PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - What can Saquon Barkley and the 2025 Eagles learn from last year’s Super Bowl run?

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

A local author joins the show to discuss the 2024 Super Bowl champion Eagles and what this year’s Eagles team might be able to learn from that group, how quickly the narrative surrounding them has changed and why Emmanuel Forbes might just be on a Hall of Fame trajectory. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

everybody and welcome to the P.H.L.Y. Eagles podcast live from the Xfinity Studio and presented by Bet365 and Ashley. I'm your host, former president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, David Baker. And today, on the show a very special guest. That's right. The great Zach Berman of the Athletic who has a book to promote Zach, how are you? Thanks for coming in today. I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on as I was saying.

It's great to be on. It's great to see you again. It's great to see Julia and everyone here. Have you been here before? I have. I was going to start this off by saying as I was saying a few months ago, right? But no, this is great. That's a nice jacket. Maybe one day it'll be gold.

You're going to knock on the door from me. I can only hope so to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. The writer's wink. All right, much to get to on the show today. We'll hear from Mina Kimes of ESPN, who joined Bo Wolf, who could not be here today. We'll see that. And we're going to discuss the state of the Philadelphia Eagles.

But let's hammer in on the book here, Zach. And for the Eagles fans who may not know, give them a little bit of a breakdown of what's involved in Leap Year, a tremendous accomplishment. Congratulations. Thank you, Bo, or David. David, okay. I'm curious to say if this goes on the entire show. Yeah, so this book Leap Year takes you behind the scenes of the Super Bowl season,

but it's more than just the Super Bowl season. It is from the time the red confetti fell in February 2023 to the time the green confetti fell in in in in 2025 and you see how the team was put together uh you you get into the collapse of the 2023 season because i don't think you can tell the story of 24 without setting that context and you know nick seriani said as much and this this uh i'm excited to talk about it today but it it takes you behind the scenes and and also brings you under the helmet uh of the helmet of of a lot of the key players so there are 10 cutaway chat if you will, on Jeffrey Lorry, Howie Roseman, Nick Siriani, Jalen Hertz, A.J. Brown, Lane Johnson,

Sequin Barclay, Jalen Carter, Zach Bonn, and Darius Lay. And it gives you a chance to get to know who these people are besides their accomplishments on the field. So certainly you have been following the people involved here for a very long time. As you went through the writing process, did you learn anything that you didn't expect as you were going through this? Yeah, good question. Well, first off, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that PHLI was a major part of this book, right? I wrote this while I was here. Well, certainly your attention must have been distracted and split during that period. Well, you know, I was asked recently at an event what the biggest difference was between writing this book and the book in 2017 Underdogs, which is also available, wherever books are sold. Oh, actually, I don't think that one's available wherever books are sold as this one is.

So, so the big difference is I was doing a daily show during this. And I also have two kids during this as well. But doing a daily show is the biggest difference between now and then. But really, when I look at what I learned about the team, it was how much in the office. And look, when you're talking about it every day like we were and writing about it often as well, it's some of it that you already know, but how some of the things that happened you didn't expect. You know, you think back to the linebacker transactions. And I have a period or I have a chapter in here where I talk about that offseason period.

And the signing of Zach Bond, for instance, was not heralded at the time to be defensive player of a dear candidate. And Devin White actually received more of the attention at the time. And even if you go back. You elected Devin White, if I remember correct. I did. I did. And I stand corrected there. One day I thought I might be knocking on his door as well.

After that rookie season, why? What a player. Well, he's still playing, so you never know. But that, and I'll say this, and this is kind of a pitch to the readers, but it's also the reality of these types of books, is that oftentimes what you find is when someone writes a book about a season or a team years later, they begin their reporting then. They go back, and all the conversations are recollection. and it's fundamentally different if you're there in the moment, right?

So what you're getting here is raw in the moment emotion reaction. So as an example, if you think about, let's say, week four last year after they lose to Tampa Bay, if you talk to someone after the season, they would say, you know, this was a turning point and the bi week, you know, the by week was this catalyst. At the time, emotions were high. We all remember that Cleveland game. We remember, I remember doing the shows here going into that Cleveland game and what the tenor of the fan base was. So I think being able to capture what the moment was like at the time was important, but you also have the benefit of knowing how the story ended.

So the comparison I give, and I hope I'm not giving any spoilers here, but it's like it's like seeing the sixth sense a second time. Like if you know how that movie ended, then you can put all these different pieces together along the way. So I was able to go. back along the way and put all these different pieces together. So I don't, I want to, I want to get more to the book, but it is an interesting thing to think about relative to this Eagle season. And I want to compare them a little bit. Do you feel like that inflection point has happened for the 2025 Eagles? So, and this goes back to the previous answer is that it's easier to identify an inflection point after the fact than then during it.

I actually think E.J. did an awesome job. Makes it more of a reflection point. Yes, well said. But E.J. was saying after the mini-buy... I like that guy. He's outstanding. Outstanding. Big fan of that guy.

Yes, yes. Outstanding co-host. So E.J. was saying that, like, the Eagles were trying to will the buy week, or the mini-buyer, rather, as an inflection point. And that very well might be the case. But I do think that the Eagles have made material changes or, or, you know, noticeable changes in particular if you just look at the way this offense is functioning and and you chronicled on on on the show with going more under center and j j and joe and bo i'm

oh i like that guy too bo's outstanding he scares me a little though outstanding and i was watching yesterday's show terrific french hello i i didn't i call him freedom fries i'd say i didn't i didn't understand the first two and a half minutes of the show, but it was, it was terrific French. Freedom. Freedom. Yeah. Okay. I'm curious if this is going to be going on and on and on for the entire show.

Yeah, so I have seen, I have seen the change in the offense, the way they played these last two weeks, the Giants game in particular, I certainly think it should give fans a reason for optimism. And one thing, and Jeffrey Lurie talks about it in this book is how the first half, or I'm sorry, the first month of the season has really become an extension of the preseason. And I know fans don't like to hear it, and it can sometimes be used as a rationalization for underperformance. But we saw it come to fruition last year, and that very well might be the case this year because, you know, in talking to people behind the scenes at the Eagles, one of the things that you're hearing is that they need to get a sense of how teams are playing them. Teams are playing them differently this year than they were last year. So you get a large enough sample size and you can adjust accordingly. So offensively, I have seen that.

