Philadelphia Eagles legend Nick Foles holds retirement press conference
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Nick Foles officially retired as an Eagle before theMonday Night Football matchup against the Atlanta Falcons in Philadelphia.
Foles, who led Philadelphia to its only Super Bowl win during his 11-year NFL career, served as the team's honorary captain Monday night.
Before delivering his retirement speech, he was egged on by retired center Jason Kelce and former Eagle Fletcher Cox to participate in a pregame party on the Monday Night Countdown set.
"When you want to give like a speech at the end of your career, you want to be like calm cool collected, and then I get a text message from Jason Kelce saying like, 'Hey, man, will you come over and join me at the Countdown?" Foles laughed. "Before I know it we're jumping on stage at Xfinity Live wearing two dog masks, ripping them off cheering up the crowd."
The German shepherd masks were introduced during the 2017 season as a play on the underdog theme.
Foles became the starter late in the 2017 season after Carson Wentz was injured, and led the way to a 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
Foles, who earned Super Bowl MVP honors, threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns against the Patriots but is best remembered for the "Philly Special." On fourth-and-goal inside the Patriots 5, Foles floated from behind center to behind the right tackle before the snap, leaving running back Corey Clement alone in the backfield. Clement took the snap and Foles hesitated before running undefended into the end zone. Clement pitched to tight end Trey Burton, who flipped a short pass to Foles for a 22-12 halftime lead.
"The first thought when I was running back to the huddle was, do not smile, do not smile," Foles said. "Just act serious. Defensive players are watching the quarterback run from the side. If I'm smiling, they're gonna think something is up. I had to put up an act. I had to go up there like "kill, kill," act serious like it was a real audible."
"I knew it was going to work. I knew that we were ready for it. Trey threw an amazing ball. Like he does not get enough credit, that ball was perfect," added Foles who became the first quarterback in NFL history to catch a touchdown in the Super Bowl.
LISTEN: Eagles QB Nick Foles called the 'Philly Special' play in Super Bowl
The 2017 championship banner hangs inside Lincoln Financial Field. Foles and former coach Doug Pederson share a statue outside the stadium that includes Foles' quote, "Want Philly Philly?" Lining the wall into the Eagles' locker room is a photo of Foles hauling in the touchdown catch as part of a collage of great moments from that season.
Foles was drafted by Philadelphia in the third round (88th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft out of the University of Arizona. He had two stints in Philadelphia: 2012 to 2014 and 2017 to 2018.
Foles choked up during his 45-minute speech, thanking his family and coaches. As he rattled off the names of offensive linemen that included Kelce and current Eagle Lane Johnson, he called them the "true heroes" of the offense.
READ MORE: 'Philly Special' statue unveiled at the Linc
"Stepping into that huddle was such a sense of peace," Foles said. "Those guys were amazing."
Foles played for five other teams, with his last appearance Jan. 1, 2023, for Indianapolis. He finished his Eagles career with 8,703 passing yards (10th all-time) and 58 touchdowns (ninth all-time) in 40 games.
He saved his final shout-out for Eagles fans.
"Y'all are what makes this place so special," he said. "One of my favorite moments is the NFC Championship Game when, we're about to do our 7-on-7 warmups, and y'all were so loud, dancing, we were dancing. I had to pause and just watch and take it in and realize how blessed I was to play for a great city, a great organization."
ESPN contributed to this report.
