By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Leading up to the Eagles playing the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII on February 4, Sports Talk Philly and Eagledelphia will be taking a look at the unsung players on the Eagles roster that have made their unlikely season and playoff run to the Super Bowl possible. This is Underdogs of the Eagles.
In this edition we will focus on backup quarterback turned starter Nick Foles.
High School and College Career
Nick Foles grew up in Austin, Texas and football has always been a big part of his blood.
“High school football was the big thing growing up in Austin. Friday Night Lights, the whole deal. I was thrown right in it and loved it," Foles said.
Foles was a dual-sport athlete at Westlake HS (Austin, TX), where he set school career records for passing yards (5,658) and TDs (56), breaking marks previously held by Drew Brees. Foles was teammates with Ravens kicker Justin Tucker at Westlake.
Foles was also a three-year starter and two-time MVP for Westlake’s basketball team, averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds in 2005-06 while earning all-district honors. He was recruited by numerous Division I basketball programs.
Originally committed to Arizona State to play football, Foles flipped his commitment to play for Michigan State, where he played one season and one game, going 5-of-8 for 58 yards.
He chose to transfer to Arizona following the 2007 season, and had to redshirt the 2008 season for the Wildcats.
As a redshirt sophomore, Foles took over the starting job halfway through the season, and finished the year completing 260-0f-409 pass attempts, 2,486 yards, 19 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.
As Arizona's starter in 2010, Foles had a great season leading the Wildcats to a 7-1 start to the year. Despite missing two games due to an injury, Foles still managed to put up productive numbers.He finished off his junior year with 3,191 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
That led into the 2011 season, where Foles had his best season to daye, completing 387 of his 560 passes for 4,334 yards and 28 touchdowns. He ranked first in the Pac-12 and fifth in NCAA D-I with an average of 352 yards of total offense per game.
NFL Draft and Early Years
As most talented high school and college quarterbacks go, the transition to the NFL doesn't always go smoothly in terms of that player's specific draft stock.
Foles wasn't the most highly touted prospect in the world, but he was drafted quite high, in the third round, 88th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012.
As a rookie, Foles made his debut in place of Michael Vick vs. the Cowboys on November 11, throwing for 219 yards and his first career touchdown pass.
Now playing for the injured Vick, Foles rallied from a 21-10 deficit in the fourth quarter against the Bucs in Tampa on December 9 with two touchdowns in the final four minutes. He tallied an Eagles rookie record 381 passing yards in the victory.
Foles' rookie campaign proved to be worth the while, setting then-Eagles rookie passing records in attempts (265), completions (161), and yards (1,699).
Then came the Pro Bowl season in 2013, the start of the legend of Foles from the start. Foles threw for seven touchdowns against the Oakland Raiders on November 3, 2013. He became just the seventh player in NFL history to throw seven touchdown passes in a single game, the third player in history to throw seven TDs without throwing an interception.
Foles threw for a career high 428 yards at Minnesota on December 15, 2013.
He finished the season with incredibly impressive numbers, a 64% completion percentage, 2,891 total passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and only two picks.
Foles started the Eagles' playoff game that season hosting the Saints at the Linc, completing 69.7% (23-of-33) for 195 yards, two touchdowns and a 105 passer rating. The Saints ended up getting the best of the Birds when Foles went down with an injury, but Foles' season-long performance was put out in the public for all to see.
Late in the season, then-coach Chip Kelly said this about Foles as the Eagles' starting QB.
“He’s the starting quarterback for the next 1,000 years here,” Kelly said.
He was also named the MVP of the Pro Bowl that season.
2014 was a much declined year for Foles, as expected, throwing for only 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and played only the first eight games while he sat the other eight due to a broken collarbone.
Once 2015 rolled around, then Eagles' head coach Chip Kelly was deadset on what he wanted at his QB position, and unfortunately it wasn't Nick Foles, who he dealt to the St. Louis Rams on March 10, 2015 for QB Sam Bradford and a 2015 fifth-r0und draft pick.