And then defensively, I just think the personnel is going to be better the second half of the year. Certainly they get Ph.L. Wise, Brandon Graham back, who also wrote the forward for this book. I'm ever grateful to Brandon for that. But a terrific show and terrific. He's lucky to work with Boe every day, if I can say that. Agreed. I should say one. week. But

the you know, I think getting Nolan Smith back is going to be critical to them, especially when you look at the edge rushers. Georgorian Bennett, someone, I think, internally they have optimism about. He was playing ahead of Keeley-Ringo before the injury. So we'll see if he factors into the mix. The trade

deadline, of course, is next week. But Nikobe Dean has made a noticeable effect on the defense these past two weeks, especially last week against the Giants. So you have more pieces. I do think we can look back at an inflection point being that mini-by, but for different reasons than it was a year ago.

Well, give yourself a little credit here as someone who has followed your work. You were preaching patience last season when Nick Siriani was shaving his head and yelling at the fans and saying that the team had the talent to overtake some of their blips in the road. Do you feel like they have that same potential upside this year? Oh, absolutely. Even more so. I would feel more confident in the Eagles upside this year than I did a year ago.

And I was preaching patience a year ago. I just think when you have the talent, especially on the line of scrimmage, that the Eagles had a year ago and the overall talent that they have this year, that over the course of the season, it will rectify. You know, you'll become who you are. And I feel that way now is that if their best ball is behind them, I'm sorry, if they're worst balls behind them and their best balls ahead of them and they're six and two right now. That's a great situation.

Now, the schedule is daunting. You come out of the buy with Green Bay and Detroit. I mean, I mean, those are behemists. But I absolutely look at this and say there's no reason why the Eagles shouldn't be considered bona fide Super Bowl contenders. And I would also tell, you know, if Eagles management's watching the show and if Howie wants to get into the pro football hall. Hey, my man. I would say that's, that's. that's reflected, I would imagine.

Campaign contributions, by the way. I'm staying far away from that. The, that's reflected, I think, in the, in the, in the tenor in the spirit of the coverage, is that the Eagles aren't evaluated like the Jacksonville Jaguars. They're evaluated like the defending Super Bowl champions, is that the curve you're graded upon

is as a team with Super Bowl aspirations, not as a team we're just making the playoffs, is what the objective is. Well said. All right. With that, let's take our first commercial break. On the other side, we'll hear from another familiar friend. We'll continue discussing leap here and later in the show,

Mina Kimes of ESPN. If you think this show is ordinary, you're right. What's not ordinary? Bet365. Because they've got 90 million users worldwide and they live stream over 780,000 events each year. with early payout offers across the NBA and NHL. I never thought in my day we'd be talking about betting on the NFL,

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Learn more at Xfinity.com. Xfinity imagine that. Restrictions apply. Multi-view requires Xfinity 4K capable TV box. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Okay, we're back on the PHAY Eagles podcast. It's time now for the big...

Deal presented by Cherry Hill Jeep. Beep, who got the keys to the Jeep? Here's my question for it. So your arm's starting to hurt? If you were to write this book today instead of in the off season, which of the individual chapters do you think would be the most different? Yeah, it's a great question. I think AJ Brown's chapter would need to take on a bit more

nuanced to use that term, uh, then the way it was, it was written because I, I think that he's added more layers to his career during the past few months. Uh, and I don't think AJ would deny that.

Now, I think the story of this year is get to be written, but that, that would, Natasha Bettingfield, my big fan of hers. The rest is still unwritten. I feel like E.J.

I don't know who that is. Mm. That's not a shot at E.J. by the way. Yeah. the blank page before you open up the dirty window, let the sun illuminate. You know, oh, we would play that all that time. It's the theme song of Canton, Ohio.

Okay. So anyways, so, yeah, so I think AJ's chapter, the Slay chapter, that's, that's kind of, that's finished in Philly, right? He's not coming back. Now, there's not a chapter on Brandon Graham. and perhaps there should have been a chapter on on brand of graham i only had 10 of these these cutaway chapters but certainly uh in the in in the in the epilogue of the book it talks about brandon retiring and he has since unretired so change the sentence at least so yeah so i i would need to

update that uh maybe sayquan a bit but we'll see how how the how the season goes but the succinct answer to your question is is um is a j brown although at some saying it, the Jaylon Carter chapter, look, he got ejected from the season opener for spitting on an opponent. So that might be something that would need to just kind of be cataloged as part of the Jaylon Carter story. So what is your sense of the AJ Brown J.L.Hartner dynamic? Because I dare say no one has a better pulse of Jalen Hertz than you among the Eagles Media Corps. What's your sense of what's going on there? Yes. I mean, I think that it doesn't take a relationship counselor to see that this is not the same relationship that it was.

And you're doing his press conferences. It feels like you often act as his relationship counsel. No, I try to learn more about him. But like, you know, if you're asked about your relationship with someone and it's what we talk in meetings, right? I mean, I always use the analogy of if you apply this to your marriage, how would it sound? So if you think last year about, and this is chronicled in the book, not my marriage, but the Who's the CEO and who's the C-O-O of that relationship? I think I am neither, honestly. I just think I am a grateful participant. We should say, by the way, you are a guest weekly on the Ringers-Filly Spies.

Yes. Check that out wherever you listen to your podcast. I appreciate that. Yeah, so, so if you think back to Nick Siriani and Gehoun Hertz, that, that, that dynamic and, you know, Jalen says we have our moments, right? Then, you know, if you were to use that in your, your relationship, you'd be like, that, that doesn't sound very positive. And so if, if you say, well, we talk in meetings, that, that probably doesn't reflect very positively on it.

