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NFL quarterback Nick Foles' spectacular long-ball touchdown to Alshon Jeffery in Super Bowl LII is a far cry from summarizing his run in the high ranks of pro football. Foles' story is not that of a typical Hollywood comeback. The six-foot-six shot-caller had a tumultuous ride in his pursuit of football greatness.
Coming up in college football, the quarterback compiled a solid draft profile, playing for the Michigan State Spartans (2007) and Arizona Wildcats (2008-2011). Honing his arm under coach Mike Stoops in Arizona, Foles held his jersey high as a sound quarterback heading into the 2012 NFL Draft.
A Super Bowl-winning coach sees potential in Nick Foles
Picked up in the third round by then-Eagles coach Andy Reid, Nick Foles started out as a backup to the electric Michael Vick.
Coach Reid and Co. were looking to step up their 8-8 record from the season before. But although Vick had solid stars around him in running back LeSean McCoy, wideout DeSean Jackson, and more, the pieces didn't come together for Philly.
The dumpster fire burned so bright in 2012 that backup Nick Foles started six games but went 1-5. There weren't much of a silver lining, as Andy Reid's outfit tumbled to a 4-12 record.
Offensive genius Chip Kelly swoops in
After tanking to the bottom of the NFC East, Andy Reid was sent packing. The Eagles front office had a short fuze, as it only took a single losing season after nine winning campaigns for them to show Reid the door.
While somewhat controversial, NFL-debutant Chip Kelly didn't waste time getting to work. Nick Foles slotted seamlessly into Kelly's Spread-scheme offense - a system the coach has been sharpening at the collegiate level, where he set the NCAA ablaze with freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota.
In his first year under Chip Kelly's reign in Oregon, Mariota threw for 2,677 yards, 32 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Needless to say, Nick Foles found himself in a favorable position.
Moreover, Foles was particularly well-positioned given how Kelly's schemes favored a strong-arm quarterback like the Arizona alumni over of a mobile speedster like Michael Vick.
Nick Foles kicks the door down on former NFL MVP
With his strong arm held in high regard by Chip Kelly, Nick Foles quickly took over the starting job from former NFL MVP Michael Vick. As a sophomore, Foles ran Kelly's high-speed offense with flying success.
Averaging about 28 points per game, it was long balls to DeSean Jackson and sneaky screen passes to LeSean McCoy as Pro Bowler Nick Foles drove Chip Kelly's outfit to a 10-6 record. The remarkable turnaround from their 4-12 previous campaign saw them claim the summit of the NFC East in 2013.
Foles logged impressive numbers in his first year as the top dog in Philly, throwing for 2,891 yards and a league-best 27 touchdowns to just two picks.
Coach Kelly threw his hat into the NFL ring with a master stroke. While they narrowly fell to the Saints in the Wild Card Round (26-24), the Eagles were armed to make a strong playoff run the following year. Foles was heading into only his third year in the league, and Kelly's schemes proved to be NFL-sound.
Nick Foles faces the storm in Year 3
On the back of a stellar sophomore campaign, Foles was primed for a strong run in 2014. However, while the quarterback opened up 6-2 and had 2,163 passings yards by midseason, a broken collarbone cut his campaign short.
While Philadelphia subsequently struggled in his absence, his solid eight-week performance was enough for backup Mark Sanchez's 4-4 starting record to propel the Eagles to 10-6 and second in the division. But Foles' injury ended up hitting him harder than a mere eight weeks on the sideline.
With 10-6 not even enough to get them to the playoffs, Chip Kelly questioned Nick Foles' standing in the team. Similar to how quickly the front office turned on Andy Reid, Kelly soon started looking beyond Foles for greener pastures at quarterback.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side
Despite the six-foot-six shot-caller's upside, given his 2013 season, Chip Kelly looked past him to 2010 first-overall draft pick Sam Bradford. Like a hot knife through butter, Kelly was through with Foles, as he shipped him off to the Rams in a blockbuster trade for Bradford.
However, the trade didn't bear fruits for St. Louis or Philadelphia. Kelly's 6-9 2015 campaign saw the Eagles front office turn quicker on him than he turned on Foles. He was fired in Week 16 and replaced by offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur for the season finale.
Chip Kelly's fruitful foray into pro football's top flight was eventually short-lived. He joined the San Francisco 49ers for the 2016 season (2-14), after which he returned to college football to coach UCLA.
While he usually had solid squads to work with in the NFL, one can only assume that teams figured out his once-genius offensive schemes, causing him to hang up his headset in the end.
Nick Foles, meanwhile, saw his NFL career dwindle on the edge of collapse without Chip Kelly's offensive tactics. His 2015 outing with the Rams was marred with turnovers, throwing 10 picks to only seven touchdowns. St. Louis went 7-9 and Foles found himself playing second fiddle to backup Case Keenum near the tail end of the season.
Foles's one-year contract wasn't renewed, and his career was looking down the barrel of the firing squad heading into 2016.
Nick Foles takes his final shot at NFL greatness
Having already featured on two teams even before his fifth season in the NFL, the Arizona alumni seemed destined to become a journeyman at best but not before one last shot at greatness.
The experienced quarterback was picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs to play backup to veteran Alex Smith for 2016. After an uneventful year, they declined Foles' second-year option, and the shot-caller was officially a journeyman. But the 2017 season would change Nick Foles' world in ways he would never have envisaged.
It was a Hollywood tale of sorts, as the unassuming backup returned to the Eagles, picked up by coach Doug Pederson to play behind starter Carson Wentz. Pederson happened to have also been Foles' quarterback coach in his rookie campaign of 2012.
While the 2017 season was mostly quiet for Foles, the tide would turn in Week 14, and the wave was bigger than he could've imagined. Funny enough, Nick Foles had to step up against his former team, the Rams, after Wentz, who was having an MVP season, went down with a season-ending injury.
The rest became NFL history. The journeyman underdog went on a magical run, adding the finishing touches to Philly's playoff push. Moreover, while the world didn't expect anything more than a mere postseason appearance from the career backup, the piping hot underdog went toe-to-toe against the odds and eventually beat the legendary Tom Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
