Philly Special: Why Philadelphia loves Nick Foles, beyond his Super Bowl win

He doesn't deserve to have his No. 9 retired. He's got a statue, and he's Philly Special, and that's just perfect.

Nick Foles runs untouched into the end zone on the Philly Special play in the Super Bowl LII win over the Patriots.Read moreMichael Bryant / Staff Photographer

Published Aug. 8, 2024, 2:28 p.m. ET

Nick Foles announced Thursday that he will retire, and do so as an Eagle. Not that there was any question he would do so as anything else. Foles played for six teams, but everything he ever was of significance on a football field happened with the Eagles, and the best thing that ever happened to the Eagles happened because of Nicholas Edward “Big Game” Foles.

Philadelphia adores Nick Foles, but not only because he was the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl for Philadelphia, and the way things are going, he might be the only one.

It goes deeper than that.

Philadelphia adores Nick Foles because, perhaps more than any other athlete in Philadelphia history, Nick Foles is emblematic of what Philadelphia, in its most honest moments of reflection, considers itself to be. And maybe what Philadelphia really is.

“Nick Foles always carried himself with the utmost class and integrity, demonstrating through his actions, both on and off the field, what it meant to be a Philadelphia Eagle,” said Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. “He was the ultimate competitor, an inspiring teammate, a true representative of our city, and of course, a Super Bowl champion.”

Lurie’s right, but there’s more to this relationship with Nick Foles. More Philly flavor.

Foles was great, but only in flashes. He was great in 2013, his first act with the Eagles, after Michael Vick got hurt and when Chip Kelly’s gimmick offense caught everyone unaware and Foles went to his only Pro Bowl after throwing 27 touchdown passes but only two interceptions.

He was great in 2017 for 5¼ games, playing the role of Lurie’s pet overpaid understudy after Carson Wentz shredded his knee late in the season. He finished winning the game in which Wentz was injured, then threw 11 touchdowns but just three interceptions in the following five games that mattered and beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Super Bowl LII. He did this opposite a playmaking Eagles defense, behind an elite offensive line, with a Hall of Fame-caliber tight end, and with an array of offensive weapons just past their primes, but still good enough.

He was pretty good the next year, too, with three wins down the stretch in relief, even if he sputtered in his playoff performances — though he was an Alshon Jeffery drop from reaching the NFC championship game.

Which brings us to my favorite Foles moment. It wasn’t his audacious, fourth-down touchdown catch in Super Bowl LII after calling his own number in a timeout exchange with an overwhelmed Doug Pederson.

It was Foles picking up Jeffery on the field in New Orleans in the divisional playoff game after the 2018 season, then hugging him on the sideline. This, after a pass bounced off Jeffery’s hands in New Orleans, leading to a game-sealing interception. It was Foles’ last pass as an Eagle, and Jeffery botched it for him, and Foles cared more about Jeffery than any interception.

Foles embraced Jeffery and told him: “I love you.”

It maybe was Foles’ finest moment as a man, if not as an Eagle.

It was a very Philadelphian thing to do, to appreciate effort, even in defeat.

It was how the fans treat the 1993 Phillies, who lost that World Series. It’s how they treat Brian Dawkins, who never won here. It’s how they treat Buddy Ryan’s underachievers. If you have charisma, and if you’ll kill yourself trying, then you’re one of them.

One of us.

Truthfully, Foles didn’t have many fine moments as an Eagle, or as a Ram, or as a Chief or a Jaguar or Bear or Colt. That’s why he hasn’t taken a snap since 2022, and that’s why, in a league that still employs Gardner Minshew, Foles, only 35, can’t find a job.

Despite his intermittent heroics, Foles isn’t even the best backup quarterback in Eagles history (McNabb doesn’t count). That would be Jalen Hurts, who has proven to be an excellent starter.

That was something Nick Foles never did. He never proved himself as a starter. He failed in Philadelphia in 2014, in St. Louis in 2015, in Jacksonville in 2019, and in Chicago in 2020. He was 29-29 as a starter with an 85.0 passer rating. He was Mark Sanchez.

Except he wasn’t. Philly adored that.

You see, Foles gave you every ounce of himself every time he played football. Or held the news conference. Or talked about his faith in a church.

He held nothing back. He projected no artifice. He was good in stretches, in flashes. He was Philly, both its town and its teams.

He wasn’t the Yankees or the Dodgers or the Patriots or the 49ers or, as painful as it is to admit, the Dallas Cowboys, in two eras. But he was outstanding twice, he was pretty good once, and, significantly, he wasn’t Carson Wentz.

That’s another chapter in the story of Nick Foles. He was exactly what Wentz was not.

He achieved to the limit of his abilities. He was completely authentic, utterly selfless, effortlessly mature, naturally secure, instinctively gracious. He also was a believable Christian, humble and earnest without a hint of malice, unlike so many athletes who purport to be Christlike but fall laughably short.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to retire as a Philadelphia Eagle,” Foles said in a statement. “The City of Brotherly Love has always felt like home to me as an NFL player. Philadelphia is a city I truly love, and it has been an honor to wear the Eagles jersey.”

About that jersey: Was he an all-time great? Of course not. He was not Bednarik or Reggie or Dawk or Kelce, or even McNabb. No, he doesn’t deserve to have his number retired.

The statue of him outside of Lincoln Financial Field that captures him just moments before his finest moment is perfect, and it is enough.

Nick Foles isn’t a Philly legend. That’s Dawk and Kelce and Concrete Charlie.

Nick Foles is Philly Special. That’s why Philadelphia adores him.