But I also don't think, and please don't take this the wrong way, audience. I see, I'm progressing. I caught myself before I said it. I don't think you have to love everyone that you work with. That's not applicable in this case. But I'm saying in the case of... You know what McClough? Although in my case, it's not so bad.

But in the... Listen, you walk through those busts in the Hall of Fame and trying to make it through without feeling some kind of way. I'm staying away from that one. I think Jowen and AJ, though, are actually, wired similarly in that they both want to be great. Now, the pet,

I think the itinerary to great looks a little different. And I think that AJ, and he said this, and there's a great piece today in The Athletic by my colleague Brooks Cabina about this too. Cabena. Did I get it wrong?

I think. Oh, I'm sorry, by Brooks. Okay. I apologize. I only need to write these days. so in Brooks's case I'm really looking at at at AJ and AJ

there's some legacy chasing there inappropriately so I think AJ Brown can be one of the great players to ever play the game like he's he's on a Hall of Fame trajectory to incorporate David Baker into here he right here you don't have to Okay, yeah. My full name.

And so AJ had to sacrifice a lot to win. And I think part of what he sacrificed is his personal success. And so if you're watching that show and you say, come on, Zach, don't say that. He's been, he's a three-time all-pro or three-time second-team all-pro since, you know, he was a 1,400-yard receiver. Like, he hasn't had to sacrifice much. I think he can be even better if he's targeted. If you just look last season, the season that's chronicled in a leap year, the usage rate had to take a step back because the Eagles were running the ball a lot more.

But I think the two can and should coexist. What is the barrier to them burying the hatchet? I can't definitively say that. But I think that if at the end of the day, if you win football games, like that's what matters. And AJ just wants to be a big part of them winning football games as well. And it's like fundamental to the different positions. Jalen touches the ball in every play.

Jalen's in complete control. AJ's at the, I don't want to say the behest of somebody, but he's at the will of someone getting him the ball. So it's the nature of the jobs, like the rules of engagement, if you will, or the terms of engagement are a bit different. But the Eagles are a better team with A.J. Brown than without him. And Howie Roseman is watching the show.

I would tell Howie that, that if the Eagles were to trade A.J. Brown, their Super Bowl odds would take a major hit now. So I don't see the Eagles doing that, nor do I think. Now, we'll see what happens this offseason, but I think during the season, that's not something I would see. That'll do it for the big deal. And with that, before we keep going with our discussion of Leap Year, which is available wherever books are sold and also just in your DMs, right? People can just reach you.

Yes. Yeah, drop it to my DMs and on Instagram at Z underscore Berman on TwitterX at ZBurm. Or you can email me, ZBerman at theathletic.com, and we'll work out a way to get you a book. Let's talk shop there because that's when you make the most money, right, if you sell it directly. I didn't see that question coming. Well, if people want to make sure. Yeah, absolutely. If people want to buy your book and make sure you get the biggest.

Yeah. That's the way to do it. Actually, my wife's watching right now, so she appreciates that you said this. Yeah, the way that they want to support you. Yes. Yeah, me sending you a book is probably most beneficial. They don't need Bezos cutting off a $1.50 from the cost. Yeah, you're right.

You're right. Well, I don't want to say that. Nice odd dog, yeah. I'm grateful of you buy it anywhere. All right. With that, we do want to send it to overseas. Are we back? Oh, we're back.

Are we able to send it overseas, do we think? Or should we continue our conversation? Okay, let's hear from another person that works for PHOI. Bonjour, everybody. I know it's breaking my heart that I'm not there during the bi-week to talk about all these different Eagles topics, but obviously greetings from Paris. I'm going to do some videos, make sure I make some content, see if I can maybe a expense this trip. You never know. But I know you guys are going to be in good hands while I'm away.

And don't worry, even though this is a vacation, I'm still here thinking about Cam Latu and the role that he really deserves in the Eagles offense. But anyway, hope you guys enjoy the show today. And yeah, I'm going to give you guys a couple more updates. I'm going to be putting a PHY stickers on things around Paris and more to come. So enjoy the show today, guys. Bye. Like that guy. great guy terrific reporter awesome job as as you know the the show's gotten better he's been terrific also i give him credit too because as i said my wife's watching e.J. found a way to go to Paris I was scheduled to go to Paris twice when I worked here and had backed out both times so I give

credit to E.J. because he's he's getting it done in the studio and outside the studio's awesome job no there are a lot of people watching the show who when they see you they want to know how you're doing. Yeah. Because they've followed you for a long time. Are you sleeping more in this new job? Do you feel a little bit, a little bit less stressed out? So first off, I appreciate it. And I would say I miss certainly the audience, the sickos. I appreciate it. I'm in the discord. I'm watching the show, reading the comments. And I miss everyone in the studio. It's great to see Julia. Great to meet Lindsay. Seeing, you know, a Jamie and Rich. You go on down the list. Um, but, but, so, so, yeah, so I am not, I, I'm sleeping a little bit better.

The, the, the, the, I'm still working, like, I'm still covering the team, uh, pretty intensely. Uh, and so that, that, that, that part hasn't changed. Like, the show, the show wasn't at night. Um, so actually my, my sleeping post game got a little bit better when I left, uh, when I left the job previously to come here because we weren't doing those late night pods, right? Now I'm not doing a bow and me. Oh yeah, that guy. Yeah. But yeah, as far as stress, first off, I think stress is good. I think distressed is bad. So you want to be stressed. You, you know, if you're not stressed, you get complacency scares the crap out of me. So yeah, my wife would say that I'm still, I'm still stressed per se. But I think that the key for me has just, has just,

been like the allocation of time and the cadence of of the schedule. I'm in more control of my time. I'm able to make calls a lot more. And yeah, during the day, that's, that's been a, so the lifestyle's been different in that regard. I think that's, I think we're all happy to hear that. I appreciate that. But the downside is that I don't get to see all the great people here every day. And I miss that. Well, I know it is the great shame of your life that you're not able to be in two places at once. It is actually the biggest challenge of my life. I still haven't figured that out is how do I get to be in two places at once. So would you be like the first one to sign up for cloning technology? Well, I wouldn't need to know how that would specifically work because

like it's not the same brain, is it? Right. It's not so. What if it was. Yeah. I mean, I would love if if it could be like and saved by the bell, right? Where you time out and then you get there, you know, you get to go to two scenes. That would be ideal. But yeah but then the scene resumed. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't quite been able to figure this out. I mean, if you could create a situation, what would it be? Like a creative situation?

