Nick Foles, Improbable Star, Now a Household Name in Philadelphia and Nationally

Third-year NFL quarterback Nick Foles is coming off of quite possibly his worst start as a professional. His 81.7 passer rating this season isn’t exactly the stuff of legends. Every game, every throw it seems is being micro-analyzed by fans and analysts while the Philadelphia Eagles remain coy about his future.

What many people apparently do not realize, however, is Foles already is a star. He piled accolade upon accolade in 2013—club records, league records, Player of the Month, Most Valuable Player at the Pro Bowl, a division championship—and at just 25 years of age, has managed to become one of the few instantly-recognizable faces of a professional sports franchise.

Yet nothing about any of this overwhelms or fazes Foles, not even the perception he continues to play for his own job. He addressed this topic and more in an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report:

"I don’t need someone to come out and say, ‘We’re invested in you for three-four years.’ I’m thankful for the time I have, I’m thankful to be the [Eagles] quarterback at this moment in time and I’m going to do everything I can for my team to be successful. That’s it.

"It’s a week-to-week thing, it’s a day-to-day thing, because injuries happen, things happen in life that are just out of your control."

Foles is about as unlikely a star as there is, from his pedigree as a third-round draft pick out of the University of Arizona—not exactly a football powerhouse—to his aggressively humble demeanor.

You probably couldn’t get Foles to brag on a dare or bet. There is absolutely nothing controversial or flashy about this young man. The answer to almost anyy question you could ever ask him about the game eventually boils down to plain old hard work.

Foles is nothing if not modest, something of an exotic quality for an athlete, especially at this level of competition. Press him about his best attribute on the gridiron, for instance, just one trait that sets him apart from other NFL signal-callers, and without hesitation, he attempts to funnel the attention elsewhere.

“There are a lot of talented guys out there,” Foles claims, not lamenting this fact, but rather out of respect for his peers. “There are a lot of guys out there that have more skills than I have, that are faster than me, that have stronger arms.”

Don’t confuse any of this for some sort of just-happy-to-be-here mentality, either. Foles absolutely possesses a killer instinct.

YR	GMS	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	RAT
2014	4	57.8	1,173	7.1	6	4	81.7
2013	13	64.0	2,891	9.1	27	2	119.2
2012	7	60.8	1,699	6.4	6	5	79.1

He demonstrated that much as a rookie back in 2012, inventing his own play in the final seconds of a game-winning drive during a road victory against Tampa Bay—his first W in the NFL. He proved it once more in the Eagles’ recent Week 3 win over Washington, informing teammates in the huddle the offense would “make them pay” for a dirty hit the quarterback suffered during the decisive series, per Tim McManus for Philadelphia Magazine.

Nor does it appear Foles’ off-field persona is part of any facade, either. In a league where some quarterbacks literally marry supermodels, others do endless promotions, others still hit the party scene and one is even a scratch golfer, Foles is flat out boring in comparison to many of his peers—perhaps by anybody’s standards.

“I’m more of a homebody,” Foles says of his personal life. “My wife and I stay home. We have a dog. We hang out with him, we cook and just enjoy each other’s company.”

“I’m not out and about so much. I’m just trying to get better and working. If I do go anywhere, I’m just going straight home.”

Which is why it’s such a trip to see Foles everywhere you go these days. His image adorns billboards and entire trains around Philadelphia. Naturally, the local media would swoon over the starting quarterback but lately Foles fever has been sweeping the nation, as well.

Look no further than Foles’ partnership with Courtyard By Marriott, the upscale hotel chain now using him as their spokesperson.

Remarkably, advertising campaigns such as these have helped Foles break out of his shell to an extent. The 6’6" professional quarterback attempted to fool football fans into believing he was merely a waiter at their draft party at a Courtyard hotel. Predictably, nobody was buying it.

Equally predictable, Foles embraced the experience anyway, even though such a stunt was “out of the norm,” to say the least.

“I definitely have that side to me,” Foles admitted, though we seldom get to see it. “On a bigger stage, I don’t do that, I do that more so with my buddies, my family, people that know me best.”

Of course, the timing of such a campaign might be a tad inconvenient.

Foles realizes as well as anybody he hasn’t been sharp so far in 2014. One season after setting a regular-season record with a 27/2 touchdown-to-interception ratio and finishing with the third-highest passer rating in NFL history, the numbers are nowhere near as immaculate.

Through four games, Foles has already surpassed his entire 2013 turnover total with six, while completing only 57.8 percent of his passes.

GM	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	RAT
Wk 1 vs. JAC	60.0	322	7.2	2	1	87.5
Wk 2 @ IND	56.8	331	8.9	1	1	84.4
Wk 3 vs. WAS	65.9	325	7.9	3	0	114.4
Wk 4 @ SF	48.8	195	4.5	0	2	42.3

I didn’t bother asking him about the absences along the offensive line or the unit’s inability to get the running game going in recent weeks, both of which are clear contributors to the struggles of the passing attack. Foles always accepts full responsibility when things aren’t operating smoothly, even if and when there are legitimate excuses to be made.

“This week I’m really focusing on my footwork, staying in the pocket, staying tight, delivering a good ball for my teammates.”

This is on the heels of a particularly dismal performance in a 26-21 loss in Week 4 to the San Francisco 49ers, a perennial contender with three straight trips to the conference title game under their belts. Foles completed just 21-of-43 pass attempts (48.9%) for 195 yards (4.5 AVG) with two interceptions in defeat.

He failed to so much as lead a single scoring drive, not to mention came up short on two opportunities to reach paydirt from the 49ers’ 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter.

If there is even a remote chance Foles is feeling the pressure of being asked to carry a wounded team on his back—in addition to proving he is in fact the right man to lead the Eagles franchise into the future—he refuses to reveal.

“There are corrections to me made, and we’ll make them and we’ll move forward.”

I can’t help but believe him.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

When Foles finally did get around to talking about his own abilites, he argued it was his mindset that sets him apart from other quarterbacks. He never gets too high or low. He never quits working hard and believing in his teammates. Foles has said, “You never arrive.” You can always improve, even when you’ve made history.

Regardless of what the statistics may indicate right now, Foles is a star and an ascending one at that. And although he may not have a long-term commitment from the Eagles—yet—and many observers assume his job could be on the line, it’s difficult to imagine a real-world scenario where the team attempts to replace him within the next season or two.

After all, how many players ever come around that offer a similar combination of historic production, true leadership and an unimpeachable work ethic?

In other words, get used to seeing No. 9 in midnight green. By all appearances, Nick Foles is on track to remain a household name in Philadelphia as well as nationally for years to come.