Fletcher Cox is going to be pretty busy on Sunday, Feb. 4, but at least he'll finally get to see this Super Bowl thing everyone is always talking about.
As they prepare to play in the big game themselves, just about every player in the Eagles' locker room seems to have at least one or two favorite memories from past Super Bowls.
Except for Cox.
"You know I really don't watch football," Cox said earlier this week. "Y'all know that. I don't watch sports. You know that. You know I don't watch sports. I tell y'all that all the time."
Well, maybe over the next week or so, some of Cox's teammates can fill him in on some of the incredible Super Bowl moments over the last 20 or so years because there have been some wild ones.
For whatever reason, there are just some plays, some Super Bowls that seem to stick out differently for different people. We got some repeat answers, but plenty of unique ones too.
"There's a lot of moments," safety Rodney McLeod said. "You think about Santonio Holmes making the amazing catch in the back of the end zone for the Steelers to win it (in Super Bowl XLIII in 2009). You think about a guy that nobody knew until Malcolm Butler made that game-changing interception and won it for the Patriots a few years ago (in Super Bowl XLIX in 2015). There's moments like that, that just flash in your head all the time and you just envision yourself being that guy to make that play.
Philadelphia Eagles
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
"But guys have said since we entered the playoffs, don't go forcing the play. Just do your job, the play's going to find you. If you do that, you'll be fine. So don't want to be legendary and be that guy that made the ultimate play. I just want to make the plays that come my way."
Mychal Kendricks first noted there have been some absolutely crazy moments in Super Bowls before. He thinks there's just something about the playoffs. He brought up the play against the Falcons, where Nick Foles' pass bounced off a defender's knee and into the arms of Torrey Smith. And obviously, the Minnesota Miracle that brought the Vikings to Philly.
But in the Super Bowl?
"The New York game, when he threw that pass and the dude caught it on his head," Kendricks said of the David Tyree catch in the Giants' stunning win over the undefeated Patriots in XLII in 2008.
That Tyree catch was a pretty popular one among Eagles players; several picked that one as the one that came to mind first. Trey Burton, Marcus Johnson and Rasul Douglas instantly thought of Tyree's crazy catch on his helmet.
"That was probably the greatest thing I had seen," said Douglas, who grew up in East Orange, New Jersey. "I didn't think he was catching that. On his helmet? That was a crazy catch."
Kendricks was just 9 years old when Super Bowl XXXIV pinned the Rams and Titans against each other at the Georgia Dome. Earlier this week, he couldn't remember exactly what happened in that game, but he remembered watching it with his uncle and knew something crazy went down.
"What happened in that game?" Kendricks asked.
Well, the game ended when Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson caught the ball and stretched out his arm but came up a yard short of possibly tying the game. It was the last play. The Rams won 23-16.
"One of the first ones that I remember was the Rams-Titans game where the guy was trying to reach for the end zone and didn't make it," tight end Zach Ertz said. "I was a big Rams fan at the time. The Greatest Show on Turf. Everybody loved that team if you were a non-biased fan."
While the Tyree catch was the moment that stood out most to Johnson, for whatever reason, Super Bowl XXXVII, when the Bucs spanked the Raiders 48-21, really stands out to him.
For Lane Johnson, Super Bowl XXXII is the one he remembers the most. He grew up as a Green Bay Packers fan and was just about 7 years old when he had to watch John Elway lead the Broncos to a 31-24 win over his squad. A little more recently, Johnson said the Seahawks' decision to not give the ball to Marshawn Lynch against the Patriots comes to mind.
When asked the question, Brandon Graham had to give props to fellow Michigan product Mario Manningham for his sideline catch in the Giants' 21-17 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. While it might not be as remembered as the Tyree catch from a few years earlier, the Manningham grab was pretty impressive too.
Stefen Wisniewski thought about the question for a moment, but couldn't decide.
"I can't think of one," Wisniewski said. "I've definitely watched them all and hoped I'd be there someday. I always love watching championships, whether it's the Super Bowl, NBA, World Series, whatever. Just watching guys celebrate afterward and just being an athlete and appreciating how much work went into that. I kind of love watching that. Even the Olympics, you name it.
"Some people had to put a lot of work into something their whole life. Just the emotion associated with that is a pretty powerful thing. Hoping to get to experience that myself here next week."