Yeah, to be in two places at once and be able to kind of report back to like the hive mind. Yes, exactly. And to kind of combine it all in the one. Yeah, that'd be pretty cool. Or like, you know, being Clark Kent, Superman, right? if you're able to become Superman and, you know, jet to the show and jip back to the studio or chip back to the press conference, that would be ideal as well. Okay, back to the book.

We're here to push product. Yes, definitely. We're here to push product. You have written about this Super Bowl championship team. Yeah. You've written about the 2017 Super Bowl championship team. How is this version better or more impressive than the previous? So I appreciate this question because it's actually something I've thought about, but I haven't specifically been asked this.

And the first book, the 2017 book, was about a lot more than that team winning the Super Bowl. It was like it was the weight off the shoulders. So I really gotten a lot into the, you know, there was the whole backstory there, Jeffrey Lurie buying the team. There was the Howie's whole backstory. Like so much of that story in 2017. was about more than what happened that year. This book's really about this, you know, the 2024 team. And then also, and then, you know, the 2023 collapses in there as well.

But I think that when you look at the two teams, the 2024 team was just so much more talented. Like that's clear. You know, I heard Jason Kelsey, he has a podcast, you know, he probably wants them. people watching that thing. How many times in a row mentioning Jason Kelsey, do you think you've made that joke? Probably every time. It's a terrific show.

So, yeah, so I... They've never had me on. David Baker, but... I'm David Baker. Okay, you're Dave. I would prefer to hear... 35, four, you're going to the Hall of Fame. I'm still curious why the...

audience or like if the audience is watching this, if they understand what the joke is here. What joke? My life is a joke to you? No. No, not at all. Yeah. So the 2024 team was was so talented. And you know, Jeffrey Lurie and he's quoted about this in the book, it might be one

the best teams of all time when you just look at what. Do you believe that? I do. I do. When you look at the overall body of work, when you look at the, way they steamroll through the postseason. When you look at the margin of victory in the Super Bowl, I mean, when you look at the way they were playing the end of the year, it's extraordinary.

And by the way, the 2017 team might push back on me. If I say this, if the Eagles and Patriots play 10 times that year, or let's just say there's a seven-game series, I'm not sure the Eagles win. I mean, I think now, I thought I picked the Eagles to win that game in 17 because of the lines of scrimmage. and I probably lose credibility now saying, like, well, look at the coaching that the Patriots had because that's kind of waned a bit.

But those teams were much more even than. I just think the 2024 team was so much more talented than the 2024 chiefs. And there's a reason why the Eagles ran away with that game. But I think that was a big difference. And really the star power, the composition of the roster, the Eagles, if you say, who are the Eagles Hall of Famers on that 2017 team?

Okay, Malcolm Jenkins is done. Oh, he's got my ears, perking up. Yeah, I see Hall Fame. Malcolm Jenkins, certainly, Brendan Graham, certainly, Fletcher Cox, certainly. Lane Johnson, Jason Kelsey. I don't know if Brandon Brooks will get in. He'd be an interesting conversation about it. And then Nick Foles, almost, you know, from his significance in the franchise,

but not career achievement there. But Jason Peters, if you're counting in your guys. Yes, yes, yes, Jason Peters. But if you look at... Jake Elliott. That's a good one, actually. I've never thought about that. Yeah, Jake Elliott will certainly be there at some point.

Danelle Elerby? No, not to know Elbe. What? But you had some good pieces on Danelle Elerby. I've never been about Danelle Elaby in my life. Or Bo Wolf did, rather. But, yeah, I mean, the Eagles have, you know, last year they had nine... A lot of guys.

Yeah, they had nine Pro Bowl caliber players on the office. offensive side of the ball last year. And so I'm not saying, I'm not suggesting Dallas Goddard. And by the way, Zach Earth. Yeah, Zach Hertz will be an Eagles Hall of Famer. He's going to be pissed. No. Trust me, I don't think anyone's written about Zach Hertz as much as I have.

And so. No wonder he's going to be pissed. Yeah. So I don't think I'm finished writing about Zachertz. I'll put it that way. Weird flux. Well, just please read my work at the athletic.com. We're on your act.

So, yeah, so I think that just the, the Eagles had nine Pro Bowl caliber players on offense last year. They had the offensive player of the year. They had a defensive player of the year candidate in Zach Bond. When you look at, they have blue chip players at all three levels of the defense. That team was loaded. So I just think last year's team was better. They were nobody's underdog, even though they were, you know, the underdog. dog in the Super Bowl. But if

you watch the speeches the night before the game and that's actually chronicled in this book, Cajuan Barclay was adamant that like the Chiefs can't F with them, right? I mean, that they are that team went into that game believing they were going to win.

Can I ask you a writing question? Please. I love writing questions. You mean answering questions about writing? Yes, yes. I think that's the first time we've heard Lindsay laugh. It won't be the last time because both how was writing this book? Yeah. Different than writing your previous two books. Yeah. Great question. And I feel like the audience here knows a bit of

my personal life, right? More than you'd like. More than I like. So my my first book, we had we had one kid at the time. And read was, you know, he was, he was, he was, he was, a year old, not even then. And I was at the Inquirer. So I still had, I was writing a newsletter at night and doing stories during the day. But I, I had more flexibility with my time, number one. And number two, the Eagles were very quiet that offseason. The 2018 offseason, they didn't have a first round, or they didn't have a second round pick. They had a first round pick, no second round pick, they ended up trading. The draft didn't have the same type of attention.

