League-leading 11-1 seasons don’t happen by accident. The tentacles of the Eagles’ success extend beyond the 53 players on the active roster to those in the front office who brought them to Philadelphia, the coaches who help them get better and the mostly unknown people in the NovaCare Complex who help them do their jobs daily. With that in mind, we surveyed 18 Eagles to answer an open-ended question to credit specific people in the building who deserve praise for either the team’s or the individual’s success this season.
Fletcher Cox
“(Player resource coordinator/assistant director of player engagement) Miss Kathy Mair. She’s like everybody’s mom. And (senior director of player engagement) Paul Lancaster. Player development and Miss Kathy, she helps the players with a bunch of stuff and just takes the pressure off a bunch of guys, especially the younger guys. I don’t think a lot of people realize how hard her job is. Definitely always thankful for her. Think about it, guys get here and she’s helping them find places to stay, making sure everything is really taken care of. That’s one factor that you don’t have to worry about when you get here. Kathy’s always got your back.”
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“I’d say Miss Kathy. Kathy, she know everything you need to know about everything. Any question you got, ask Miss Kathy and she’ll get you right with tickets, what time we doing stuff. Anything you need, go ask Miss Kathy (and) she gonna get it done for you.”
“Man, I’d say Kathy Mair. It’s probably a two-parter. She handles so much, goes out of her way to make sure we’re really taken care of. And it’s also, second part, she has our team dog Reggie, who, I mean if you look at our record since Reggie’s been a part of the team, it’s pretty spectacular. So I think his effect on morale and general cheerfulness has been a welcome addition.”
“There’s a lot of people, people from (vice president of player performance Ted Rath) and his staff to Kathy and Paul. There’s a lot of people who work behind the scenes and do a lot.”
“I would say the cafeteria staff. They do a great job of providing us with nutrition that gives us the energy, the protein that we need to go out there to be able to sustain and do our job. Everybody in there. Keisha, Mr. Charles, Roman, Renald, Mr. Mark. He always does my four eggs in the morning. … Four over medium or over easy. I do potatoes to soak up the yolk. And avocado. … Every now and then I’ll do a little hot sauce, depends on how I’m feeling that day.”
“The whole nutrition staff and the chefs in the building. Make sure they’re feeding us right, getting that good fuel. They’re definitely unsung heroes, for real. I feel like everybody in this building plays a part. I think that’s one of the things that makes a team great, when everybody’s sharing the load. Everybody has a job to do. We all know our roles — that’s important on a football team and in our office.”
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“The chefs. The chefs and the training room. And our strength and conditioning team. They amazing, man. They keep us healthy. They take care of our bodies. They cook amazing food. Trainers, you know, they do their best to keep us off the injury report.”
“I would say all the trainers, for sure. Because I remember 2018, 2019 when the training room was getting attacked for all the injuries. And I think they’ve bounced back and done a great job of making sure that never happens again. … It’s not luck. I think they’re just hiring the right people and letting people put, I guess, the protocols in place looking out for players, making sure that the sports science side is really taken into play here. How many reps did they get? What do their numbers look like mileage-wise? How much are they running? Yeah, I think they’ve done a great job of taking care of the players and also just being available for players. Your name doesn’t have to be on the board — you have your name up there for treatment — your name doesn’t have to be on the board to go in for treatment. You can just walk in, ‘Can I get some work on my hammy?’ They’ll say, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ If they’re already not working with somebody, or if they are, they’ll say, ‘Can you come back in like 20 minutes?’ I think the training room, definitely. I think that goes for our athletic trainers and also our strength and conditioning trainers. They’re the ones that conduct the sports science part. They relay in communication with the athletic trainers, making sure that the workload is sufficed for that week. Especially for short turnarounds. And then usually after Thanksgiving, we’ll go to walk-throughs on Wednesdays just to save a little bit of, give you more time to recover.”
“Me, specifically, I would definitely say the training staff. Obviously, we have our nicks and bruises and I’ve been there more often than not this season. Them for sure. They’ve been able to help me get back on the field and play and do the things that I’ve been able to do this season for the team. Definitely, shoutout to those guys. … I feel like they do a really good job here. When I’ve had injuries and I was supposed to be out for a certain time period, they get me back quicker to be able to help on the field.”
