3 Things Nick Foles Said That All Sports Parents Need to Advocate:
By Alex Flanagan
As a reporter for the NFL Network covering the Philadelphia Eagles, I spent much of the week leading up to Super Bowl LII listening to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles answer hundreds of questions. The 29-year-old had been a 3rd round draft pick of the Eagles in 2012 and at one point had been their starter, but a six year NFL journey saw him traded from the Eagles, cut by the Rams and re-signed by Philadelphia as a backup quarterback in 2017.
I can guarantee you there isn’t a single person who had NIck Foles winning this year’s Super Bowl MVP. It wasn’t until the Eagles first round draft pick Carson Wentz tore his ACL with two games left in the regular season, that anyone paid even a shred of attention to Foles.
So, there Nick Foles was, the week of the Super Bowl, sharing stories about how he contemplated quitting playing football at one point, because he had nearly lost faith in himself. His eyes welled up in tears when asked about how his 7-month-old daughter and his wife had brought him newfound perspective. He told how he attended seminary school in the offseason because one day when he is finished playing football he thinks he could be interested in a career as a high school pastor. For a week Foles opened up about himself showing a great deal of humility as he shared his weaknesses with the whole world. Then he went out and brought the city of Philadelphia its first ever NFL Championship, executed what will go down as one of the most legendary trick plays of all time and was named Super Bowl MVP.
The day after it was all over he said the most impactful things in his post-game press conference that caused me to reflect both as a person and a parent. In a moment of winning, Foles talked about losing. How without it he wouldn’t have become a champion. He reminded us of something I think all of today’s sports parents should allow for, ifof the journey. not embrace. That as much as we value winning and place a high premium on being the best, losing is an important, if not critical, part of the journey.
3 things Nick Foles said that all Sports Parents need to advocate:
FAILURE IS PART OF EVERY ATHLETE’S LIFE
“Failure is part of life. It’s a part of building character and growing. Without failure who would you be? I wouldn’t be up here if I hadn’t fallen through sands of times. Made mistakes.”
EVEN THE VERY BEST ATHLETES STRUGGLE
“I’m not Superman. I might be in the NFL, I might have just won a Super Bowl, but, hey, we still have daily struggles. I still have daily struggles.”
HARD TIMES SERVE A PURPOSE
“When you look at a struggle in your life, just know that’s an opportunity for your character to grow. And that’s just been the message. Simple. If something’s going on in your life and you’re struggling? Embrace it. Because you are growing.”
Alex Flanagan co-founded I love to watch you play in 2015. She was flying home from an NFL work assignment when a learning specialist, who was sitting next to her, shared 5 reasons she shouldn’t feel guilty missing her son’s game. She shared their conversation on her own website alexflanagan.com and the response was so overwhelming it inspired her to c0-create ILTWYP to help parents like herself navigate youth sports.