Free agency was a little more muted than this past year. I remember having a little more time to write then. This past year, I was just at a different stage of life. You know, my kids at the time were seven and six. And so I was very active at home in that regard. You know, I was doing a show daily. The cadence at the offseason of PHLI is not much different than the cadence during the season. And the only difference is you don't go into the facility,

but you're still here physically every day. I was doing all my writing in the morning and at night. Now, fortunately, I had some flexibility with writing for all pHLY.com at the time. So admittedly, my volume probably wasn't the same as it was in 2017 at the Inquirer, but I was still knee-deep in the draft. I was knee-deep, or I'd say more than knee-deep, I was like, I'm not very tall. so I was buried in draft coverage. I mean, I could tell you, you know, 200 players in that draft.

Fortunately, working with Fran helped quite a bit. And then the, you know, same thing with free agency. I mean, the free agency show is as much fun as I had last year. But I would say that the time that I allocated the writing, I was much more efficient with my time in 2018. I'm sorry, in 2024. I also had a proof of concept, like I knew how to do it. That's what I'm, yeah.

I'm less about the time allocation. Oh, okay. And more about. Oh, I'm sorry. I wish you interjected there. Yeah. So I had a Google spreadsheet and I had to get the 80,000 words. The book came in at 88,000.

But I had to do 15, you know, so I had a spreadsheet of nine days on, one day off. So the one day off would be a day that would go back and read the previous nine days. And I had a word count that I had to hit every day. So some days was 1,500 words. Some days was 2,500 words. Some days might be 1,000 words. But I would make sure that I would hit my words or exceed my words. And if ever I fell behind, you know, it's, it's, you have to catch up the next day.

Do you ever just write down some words just to get to your word count? No, never, never. But admittedly, sometimes there'd be a big block quote that was like, all right, this, this, this 250 word quote is going to help me out in this day. Who's the most helpful person to quote when you need a lot of words? Nick Siriani. Definitely Nick Siriani. By the way, I saw your tweet the other day after Siriani's press conference felt like about as mean a thing as I've ever seen you write about somebody. Yeah.

Why didn't think I was mean? I thought that was accurate. I thought it was your version of Ether. So I'm very hip. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, my, my, my, I mean, my, I, I, my kids are really in the six, seven. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm cool. Yeah, it's about lamella ball. This track. It's about lamella ball, actually. I'm aware.

I'm cool. Okay. So, yeah, so the writing process was, I would make sure that I would hit those words each day. So, oh, the tweet you're referring to. I said, I wrote about the topics, because I like to give updates on what Nick Siriani says in his press conference. The topics Nick Siriani did not want to address. And it even included giving out a cowbell in the locker room, which the team put out in

the team video. So you would think that like they, if you put it out in video, you, you want people to know about this, uh, ostensibly. But Nick Siriani, um, uh, did not want to go there. And that's his, that's his prerogative. But yeah, I, I would, I, I did all my writing early in the mornings or late at night. And, uh, I was lucky, um, you know, to have great employees and great boss that I was working for. And that really helped as well. Okay. Time to take a break. Here from some sponsors on the other side. Um, you know, the other side. will be joined by Mina Kimes of ESPN. She talks to Bo Wolf, who is definitely not here today.

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this Saturday at Ashley Furniture in Ben Salem. Don't miss it. All right, welcome back to the P.HLY Eagles podcast. and it's time for our bi-weekly check-in with Mina Kimes of ESPN and the Mina Kimes show featuring Lenny. And Mina, I like how these are working out because every two weeks, we're in a much different situation with the Eagles.

Last time we talked, I believe Kevin Batula was in your in-laws' sights as like this guy needs to go. Since then you have Jalen with a perfect passerating in Minnesota and then the best Eagles performance offensively in the last two years against the Giants have, has Mr. Petulow been cleared of all the charges as far as your in-laws are concerned? I think he's still on thin ice. I thought he was, I thought he called his best game of the season against New York.

I was really impressed. And I actually think it's funny, right? Because obviously A.J. Brown didn't play. But I think the balance that they achieved in that game is probably what makes it the most impressive to me. Because there's been games where they've had a good half. There's been games where the passing attack has looked good. this is a game where I felt like everything was finally clicking, felt the most like watching the Eagles offense last year. So if I'm an Eagles fan, I'd be feeling pretty good.

Yeah, I mean, listen, it was, it was the under center play action. It was, we got a running back screen. We're throwing over the middle of the field. Like all of these things where it had felt like there was one game where they did one of those things or one game where they did another one of those things, all of it put together. It made you feel like, okay, maybe this offense can be elite in a that reflects the talent that they have on offense. Yeah, the middle of the field aspect, I think, is really important because I was thinking about this, and we've talked about like kind of the landscape of the NFC. I was thinking about it vis-a-vis the 49ers, who could be a team that the Eagles may be

faced in the first round of the playoffs. I don't know. And I was watching Houston versus them, and C.J. Strau just ripped them up over the middle of the field because they don't have Fred Warner anymore. The prior week, they faced the Falcons who, see. frankly similar to the Eagles up to this point do not use the middle of the field and they were not able to take advantage

of the Niners' weakness at linebacker because of it and it was a bad performance. And I think, you know, looking in advance, I think that's what you want to see from the Eagles. It's not like they have to do the same thing every game. It's not like they have to run the ball as well in every game or throw over the middle of the field in every game or use play action every game.

But you want to have those tools in the arsenal so that when you're up against a team in the playoffs, say, where that's their weakness, you want to be able to exploit that weakness. So I think just showing that they can do it is really important when you think about it from a matchup perspective. And how about the running game?

Because obviously so much of this season was about trying to find what worked last year and then they explode for 274 yards on the ground. And listen, it's not a very good Giants defense, but just to see them doing some of those things, what seemed different to you? Well, it was a lot of duo. I'm sure you guys have talked about that.

I imagine, but that was pretty stunning. I have to think that's probably the most doable run, certainly this year that I've seen. For them, for sure. Yeah. But yeah, it's been interesting watching as they, like, continue adding a little bit like layers and layers to the six offensive linemen stuff and then expanding it,

and now we've got more of a play action passing attack. And this last week felt like, okay, cool, let's get in these looks and then let's run downhill. And, you know, it made sense, again, going back to my other said about matchups against the Giants defense where a defensive backer are not very good tacklers. That's the kind of run scheme. You want to run against them.