2015 was Nick's worst year of his career, finishing the year 190-for-337, 2,052 yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Basically, playing for the Jeff Fisher-led Rams didn't do wonders for his career, as many other quarterbacks have equally experienced.
In 2016, Foles played for Andy Reid's Kansas City Chiefs where he acted as Alex Smith's backup, appearing in three games and starting only one. He was 36-for-55, 410 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions on the year.
Lowest point and 2017 rebirth
Following the 2015 season, right before Foles decided to play for the Chiefs, Foles was very close to walking away completely from the game of football, especially when the Rams made QB Jared Godd their No. 1 draft selection in 2016, making Foles' future extremely unclear.
“I talked a lot to my wife and I remember just saying a prayer,” Foles said. “I literally said a prayer and … my heart said go back. At that moment, it was going to back to play for coach (Andy) Reid, and when I did, you know, I am a better person because of that decision.”
“It wasn't an easy decision,” Foles said of deciding not to step away from the game he loves. “I leaned on my wife, I leaned on my family and I leaned on my faith in those moments, and I'm very grateful I made the decision I did and we made it together.”
And he believed in himself that he could still play at a high level and it led him back to Philadelphia, this time in a backup role to Carson Wentz for the 2017 season.
If Foles did indeed decide to retire from the game, and Wentz got hurt, the verdict is still out on whether Chase Daniel or Nate Sudfeld could do the same thing and lead the Eagles to Super Bowl LII. I'd venture to say no on that thought. But Foles did it.
And at the beginning of the season, it was still questionable if Nick Foles was even going to be available to play, with a nagging right elbow injury. Luckily, with Carson Wentz tearing it up, we didn't need to see any Nick Foles action until Week 15, and even before that in games where the score was so high the Eagles didn't want Wentz to injure himself in garbage time.
But when Wentz was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and LCL, Foles stepped in and went to work.
When Wentz went down with the injury, the Eagles were trailing 35-31 to the Rams in the fourth quarter. Foles led the offense on back-to-back field goal drives to give the Birds a 37-35 lead with less than four minutes to go. The Eagles ended up being victorious 43-35, capturing the NFC East crown. The win gave Foles his seventh career game-winning drive and sixth career fourth-quarter comeback.
And then there's been the often times surreal road to where we are now at, with Foles looking like the QB of old, getting the Eagles one win away from becoming Super Bowl Champions for the first time in franchise history.
Foles got the first playoff win of his career when the Eagles took down the Falcons in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. He completed 23-of-30 passes (76.7%) for 246 yards and a QB rating of 100.1.
And against Minnesota in the NFC Title Game, Foles orchestrated one of the greatest playoff performances in NFL history, throwing 26-of-33, for 352 yards, and three touchdowns. His 352 passing yards marked the fourth highest total in Eagles single-game playoff history and his 141.4 rating is the second highest single-game QB rating in team playoff history.
Foles actually became the first QB in franchise history to throw for more than 300 yards and more than three touchdowns in a playoff game, with his 352 yards and three touchdowns.
He is the first Eagles QB to record higher than a 100 passer rating in three-straight playoff games.
Foles has always had a deep, profound love for the City of Philadelphia, embracing the "St. Nick" moniker the fans have bestowed upon him, believing in him no matter what. Foles may just be the most beloved backup quarterback in team history.
Following the 2013 heartbreak to the Saints, Foles said this about the City of Philadelphia, and his Eagles team.
“I’m hurting inside right now, in my heart,” Foles said in an interview following the 2013 divisional round.
“But, I’m going to keep my head held high,” Foles went on, “because I love my teammates, I love this city and I’m going to keep fighting for this city."
“I love playing here, I love this city, I love this organization, because I know the heart of it. The heart of it is the heart of Philadelphia.”
And Foles' heart led him right back to Philadelphia where he is one win away from calling himself a Super Bowl Champion quarterback. From sudden superstardom, to a demise that almost ruined his love of the game, to a steady incline, to becoming the savior of Eagles football and playoff hopes, Foles has embraced the underdog status, something that his career as a whole embodies.
Now, he's a day removed from hopefully etching yet another story in his long list of accomplishments with the Philadelphia Eagles.