“It’s hard for me to narrow it down to just one. The weight room staff and training staff, for sure. They help me the most as far as keeping me in good shape throughout the season. Helping me feel good, recovering. That’s the biggest thing for me.”
“There’s a lot of people in the building that don’t get their credit. … For me, really honestly (associate strength and conditioning coach) Dustin Woods, he do a lot for us receivers. I know for sure me and (DeVonta Smith), he does a lot for us. We come in early and ask him to stretch us out or he might get us a quick workout in, something like that. With him, it’s really like an everyday thing. He’s working on me and Smitty every day. … He really gets us prepared for each practice, each game. And he’ll leave us with a quote to really get our day going and really keep us in a good spirit, keep our minds elevated. So I really wanna tip my hat to him. After we work out, he gives me and Smitty PB&Js, and on the PB&Js he’ll have a message. And honestly the message, it could be days when I come in and I’m not feeling it and he gives me an extra boost, encouragement to keep moving forward.”
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“In the building? Who works with me daily? I would say (assistant athletic trainer) Shaniece (Jackson) in the training room. Every time I come in there in the room, she’s always helping me out, whatever I need. Sometimes she’ll leave other guys to come with me. I appreciate that. … Anything I need, treatment or anything like that. She’ll make sure I’m good. Most importantly, make sure I’m good mentally, too.”
“(Assistant special teams coordinator) Joe (Pannunzio). I’ve known him since I was in high school. So it was like, he always kind of talk to me and pull me aside, make me come meet with him. At first, it was making me, now we have our little meetings postgame. Usually we’re talking about everything, not just football. How I’m feeling, my relationships if I wanted to. Anything. We sit down and have a heart-to-heart. I would say Joe P.”
“Somebody behind the scenes that deserves credit? That’s helped me? (Special teams coordinator Michael) Clay, (special teams quality control coach) Tyler (Brown) and Joe P. Just the special teams coaches. That’s what I do right now, special teams, and that’s what I take pride in. So all three of them, the steps they’ve helped me make from last year to this year, and the confidence they’ve given me as a player. They’re in my corner. They’ll stand on a table for me and I’d do the same for them. I give it my all out there on the field, not only for myself and the name on the back of the jersey, but for them too. … Just personally, they don’t have to give us time to come up there on days off or be there on days off just so we can come up there and watch film and get ahead. They don’t have to spend the extra 20-30 minutes after practice and give us extra reps on releases. Just little extra stuff they send us before games, tip sheets and all of that. They don’t gotta do all that. I mean, they do as part of their job, but they take the extra mile to make sure us and everybody else on the unit is good.”
“I feel like Zach Pascal. He puts in a lot of work. He has a huge role on offense, obviously, then he comes in and does a great job on special teams. He’s a good leader in that group. I feel like he doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves. Maybe Jack Stoll, too. Goes in and plays a big role as a blocker. Obviously doesn’t get as many touches as Dallas, but he does a good job in his role.”
“(Senior adviser to the general manager/chief security officer) Dom DiSandro. Kathy Mair. All the trainers, janitors. The list goes on and on.”
“That’s helped me during the season? I would say my whole running back room. My whole running back room, including (running backs coach Jemal) Singleton. I think we’ve gotten closer as a group since last year, going through a lot of stuff whether it’s on the field or off the field. I gotta give my credit to my running back room, because we all compete with each other, it’s all funny competition but we love to work and we got each others’ back no matter what. That’s the main thing, I feel like we got each others’ back like we’re a family.”
“It would be hard to single out one person. I feel like there’s a lot of people behind the scenes that really contribute. From equipment guys to video guys. Dom, Kathy and Paul. I feel like there’s a lot of people behind the scenes who do a really good job of taking care of the players and making sure we’re good, helping us out with whatever we need help with. Trainers, strength staff. That’s what I think is the coolest thing about football. It truly is the ultimate team sport from the top all the way down. It would be hard to single out one person. I just feel like this is a really good organization that has great people all around.”
(Photo of Jemal Singleton: Kirby Lee / USA Today)
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