And I also think it's something that Sequin Barkley is very good at. You know, so much of what he does or what he did earlier in the season with the outside zone is moving laterally. But I think you really want to get him going downhill. So I think it played to his strengths. It felt like the first time all season long where the Eagles were controlling the line of scrimmage. And yeah, it was obviously led to some pretty explosive runs, which is cool to see. All right.

So here's my big picture question for you as the Eagles sit at the buy. So on offense, the Eagles are 9th and EPA per drive, 19th in success rate. On defense, 13th in EPA per drive, 21st in success rate. So of those two sides of the ball, which one are you more confident will be better in the second half of the season? Oh, that's funny. Well, I think the defense is going to be better because they're either going to get Nolan Smith back and he's going to look like himself

or they're going to trade for a pass rusher. I feel I would be surprised if they didn't. One of those two things, right? And if they trade for one, that might betray, or not betray, but like you shed some light on how they view Smith coming back from the injury. But the Eagles defense, to me, they're still very good, but they really need help at pass rush.

And one would think that they would, would take steps organizationally to improve that. So it feels like a safer bet maybe to just improve by, you know, because I don't think the offense is going to add any players. That said, does feel like the offense is starting to figure things out. So I suspect, to be honest, I think we're going to see improvement from both units. Okay. But I think with the offense, like it's been so, it's been boom or bust.

And I think with the defense, it's actually been a little bit more stable. They just need that extra gear. So on defense then, you would go edge rusher over a corner if you were making a highway training? I get an edge rusher. That's why. Yeah, like I would love a corner, but the problem is half the league needs quarterbacks for cornerbacks right now. It's not, it's slim. I'm sure you guys have like looked into who might be available.

It's pretty slim pickings, man. I got a couple either oars for you later, but yeah. Okay. Whereas I actually think there's some pretty decent pass rushers who might be available both at the premium and like kind of of the mid-tier range. So I think at that position, the Eagles are more likely to add an impact player. Although I'm sure those fans would say, we don't need an impact corner. We just need a competent corner, which maybe they could find one.

Yeah, this is where this is Brandon Graham Archer. You're forgetting about BG getting back into the fold for the Eagles. Hot cat flags is too hard. I get it. Listen, he spent too much time with me. He needed to get back on the field. All right, I'll give you, I'll give you some of those now then. Okay.

Let's go, let's go pass Russia first. if you are the Eagles and then considering the price that likely is going to come with these guys would you rather go for Jermaine Johnson or Bradley Chubb? Ooh. Chubb's been better.

I actually don't think Chubb would be that expensive because he's older in the contract. So that would probably be my preference as a player. Obviously the devil is in the details in terms of competition. So Bradley Chub over Jalen Phillips because I feel like Jalen Phillips Now that way, I feel like that one is maybe too expensive.

Yeah. I think Chubb, he could still play. He could still look at me, yeah. And then you think Jalen Phillips, like, would Jailen Phillips be worth a two in your mind? And you got to pay him because he's on the last year of his. A two is probably a little bit rich. Don't think he also have two threes, am I wrong? They have three threes.

Oh, man. Yes. And throw up to me a lot. Yeah. Howie's, I mean, there's no way Howie's getting to the deadline with all three of those third round picks. But it is also interesting when you think about the big picture stuff for this roster because the, you know, the waiting of resources on offense and defense is so different in terms of the timing where next year you're going to pay Jill and Carter. After that, you're going to pay Quinnianne Mitchell and Cooper DeGine and Gene and, you know, maybe Jehobel eventually. Whereas eventually like A.J. and Devante and these big offensive linemen, they have to flip that to younger guys.

And so someone of the like Jalen Phillips time frame to me is like, I don't know if I want to pay a mid-career guy joining the rest of them, but we'll see what they do. All right, Corner, I will give you Alante Taylor from the Saints, or do you think about adding a nickel like Michael Carter from the Jets and then moving Cooper to Jean to the outside? Yeah, and I remember you and I talked very early in the season about me not wanting to move Cooper outside.

Right. And I don't think they want to either. but it might be easier to find a nickel than an outside guy. I actually think it is easy. You saw McCreery move from Tennessee, who I thought he would have been a nice player for the Eagles, to be honest. Man, I don't know if either of those. I mean, I don't think either of them will be expensive.

So honestly, either is probably fine. You're not a huge Alante Taylor fan? We've got people here who were just banging the table for Alante Taylor. Really? Yeah. I mean, I think if the bar is competent corner play, then at least you can probably get that with him relative to what you've been getting.

So I would like to, I'd love for them to leave Cooper to Jean at Nickel personally. I think, yeah, I think we all do. It's just fun to watch them there. All right, last one in the either or is a tight end, which is becoming less of an obvious need since they're leaning into the Fred Johnson stuff. But Mark Andrews are Chigo Conquo.

Oh, I want them to. to get some blocking tight end for like nothing who's no one's ever heard of. Let's bring Jack Stollback. That's what everybody is waiting for for the parade. Every week around the NFL, I'm watching like the Broncos or commanders or whatever. And I'm like, who is that? And it's always some blocking tight end. I was watching Patriots tape.

And I don't know why I didn't, I didn't notice that they had converted that they used Westover as a fullback essentially, who was the Hussie's tight end. And that's the kind of guy the Eagles need. They need a tight end who can just get in there and block and catch one pass a year. And no one knows his name outside of Philadelphia. That's the kind of player that I want for the Eagles. We don't mark Andrews, sure. Yeah.

