Eagles' Dallas Goedert Talks Super Bowl, Saquon, Jalen Hurts, More in B/R Interview

Winning a Super Bowl hasn't sunk in yet for Dallas Goedert.

But he likes the way it sounds.

"Being a Super Bowl champion still doesn't feel real," the Philadelphia Eagles tight end told Bleacher Report on Tuesday. "But I like when people say Super Bowl champion Dallas Goedert. It's got a nice ring to it."

There is something special about reaching the sport's mountaintop with the NFL team that drafted you, and that is now reality for Goedert. The 2018 second-round pick out of South Dakota State has been with the Eagles his entire career and captured the Lombardi Trophy in his seventh year.

While he has been overshadowed by other tight ends around the league at times, he has long been a critical piece of Philadelphia's aerial attack with five seasons of more than 500 receiving yards.

He took advantage of his opportunities in an offense that was loaded with playmakers in Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Jalen Hurts with 42 catches for 496 yards and two touchdowns this season as he accomplished the NFL's ultimate goal in something of a full-circle moment.

"I got drafted the year after the Eagles won the Super Bowl, so I came in here and was like, 'man, we're going to win the Super Bowl every year,'" Goedert said. "Seven years later it's my first one, so it's not as easy as I thought it was going to be. 

"But it's incredible. Being in Philadelphia for seven years, the incredible city that it is, the passionate fans, it seems like every week is a home game because they travel so well and care so much about us. It's just awesome being able to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to a city that deserves it so much."

Goedert helped bring that trophy home by being at his best in some of the biggest moments.

He scored a touchdown in the NFC Wild Card Round win over the Green Bay Packers and then posted a team-high seven catches for 85 yards in the NFC Championship Game win over the Washington Commanders.

While Goedert's final stat line in Sunday's Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs didn't jump off the page with two catches for 27 yards, he jumpstarted much of his team's offensive momentum in the 40-22 victory.

After both teams traded punts on the opening two possessions, Goedert hauled in a 20-yard reception to move into Kansas City territory and then drew an unnecessary roughness penalty to keep the drive alive. It was the first important sequence of the game during a drive that ended with Hurts scoring the initial touchdown.

"It always feels good to be involved. Selfishly, the catch and run and the penalty that came after helped us get that first score, so I'll take credit for it as much as I can," he said while laughing. "I can't wait to show everybody that play because having a catch in the Super Bowl is special."

That catch also helped Goedert's Eagles finally get over the hump.

They were coming off a championship when they drafted him and reached the playoffs in six of his seven seasons—including when they reached Super Bowl LVII two years ago—but Sunday marked his first Lombardi Trophy.

So when did he know this year's group was special enough to accomplish the goal?

"It goes back, when we made the Super Bowl run two years ago, I remember the A.J. Brown trade and hearing the news," he said. "Once he got there it was like, 'man, we have a special team, we have a chance to do something special.' But we fell a little bit short. 

"It was the same thing in free agency, we had a lot of great signings, but the one that stands out is Saquon Barkley. When we got him, I knew he filled a piece that we were missing at the time. Obviously, he didn't disappoint and put on a show all year. That was when I knew we had a chance even though there was a little adversity starting 2-2 going into the bye week. But the bye week was good, we reflected and said, 'we have too good of a team to be doing this.' And we were able to go on a winning streak and get the job done."

Getting the job done also gives Goedert a larger platform to discuss some of the struggles he has faced with plaque psoriasis for much of his life.

He partnered with Amgen to spread awareness of the common, autoimmune condition that impacts more than six million adults in the United States and shared even more of his story on DallasGStory.com.

"Since I was about 10 years old I suffered with plaque psoriasis, which caused flaky rough patches on the skin," Goedert said. "For me, being a football player, it can be tough because you're in the locker room and everybody sees it. I always tried to cover it up, but you can't do that in the locker room.

"I tried putting topicals on it, but that was always hard with my lifestyle. … I was able to get in contact with Amgen and find something that worked for me and works from the inside out. It's been a game-changer.

"I just want to use this platform to help everybody I can who is going through the same issues."

On the field, Goedert was also facing a familiar obstacle with the Chiefs on the other sideline in Sunday's Super Bowl. After all, it was Kansas City that defeated the Eagles 38-35 in a back-and-forth contest in the Super Bowl just two years ago.

It was much different this time around, and Goedert said the chance to defeat the same team that prevented his last chance at a championship was "absolutely" a motivating factor.

"Losing the Super Bowl was tough for everybody on the team," he said. "You never expect to lose that game. When the clock hits zero, you're stunned and feel empty. So having the opportunity to play them again, we wanted to make sure that didn't happen. Everybody had that extra bit of motivation. We knew how it felt, whether you were there or not, we talked about it enough. Everybody wanted to get it done for ourselves and for everyone in Philadelphia."

One major difference for this year's team compared to the one that lost the Super Bowl and the one that struggled down the stretch of the 2023 campaign was the addition of Barkley.

All he did was nearly break Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards with 2,005 rushing yards, 278 receiving yards and 15 total touchdowns on his way to the Offensive Player of the Year.

His incredible performances didn't stop with the regular season, as Barkley ran for 205 yards and two touchdowns in the NFC Divisional Round win over the Los Angeles Rams and 118 yards and three touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game win over the Commanders.

Goedert joked that he found himself watching replays of Barkley's incredible plays on the scoreboard "way too often" as his season progressed.

"I got the pleasure of blocking for him, so a lot of times I don't get to see what happened live," he said. "So I'm locked into the screen because you never know when he's going to take it 60 or 70 yards to the house. I enjoy watching film just because of that. I'll see him find these holes that aren't even there. It's been incredible having him, and, as great of a player he is, he's an even better person, which makes it even more special."

Barkley was largely unstoppable this season, but it was Hurts who took home the Super Bowl MVP by throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns to go with a game-high 72 yards and a score on the ground.

He was the better quarterback for the majority of a game that also included an all-time great in Patrick Mahomes, which was all the more notable for someone who has faced scrutiny and questions about his overall ceiling and ability to be an elite thrower during his career.

"Jalen doesn't care about his personal stats, which sometimes makes it tough because the media loves to see a quarterback throw it 40 times and have lots of yards and touchdowns," Goedert said.

"But all he cares about is winning. He'll do whatever he can to help the team, whether it's making plays or handing the ball off so other people can do it. That's the cool thing about him. Winning this one for him was incredible, but I hope they keep doubting him because he loves to prove people wrong."

Eagles fans would surely love for Hurts to keep proving the doubters wrong by going back-to-back next year.