As midnight green confetti stamped into Lombardi Trophy shapes floated to the ground two-and-a-half years ago, Nick Foles knew his life would never be the same.
But as he held his 7-month-old daughter, Lily, and scanned the field at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, he realized none of it mattered: not the Eagles’ 41-33 win against the Patriots or the Super Bowl LII MVP trophy or the “Philly Special” touchdown catch that ranks as one of the most famous plays in NFL history.
It was that moment of celebration — his teammates hugging the people that matter most to them — that was important.
“I just remember thinking, ‘That’s what it’s about,’” the Bears quarterback said Tuesday. “It’s not about the game. It’s about the people you do it with and the hard journey you go on, the ups and downs. When you win, everything is great. When you lose, it’s all criticism.
“You finally, at the end of the journey, get to sit there with all the people you went through it with and have that moment.”
That moment is fleeting.
Since then, Foles is on his third team in three years. Even Tom Brady, the man he beat in the Super Bowl, is playing for a new team. When the Bears face the Buccaneers on Thursday night at Soldier Field, it will mark the first time Foles and Brady have played a regular-season game since the Super Bowl.
The two aren’t particularly close. They infamously didn’t shake hands after the Super Bowl — Brady said it wasn’t his intention to be a bad sport — but huddled up after a preseason contest the next season.
They’re forever linked by that evening in Minneapolis.
“Tom is a tremendous player and has had a lot of success in this league,” Foles said. “He’s one of the greatest of all-time at the quarterback position.”
For one day, Foles was his equal — if not better. Foles completed 28-of-43 passes for 373 yards and three touchdowns, and caught a 1-yard score thrown by Trey Burton on “Philly Special,” a trick play the Eagles borrowed from the Bears’ 2016 playbook. Brady was 28-for-48 for 505 yards and three interceptions — but dropped a pass thrown his way.
The Super Bowl win capped the greatest run by a backup quarterback in NFL history. Foles took over for an injured Carson Wentz and won three of four regular-season games — the loss came after he was pulled early in a meaningless finale — to earn a playoff bye. He posted a triple-digit passer rating in all three postseason games, totaling six touchdowns and one interception.
John DeFilippo, his quarterback coach in 2017 and again this year with the Bears, still can’t quite wrap his mind around what he saw.
“I’ve never coached a quarterback before that had focus going into that stretch of games that Nick did,” he said. “And this is guys that have come into relief, guys that have started seasons for us.
“I’ve never seen just that level of in-the-moment, and level of focus, from an athlete before. I think that allowed him to play at the level he played at. You know, it was unbelievable.”
That play-to-play mindset continues to serve Foles well. Most quarterbacks would be desperate for a permanent home. Foles — who has played for five franchises, including the Eagles twice — said that, while bouncing his family across the country is hard, “what we’ve done is just enjoy the moment.”
Foles has “always been a winner,” said Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians, who watched the Super Bowl with a beer in his hand after playing golf in Arizona.
“Nick is a hell of a quarterback,” he said. “And he can move a team. Guys have a tendency to gravitate around him, and they want to play well.”
That includes Khalil Mack, the Bears’ star outside linebacker. The Bears put his locker next to Foles’ — with social distance — this season. Mack, who’s never won a playoff game, picks Foles’ brain about the 2017 run.
“His mindset going into the game is, he was just fearless …” Mack said. “He’s one of those guys that he’s going to get his guys a chance. And you could see it out on the field.”
The Bears got a glimpse of Foles’ magic when he rallied them from a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Falcons in Week 3 — only for him to post a 76.4 passer rating in the Bears’ 19-11 loss to the Falcons on Sunday.
This week they vowed to fix their offense — a challenge, Foles said, that would make winning so satisfying.
“If you’re ever blessed enough to win a Super Bowl or do anything, you’ll realize it’s not even about the trophy,” Foles said. “It’s taking a look at the people next to you and saying, ‘Man, what we overcame and what we did was truly special because of the people in this building.’ It takes everyone.
“As we’re coming to work every day here at Halas [Hall], great people that want to work and want to get better, enjoy being around each other. That’s what I experienced.
“That’s what I remember.”