But I want like a really gritty unknown blocking tiger. You know, this is like a pet peeve of mine that they went through the entire offseason and didn't just sign an undrafted rookie tight end who could block. you know, they seem to have like finally accepted that they can't run out of those legs. Right, exactly. Which,

you know, maybe maybe this is the message that how he wanted to send all along. He wanted, he wanted Fred Johnson on the field and the coaching staff just needed to figure it out at his behest. Any final thoughts on just where the eagle stand

relative to the rest of the NFC at the halfway point? Because it certainly seems like this conference is, is much deeper than the AFC at the moment. It definitely is. So every week I've been doing these top five. on my show, Instagram,

Mina Kive show, go check it out. We're on Instagram now. And I have not put the Eagles in there. But spoiler the Eagles fans, they will be in the top five NFL, not NFC, this week. You can tune in to find out where, or go follow, I guess. What a T is. What a pro.

I'm not going to tell you where. But the other thing I'll say to your point is like, man, picking teams out of the NFC is really difficult, right? Because it's very obvious in the AFC, but the NFC, you're looking at. at the lions, the Packers, the Seahawks, the Rams, the Eagles, the Niners, the Bucks are still in the mix. And actually, like, putting those teams in order right now is extremely difficult. I think the Eagles are capable of a ceiling that is at the top of that group, but we need to

see some consistency. And I'd like to see more pass rush down, that's the thing that concerns me right now. So, yeah, I'm very, I think they're very, very, very, very, very, very, you know, said in the NFC East the way things have gone with their competitions, so you feel good about that. But as far as like the broader NFC goes, there's some pretty, there's some pretty not just good, but balanced teams that they're competing with.

Well, the good news is when we talk next, it will be after the Eagles have played the Packers and they'll be about to play the Lions. So we'll get some short-term answers there at least. It's going to be in Green Bay for that game. And I've already been started thinking about it. I'm like, damn, I really don't know how I'm going to put. That's going to be.

an absolute hoss fight. I can't wait. Although my NFL schedule complaint is why do we have a Monday night game after the buy? It's like, don't you want to save that? It's, you know, for show purposes,

it's like, oh, an extra day of nothing to talk about. But that's your problem, not mine. That's Rogers. That's me and Rogers disagreement. All right.

Thank you. Mina Kimes of ESPN. Check out the Minikime show featuring Lenny and Mina, wherever she is. Thank you so much, Mina. We'll talk you in a couple of weeks. Good to see you.

All right. back with my pHL. By the way, P.H.L. They should throw digs and crossers to A.J. Brown today. I'm not saying, I'm like, it's a, I, because I put like, if you're going to use play action, he was literally the greatest play action receiver in the NFL for three years running. Right. Yes. Use them that way.

There seems to be absolutely no reason that they can't just run the offense they ran last week with AJ getting some of those balls, absolutely. How many times was he white ass open, just bodying dudes over the middle of the field? I mean, it is interesting. He's a different stylistic receiver than he was in Tennessee, and he's still like at the same level of Per SNAP production. Yeah, it's insane. Good.

Every week I ask for something. I asked for more RPO's and more slide RPO's. The Eagles gave me the slide RPO touchdown. This is my new thing that I'm asking for, AJ Brown in breakers, deep in breakers. That's what I want. Kevin Batuglo, I'm talking to you. Batulow, Siriani, Jeffrey Lurie, we know you're watching

and find out what Mina needs you to do on offense in a couple of weeks. Thank you so much, Mina. Fall always feels like a reset. Between back to school, busier routines, and shorter days, finding time to cook can be tough, especially if you don't just eat raw human meat like me. That's why my friends love Factor. Their chef-prepped, dietician-approved meals make it easy to stay on track and enjoy something comforting and delicious, no matter how hectic the season gets. You get more variety. More meals. You can choose. from a wider selection of weekly meal options, including premium seafood choices like salmon and shrimp at no extra cost.

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and qualifying auto-renewing subscription purchase. And from there, I'll tell you about our friends at Rothman because when I was lifting up cars and pushing over buildings, I hurt my back. And where did I go to get it fixed? Rothman Orthopedics, because Rothman Orthopedics, because Rothman Orthopedics is here to help you get back to the life you love. Their team of specialists treats all kinds of orthopedic issues

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We got a little bit extra time for you? In what? We're not there yet. Don't worry about it. Let's get to some of the super chats from the sickos who are here and happen. to see you back. Joe Rockhead says, where have you been, Zeeby?

I write for the athletic. You do videos over there too, I see. Yeah, I'm doing videos. I'm really trying to use the, the talent that I've tried to build here, PhD, there in terms of the videos.

And I do a weekly show, or I'm a weekly guest on Philly special with Shio Copadia. Best toast in the city, that guy. Well, he appeals, he's, he's, national. He's like he's a national writer, but or a national host. Not that show though. Bo, you, a Bo Wolf is terrific. I have, yeah, Bo Wolf's best host in the city. But she'll is

delicate here. No, she was incredible. She was incredible too. I'm lucky. You know, I'm lucky I've only worked. It's like Dan Clacko catching touchdown passes from Peyton Manning and Don Brady, right? You can't beat that. You like that in that comparison? Oh, that's great. Okay. Two Hallfambert. Like Mike Lombardi. Working Bill Walsh and Bill Pellichick. I hope not.

I'm saying away from that analogy. Another writer. I use laptops. All right. We got more questions from the stickos and about Leapier, which is available wherever books are sold. Coming to you in Baker Time.

Dr. Prince Blue, Mr. Berman says, bigger treason, ZB or Jonathan can. I don't think I committed treason at all. I have great affection for this place and for all the people here, including Julia. I can understand why Bo doesn't want anything to do with you, though. I can't actually.

You didn't leave him. I didn't leave him. I think Bob made up to be H-L-Y of your own volition. Look, Bo's hosting a show of Brandon Graham now. Bo's killing it, honestly. I didn't say he wasn't. succeeding without you. I just said I understand why he might feel like you've slapped him across the face.

Yeah, I'm staying away from that one. I really enjoyed my time here and I'm very grateful for all the people here. Devin Step says, saw the thumbnail and sprinted in. Welcome back, Z.B. Devin, I appreciate that. I watched the show or listen to the show every day. And yeah, that's how I feel going to watch Bow. Yeah, but Devin, if you really want to support the man, get the book.

