Foles?

Because I remember Nick Foles and his August.

And some of the questions, you know, when we cut the roster was like, oh, you know, you're going to cut Nick Foles.

And I think, you know, the other part of this, which, you know, some of those, we got those receipts, you know, and not only in 2017, but back in 2018, again, Nick Foles and his preseason were, uh, under scrutiny.

There's a statue in front of our stadium and it is Nick Foles, by the way.

And then I, I also had this conversation with, with coach Fangio this morning and, you know, anytime I just want to get coach Fangio to smile, I just changed from football to baseball.

He didn't, you know, he don't tell him it's a little cheaper that I do with him, you know, to get him a little bit happy.

I mean, people are really wondering whether you're going to get much this year.

How concerned are you that Makai Lemon is behind?

Well, you know, of course you want instant gratification from your picks, you know, and that starts with me.

You want all these guys to come out and be rookie of the year.

And I think the lessons, the experience that I've had is that everyone develops on a different timeline, especially when you factor in injuries.

Certainly it's easy to point to Cooper in 2024 and how he started off and the injuries he had in the off season.

And then going into the preseason, and then he played in that last preseason game, and he didn't play in the first four games, and then we put him in and obviously had a great rookie season, and he's a great player, a great person, and gets a lot of money to play golf with.

And I think that there's also examples of guys who you've got to be patient with.

I mean, people are really wondering whether you're going to get much this year.

How concerned are you that Makai Lemon is behind?

Well, you know, of course you want instant gratification from your picks, you know, and that starts with me.

You want all these guys to come out and be rookie of the year.

And I think the lessons, the experience that I've had is that everyone develops on a different timeline, especially when you factor in injuries.

Certainly it's easy to point to Cooper in 2024 and how he started off and the injuries he had in the off season.

And then going into the preseason, and then he played in that last preseason game, and he didn't play in the first four games, and then we put him in and obviously had a great rookie season, and he's a great player, a great person, and gets a lot of money to play golf with.

And I think that there's also examples of guys who you've got to be patient with.

I mean, people are really wondering whether you're going to get much this year.

But what about these two guys made them the right guys to invest in long term?

You look around college football and you say, where are we finding these guys? There is an epidemic of defense tackles in college football that are coming into the National Football League.

You see it in the draft every year.

There's not a lot of guys that we have drafted to draft ground, first, second day guys.

And then these guys make a difference.

They make a huge difference.

You think about...

If you had to narrow it down to his single greatest quality, what would it be?

Yeah

... during the game how to win that particular game.

You know, I think about, we, we played in Chicago, um, I think it was '24, uh, maybe it was '22.

I don't remember.

It was one of the coldest games I've ever been a part of.

Um, we were there in December, and it was a low-scoring game.

And, um, he just knew the, where the pass game was going with the conditions, and he took it upon himself to say, "I, I'm gonna have to run the ball here to win this game, and we're gonna win this game ugly." And he doesn't care, you know, if he's 9 for 11 for 130 yards and 60 yards rushing and we win 13 to 7, or he throws for 300 yards.

Mm-hmm.

How concerned are you that Makai Lemon is behind?

Well, you know, of course you want instant gratification from your picks, you know, and that starts with me.

You want all these guys to come out and be rookie of the year.

And I think the lessons, the experience that I've had is that everyone develops on a different timeline, especially when you factor in injuries.

Certainly it's easy to point to Cooper in 2024 and how he started off and the injuries he had in the off season.

And then going into the preseason, and then he played in that last preseason game, and, you know, he didn't play in the first four games, and then we put him in and obviously had a great rookie season, and he's a great player, a great person, and gets a lot of money to play golf with.

And I think that there's also examples of guys who, you know, you've got to be patient with.

I mean, people are really wondering whether you're going to get much this year.

How concerned are you that Makai Lemon is behind?

Well, you know, of course you want instant gratification from your picks, you know, and that starts with me.

You want all these guys to come out and be rookie of the year.

And I think the lessons, the experience that I've had is that everyone develops on a different timeline, especially when you factor in injuries.

Certainly it's easy to point to Cooper in 2024 and how he started off and the injuries he had in the off season.

And then going into the preseason, and then he played in that last preseason game, and, you know, he didn't play in the first four games, and then we put him in and obviously had a great rookie season, and he's a great player, a great person, and gets a lot of money to play golf with.

