Nick Foles Retirement: Eagles Legend Holds Pre-Monday Night Football Press Conference

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Nick Foles officially retired from playing for the Eagles before Monday Night Football’s game against the Atlanta Falcons in Philadelphia.

Foles, who led the Philadelphia team to its only Super Bowl victory during his 11-year NFL career, served as an honorary team captain on Monday night.

Before he gave his retirement speech, he was encouraged by retired center Jason Kelce and former Eagle Fletcher Cox to attend a pre-game party on Monday Night Countdown.

“When you want to give a retirement speech, you want to be calm and collected, and then I get a text message from Jason Kelce saying, ‘Hey, man, you coming over to my place for Countdown?’” Foles laughed. “Before I knew it, we jumped on stage at Xfinity Live with two dog masks on, ripped them off, and just had the crowd laughing.”

German Shepherd masks were introduced in the 2017 season as a play on the outsider theme.

Late in the 2017 season, Foles became the starting quarterback following an injury to Carson Wentz and led the team to a 41–33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

Foles, who won 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 moved from behind center to behind the right quarterback for a touchdown, leaving quarterback Corey Clement alone in the defense. Clement intercepted the touchdown, and Foles hesitated before running undefended into the end zone. Clement threw to tight end Trey Burton, who lofted a short pass to Foles for a 22-12 halftime lead.

“My first thought when I went back to training camp was, don’t smile, don’t smile,” Foles said. “Just act serious. The defensive players are watching the quarterback running down the sideline. If I smile, they’re going to think something’s wrong. I had to prove myself. I had to go in there and say, ‘Kill, kill,’ act serious, like it was something you could actually hear.”

“I knew it was going to work. I knew we were ready for it. Trey threw an incredible ball. As if he doesn’t get enough credit, that ball was perfect,” added Foles, who became the first quarterback in NFL history to catch a touchdown in a Super Bowl.

LISTEN: Eagles quarterback Nick Foles called ‘Philly’s special play’ in Super Bowl

A 2017 championship banner hangs at Lincoln Financial Field. Foles and former coach Doug Pederson share a statue outside the stadium that includes Foles’ quote, “Want Philly Philly?” A photo of Foles catching a touchdown on the Eagles’ locker room wall is part of a collage of great moments from the 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: 2012-2014 and 2017-2018.

Foles choked up during his 45-minute speech as he thanked his family and coaches. As he named offensive linemen, including Kelce and current Eagle Lane Johnson, he called them the “true heroes” of the offense.

READ MORE: ‘Philly Special’ Monument Unveiled at Linc

“Coming into this camp, it gave me a sense of peace,” Foles said. “Those guys were incredible.”

Foles played for five other teams before last playing in Indianapolis on Jan. 1, 2023. He finished his Eagles career with 8,703 passing yards (10th all-time) and 58 touchdowns (ninth all-time) in 40 games.

He left some final words for Eagles fans.

“You all make this place so special,” he said. “One of my favorite moments is the NFC Championship Game, when we were supposed to do a 7-on-7 warmup and you were all so loud, dancing, dancing. I had to stop and just watch it, take it in and realize how blessed I was to play for a great city, a great organization.”

ESPN assisted in the preparation of this report.