Mike Freeman's 10-Point Stance: Eagles' Win a Rebuke to 'Stick to Sports' Crowd

The Eagles strike a blow for social justice warriors? Are the Patriots done? Terrell Owens miffed about delayed entry to Canton.

1. A victory for social justice

Just hours after his Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl, wide receiver Torrey Smith continued to do something he and other Eagles players have done all season: speak out on race, politics and social justice.

The Eagles have been fearless both on the field and off it. Three core players on the team—defensive back Malcolm Jenkins, defensive lineman Chris Long and Smith—have regularly made their feelings known about everything from prison reform to President Trump to improving relations between black and brown people and the police.

During various games this season, Smith and Jenkins raised clenched fists as a show of support for the victims of police violence. Long put his arm around them as they did. Jenkins also became one of the spokesmen for the Players Coalition and helped form a deal with the NFL in which the league agreed to give nearly $100 million to the players to fund various causes important to them.

Even with all their social activism, the Eagles found the energy to go 13-3 and win a Super Bowl. And that, in many ways, is one of the team's greatest feats.

It has proved the notion that athletes need to stick to sports in order to succeed is a lie. It has always been a lie, as illustrated by people like Muhammad Ali. The Eagles just put an exclamation point on it.

For decades, players in the NFL have been told by owners, front office executives and coaches that talking publicly about politics or race is a career death sentence. Colin Kaepernick is proof that this is still, in some ways, accurate.

But the Eagles should serve as a new reminder that speaking your mind and playing winning football can coexist, especially if you are confident in your ability to do both.

"Distraction is code for 'I don't agree with what you're talking about,'" Long said during Super Bowl week.

But these Eagles don't appear ready to soften their opinions now.

On Monday afternoon, not long after Philadelphia upset the Patriots in Super Bowl LII, Smith sent a series of tweets demonstrating that a Lombardi Trophy wasn't going to deter him from being an activist.

• Speaking about how he was going to boycott the White House visit, Smith tweeted:

"

Reading the tweets from the last week from all of the Trump supporters destroying my mentions saying “You gotta win before you even get invited to the White House” pic.twitter.com/KkjJSi7AxJ

— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) February 5, 2018"

• When someone tweeted that he didn't like former President Barack Obama, Smith tweeted back:

"

What about Obama’s character would make you dislike him? Serious question....I understand not liking policies but the person I don’t get...please explain https://t.co/qaZBI3gnms

— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) February 5, 2018"

• He then responded to a tweeter who complimented President Trump on the economy:

"

HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! Stop giving credit when it’s not true. That trend started under Obama and continued to drop. Our soldiers have nothing to do with my feelings towards the president. I show every soldier I meet love. Real heroes! https://t.co/2DbeEgcMHC

— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) February 5, 2018"

Just five years ago, or even less, this type of public reaction would be unheard of. Players were too afraid. The Eagles are not.

All during Super Bowl week and at the game itself, players told me privately how much they loved the Eagles' public stand on political issues. Still, those players didn't want to be named.

But in winning a title while taking a stance on issues in the real world, the Eagles will almost certainly embolden other players to do the same while also showing owners and front office executives there's nothing to fear from it.

After the Super Bowl, I asked Long as he walked to the locker room if Philadelphia's win proves people were wrong. Did it show a player can be a great football player and simultaneously "woke?"

"Look at where we are and what we just accomplished," Long said, "and that answers your question."

2. Nick Foles' brush with greatness

Want some context as to how well Nick Foles played over the last month? Let Randall Liu, the NFL's senior director of football communications and one of the league's most insightful people, tell you:

Can he continue a run like this? That's not the point. The point is that he did his job as a backup for the injured Carson Wentz and then some.

Perhaps most impressive is how Foles dissected the defense of Bill Belichick, the best defensive mind who ever lived, in my opinion. Belichick's defenses get beat, but you rarely see them shredded. And that's what Foles did. He obliterated the Patriots.

That is not a sentence you expect to write or read often.

3. Is the end of the Patriots' dynasty at hand?

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

I don't see it. Not as long as Tom Brady is still Tom Brady, and he will be for the foreseeable future.

But there are many who disagree with me, many who believe that when next season begins, either Belichick, or Brady or both won't be part of the team.

This is not something I believe. To me, it's more wishful thinking.

The Patriots will lose some key people. Every offseason, each team does. Already, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has left to take over the Lions. All indications remain, however, that Brady and Belichick will both be Patriots next year.

4. Calvin Coolidge

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Eagles center Jason Kelce may have given the most emotional post-Super Bowl press conference I can remember ever seeing—and this past Super Bowl was approximately my 22nd or 25th; I've lost count. Kelce is the brother of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

As I watched him tear up and listened to his powerful words expressing what the Super Bowl win meant to him, I was reminded of something players always tell me: Fans and media don't understand how large a part emotion plays in the game.