And I think that there's also examples of guys who, you know, you've got to be patient with.

I mean, people are really wondering whether you're going to get much this year.

How concerned are you that Makai Lemon is behind?

Well, you know, of course you want instant gratification from your picks, you know, and that starts with me.

You want all these guys to come out and be rookie of the year.

And I think the lessons, the experience that I've had is that everyone develops on a different timeline, especially when you factor in injuries.

Certainly it's easy to point to Cooper in 2024 and how he started off and the injuries he had in the off season.

And then going into the preseason, and then he played in that last preseason game, and, you know, he didn't play in the first four games, and then we put him in and obviously had a great rookie season, and he's a great player, a great person, and gets a lot of money to play golf with.

And I think that there's also examples of guys who, you know, you've got to be patient with.

I mean, people are really wondering whether you're going to get much this year.

How concerned are you that Makai Lemon is behind?

Well, you know, of course you want instant gratification from your picks, you know, and that starts with me.

You want all these guys to come out and be rookie of the year.

And I think the lessons, the experience that I've had is that everyone develops on a different timeline, especially when you factor in injuries.

Certainly it's easy to point to Cooper in 2024 and how he started off and the injuries he had in the off season.

And then going into the preseason, and then he played in that last preseason game, and, you know, he didn't play in the first four games, and then we put him in and obviously had a great rookie season, and he's a great player, a great person, and gets a lot of money to play golf with.

And I think that there's also examples of guys who, you know, you've got to be patient with.

I mean, people are really wondering whether you're going to get much this year.

Mm.

So, um, we don't even kind of go in that direction for certain cri-criteria, but we also give second chances because everyone makes mistakes.

And, uh, I think for us, again, like, um, it's hard to play in the NFL.

You have to have certain tools in your body to be really good in the NFL.

So, uh, the traits that you have are important, but also the work ethic, the desire, um, overcoming adversity, you know? All these things are important because, um, in our, in our market football is so important.

And, uh, we're gonna go through a season a-and something bad is gonna happen, unfortunately.

Something's gonna happen that we didn't expect, and it's gonna happen to our players, it's gonna happen to our coaches, it's gonna happen to our staff.

I imagine that's all the time still, and then you get to a point where you're drafting something, whether you're in, like where are you in the Jalen Hurts process?

Um, how does he fit into your offense in your estimation, Howie?

Yeah.

Uh, when you talk about the tight end position, their ability to match up, you know, um, there's obviously, uh, a lot of 12, 13 personnel going on in this league.

And when you talk about guys who can win one-on-one versus linebackers, versus safeties, um, the guy ha- is a unique athlete, like an unusual athlete.

Um, but he's also got unusual skill set, you know? He's got great hands, he's a great route runner.

You know, he's incredibly tough.

You can't be recruited as a, a four-star quarterback at Texas A&M and then obviously go and-And, and he got beat out, um, at New Mexico State, and then transitioned to this period, to this position, uh, at tight end, and not be, um, tough, and physically and mentally tough.

Right.

So how do you replace that?

Well, I think that y- those four guys were special guys, you know? And those guys were with me really through a lot of ups and downs.

And, um, you know, you lost Kelsey, you lost Fletch, you lost BG, came back, and now you have Lane.

And so you gotta replace them with great players and great people, and I think that we've done that.

You know, you look at the players on our team, um, who can make game-changing plays, who I think have potential to be Eagles Hall of Famers, maybe NFL Hall of Famers, and that's important.

You have to have difference-makers on your roster, you know? Those are the guys that really show up when you're talking about big games, you're talking about late in the year.

And so we're trying to have as many difference-makers as we possibly can within the confines of the system that we work in.

So is the league easier for you that more people are willing to talk, or harder because more people are bidding for stuff that you're like, "We don't even need to bid as much 'cause we don't have seven teams going for it"?

So how do you replace that?

Well, I think that y- those four guys were special guys, you know? And those guys were with me really through a lot of ups and downs.

And, um, you know, you lost Kelce, you lost Fletch, you lost BG, came back, and now you have Lane.

And so you gotta replace them with great players and great people, and I think that we've done that.

You know, you look at the players on our team, um, who can make game-changing plays, who I think have potential to be Eagles Hall of Famers, maybe NFL Hall of Famers, and that's important.

