
That sideline conference between the two is what the statue of them immortalizes outside the Linc.
“My first thought when I was running back to the huddle was do not smile, do not smile,” said Foles. “Just act like serious, because defensive players are watching the quarterback run from the sideline, and if I’m smiling they’re going to think something’s up.
“I also knew I had to put on an act. I had to go up there (and yell), ‘Kill, kill, Lane (Johnson), Lane.’ That’s pretty silly doing all that stuff, but you have to act serious like it’s a real audible I knew it was going to work. I knew we were ready for it.”
The rest is history, which will never be forgotten among the Eagles fan base no matter how many generations pass.
“I’ve had moments in my career where I ran to the sideline and asked for plays, because as a quarterback there are just plays you feel that will work,” said Foles. “I’m grateful Doug and I have the relationship where he trusted me enough. …Super glad he said yes and super glad we ran it.”