That was evident when Kelce spoke about a quote his father had given him from former President Calvin Coolidge. "He gave me that quote when I was 18 years old, when I was not given a scholarship to play at any Division I university," Kelce said. "My father and mother told me to stay after my dream. And I've officially accomplished the best thing in this sport with a group of guys who mean the most to me."

Oh, and the quote: "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race."

5. Torn

According to ACL Recovery Club, a site that offers information and support for those who have undergone ACL tears, there were 51 players who tore their ACLs this season. 

As devastating as that number is for a league that has around 2,000 players, it is in line with each of the past five seasons:

It's impossible to know how the numbers compare to, say, the 1950s or the 1990s. But we do know that players have access to better medical technology and rehab techniques now. And we can suspect that there are more ACL injuries now because players are bigger and faster than ever before, and the body isn't built for what the NFL asks of its athletes.

It all just points to the fact that football is a dangerous game and always has been.

6.  The furious Hall of Famer

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

I spoke to Terrell Owens three days before he was selected to the Hall of Fame. It was clear at that time that he didn't think he'd get in.

"I'm kind of done and over with the Hall of Fame," said Owens, who was made available by Febreze. "At this point, I'm moving on."

Then, on Saturday, about 72 hours after we spoke, Owens did get the call to Canton. But it wasn't over for him. He was clearly upset about the delay in his election, and he skipped several of the Hall of Fame events post-entrance, including a gathering at the Super Bowl where the new entrants were introduced. 

And you know what? I can't blame him. Owens is one of the top three receivers of all time, behind only Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. And some days when I go back and look at tape of Owens, he looks even better than Moss.

It's good he got in. It was absurd he had to wait to do so.

7. Nice job, Minneapolis, but, man, that weather

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

It's stupid to have a Super Bowl in an area where the temperatures are dangerously cold. But that's just me.

It's just difficult to pal around in subzero temps. You don't pay thousands of dollars to freeze your ass off.

So it shouldn't come as a shock that business owners complained about the lack of customers at downtown restaurants, according to a story from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

That won't deter the NFL from handing the Super Bowl to almost any major city with a new stadium to show off and sell to fans. To the NFL, greed overcomes cold.

Still, Minneapolis did an outstanding job of hosting. It was one of the smoothest Super Bowls that I've ever covered, and I've genuinely never been around a nicer group of people.

But dang, it was cold.

8. What did they know, and when did they know it?

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

At some point, there will be a reckoning over what the league knew about head trauma and when it knew it. Did the NFL try to cover up the apparent connection between CTE and football? The answer could change the league.

Some peripheral clues are filtering through, however, and they are enough to make you almost lose consciousness.

A recent article in the medical journal CMAJ shows how scientists were concerned about a form of CTE in the 1950s. In some cases, the concern goes back to the 1890s. In other words, it is becoming increasingly clear scientists have known a lot about brain trauma for a long time, but that knowledge never reached large swaths of the media or public.

Why that didn't happen has been the stuff of debate for some time. Did the NFL launch a tobacco-like disinformation campaign to bury the evidence? Was the media lazy in its reporting on the subject? Those answers will come—eventually.

And then we'll really see what people think about the NFL.

9. The next Super Bowl champs?

Butch Dill/Associated Press

An AFC front office executive thinks New Orleans has a few more steps it can take in next year's playoffs: "The Saints have everything to reach the Super Bowl, assuming Drew Brees returns," the executive told B/R. "The defense is better, and they have as good of an offense as any team in the league. If I had to pick one team that would knock off the Eagles, it would be them. The other team I'd look out for is Dallas. They'll have Ezekiel Elliott back."

10.  Appreciating an underappreciated star

Don Wright/Associated Press

Please allow me a small personal moment.

Every year, I tape a CNN Super Bowl show in which we talk about the game and make predictions (mine usually stink). I often do the show with two class acts: former players Coy Wire and Hines Ward.

Both are nice guys, but I wanted to focus on Ward here. He may one day get into the Hall of Fame, but I'm one of those people who believe he should already be in.

I covered Ward most of his career, and he was one of the three most well-rounded receivers I've seen (along with Jerry Rice and Larry Fitzgerald). Ward was perhaps the best blocking receiver in history and had outstanding hands and was a gifted route-runner.

His Hall of Fame case has suffered, though, because he played in a run-heavy offense in which Jerome Bettis was the primary weapon. But make no mistake: Ward was one of the best receivers of his generation.

Ward will get in. I'm not sure when. But he deserves it.

It should be sooner rather than later.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.