You have to have difference-makers on your roster, you know? Those are the guys that really show up when you're talking about big games, you're talking about late in the year.

And so we're trying to have as many difference-makers as we possibly can within the confines of the system that we work in.

So is the league easier for you, that more people are willing to talk, or harder because more people are bidding for stuff that you're like, "We don't even need to bid as much, 'cause we don't have seven teams going for it?"

So how do you replace that?

Well, I think that y- those four guys were special guys, you know? And those guys were with me really through a lot of ups and downs.

And, um, you know, you lost Kelce, you lost Fletch, you lost BG, came back, and now you have Lane.

And so you gotta replace them with great players and great people, and I think that we've done that.

You know, you look at the players on our team, um, who can make game-changing plays, who I think have potential to be Eagles Hall of Famers, maybe NFL Hall of Famers, and that's important.

You have to have difference-makers on your roster, you know? Those are the guys that really show up when you're talking about big games, you're talking about late in the year.

And so we're trying to have as many difference-makers as we possibly can within the confines of the system that we work in.

So is the league easier for you, that more people are willing to talk, or harder because more people are bidding for stuff that you were like, "We don't even need to bid as much 'cause we don't have seven teams going for it?"

... tweets that, and posts that are, you know, thrown out there.

I think, Rich, what we were looking for is we were looking for a system of play that fit our players, and having a system, um, that we can go back to our players and show them the vision for.

And Sean has a vision for how we're gonna play.

Um, he has a vision for how our offensive line's gonna play, how our skill guys are gonna play, how our quarterback's gonna play.

Um, we think it fits, uh, the talents that those players have, and so for us, that's exciting.

You know, we go back and we look, and a lot of categories in offense, we were, we were 20th, 21st, and so there's a lot of room for improvement.

Um, and you gotta combine that ...

Mm-hmm

What do you feel like you learned about yourself during that era, during that time now that it's, now that it's in the past?

past?Yeah, I think it goes back to really starting with Coach Reid.

And, uh, we had an unbelievable staff.

I think eight of his assistants ended up being head coaches so he had the experience of working with all these guys, you know, Harbaugh, Spag, Schirmer, you know, just naming a few, Childress.

Um, all these guys who were kinda learning from him and, and kinda growing together and then the same in the front office, you know.

Uh, Jason Light, Jon Spytek now, uh, Ryan Grigson, Matt Russell, Tom Heckert, um, all these guys that we were...

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, uh, that we were together through that part.

Who's calling who first? Do you call the Titans first? Titans call you first?

But walk me through your identifying Jehad Campbell pre-draft and then what you were doing the night of the draft to get him, Howie.

Sure.

You know Jehad Campbell, it doesn't take long to watch his tape and see him jump off.

Um, explosive player, he can blitz from depth, um, he can play in space, cover in backs, tight ends, zone coverage.

Uh, he, he came to Alabama as an edge rusher from IMG so he's got that in his body to, um, to be able to play on the edge.

And so the player, player's really easy, you know? Um, and I think for us, uh, all along through the process this was a top 10 player on our board.

Um, I think it's no secret by now some of the questions were more medical in nature, uh, for the reason that he fell to the spot kinda where we were.

Um, what'd you like about Nkuba out of Texas to take him 64th overall, Howie? What'd you think of him?

Howie, you rebuilt this team so fast to, to be in contention so quickly, a combination of brilliant youthful players and that energy, and some really savvy veterans. What was your strategy and how did you connect everybody?

Uh, I think, you know, obviously we had an opportunity to come here in 2022, we didn't finish. And I think, uh, you know, we just wanted our big players that fit what we were trying to do. Offensively, defens- defensively, guys we knew how to work, guys who had tremendous character, and had tremendous talent.

Sorry about that. Who, who, who are the, some of the players that, that you're most happy for and their stories of you bringing them to the organization?

I mean, everyone's got a story, you know. Like, when we talk about guys overcoming adversity, and, you know, Brandon Graham coming back and playing in my first draft pick 15 years ago, and playing in the Super Bowl, two-time world champ. Isaiah Rogers out of football for a year. Saquon, you know, there, there's so many, I could go on and on. And, uh, you know, our head coach, our head coach did a tremendous job. Very proud of everyone.