Yes, please. Go into his DMs. They'll send you a book. Yes. I was talking to a friend of mine, the professor. Ah, he's terrific. Love that guy. He was telling me about how his son, Evren, is reading Leap Year all day long.

It's his favorite book. Oh, that means more than I can express. Seriously, Professor Selman, I appreciate that. Until I popped into his bedroom and went, boom. And he's been too scared to read ever since. That's weird. No, I appreciate it. You ever seen Monsters, Inc?

I've seen it with my son. They based Sully off me. That's not nice. Joe Rockhead. Zeeby, thoughts on Jalen Carter's season so far? Yeah, so he, look, he's missed two of eight games, right? Because he effectively missed the first game. And then he was out for that Giants game as well.

I think that the two best games he's played are the past. two games. So that's a good, I mean, maybe missing that Giants game gave him a time to heal that shoulder a bit. But I thought the Vikings game and that second Giants game were his best games. And he's, he's been a force. The Eagles keep assists. I know E.J.'s written about this and talked about it on the show. J.on Carter, the, these paper stats might not look good, but his assist totals are high. He's not getting, he's not getting paid for assists. Give me a break. Okay. I'll tell you what, I'm not knocking on his door because he has a lot of assists. Fair enough.

Get out of here with assists. Fair enough. How many defensive tackles are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame because of their assists? No, he needs to have numbers, but I do think those numbers will come over the course of time. I'm bullish on John Carter's development. Speaking of coming, who do you expect to come in the second half? I don't know what that means. Like Julio wants to.

Oh, okay. What trade deadline acquisition? Is that what you're referring to? No, which player on the team is going to come in the second half? Who's, you so used to say, Julio's coming. Okay, so who's coming on? I see what you mean. Okay, so the player who I think will have an emergence in the second half, well, I mean, relative to the first half number, Seekwon, right?

That's one player, I would say. I think that... Seekwans coming. He's right here first. Jail-Ox Hunt and Jailant Carter, their sack numbers will be much different the second half of the season than the first half. I thought Jayalcson played a real good game on Sunday. And then, I mean, I wrote this before the season, that Devante is, his numbers are going to be so much better than a year ago.

You're already seeing that. He has his best production through eight games, if any point, in his career. And I don't see that slowing down. Polo Jam with the Super Chat says, does the elevator work today? Did Zee be get to sprint up the stairs? The elevator worked. It was good being on with Poe.

He's not here today. Okay, it was good. Whoever let me on, because my, unlike Brandon Graham at the Eagles, my code doesn't work here anymore. So, you know, Brandon Graham,

his code kept working. And he, I think he talked about that on the show. I, yeah, so I don't have access to the building or the elevator or anything like that. Do you think you should?

No, I was making a, I was bringing in, I was trying to put a petty complaint about, work here anymore. Why should you be, why should you have the code to get in? I should, I was answering a question about the elevators. Day with the super chat says ZB, if PHLY added a ballroom, would you have stayed? Uh, so I, I stay away from all politics stuff, um, but I can, I can tell you the

facilities had nothing. You know, I once was a politician. Is that right? Yeah. Okay. Dirty money. Paid myself. Rob Peter to pay myself. The facilities had nothing to do with... Nobody checked. It's great. The facilities had nothing to do with my decision to accept another. The disgrace politician turned CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

How did they let that happen? I can't tell you that. Because I scared a boot. I don't even understand the bit. But I'm impressed that you've done it. now for 55, 60 minutes. What if they turned, not, forget about a ballroom. What about a ball pit?

Yeah, that doesn't do with me. Ball pits are, I mean, they were cool when you're a kid, but now they're kind of unhygienic, right? I mean, I think they were back then, too. Yeah, but you don't, you don't think about that at the time. You just see the fun. Amen, brother. Okay, let's get back to, let's get back to leap year. I don't know if this is like asking favorite children, but you have a favorite chapter?

Yeah, well, my favorite chapter is the first chapter, which is in... I thought you were going to say the next one. That's the answer for the book, your favorite book, that's the next one. My favorite, so my favorite chapter takes you inside the winning locker room and the Super Bowl party. I was fortunate to attend with Bo. But that was real cool because in this job, you want to be, you know, the eyes, the ears, in this case, the nose and the mouth. You got it.

Well, I mean, you're getting spring. Who did you make out with you? within the locker room. No, you get, the champagne was spraying. I wasn't drinking on the job, but you might, you know,

like, you know, it's, it's, that champagne sprain. Who did you lick, you little sigo? That's a weird comment.

And then the nose being the cigar smoke, that, that, that was there. But yeah, I remember that bow got a, got a lit cigarette to the ear. Oh,

really? Yeah. Did it cause a scar? It was a painful couple days. Yeah, so, you know, so was that dry cleaning bill for the cigar smoke, right? But, and all those, all those lipstick stains. But so, yeah, so I think that, that first chapter, I was proud of how, of how that came alive, because I had so many minutes, I was going to say hours, minutes of cell phone video of that, of that locker room and of different angles. And so you're

able to kind of see things that in the moment I wasn't kind of writing about and kind of putting that together. And then you're able to kind of get the lyrics to the song and, uh, and, you know, the cigars and the alcohol and the joy of that moment and the different characters around the room. So I, I really like that chapter. And I, I thought the bi-week chapter, you learn a lot about kind of the changes in the team during that week. And then I thought, too, the, uh, the week of the week in New Orleans leading into the Super Bowl, and especially having the, you know, using the team footage from the Super Bowl speeches,

but also kind of what was going on and using flight logs to kind of document the, the time that they took off, the time that they landed, the type of plane that they were on. Airplane. And, you know, different things like that. I actually didn't have, in the book, but I was going to put,

I heard about a few of the restaurants that Jeffrey Lurie went to. I was going to put that in. So, yeah. And it changes to his bio? Yeah, well, so there's actually, there was a story about Jeffrey Lurie and the Sport Business Journal. And if you missed it, you can see it in the Eagles Media guy. Right, but I mean, in his favorite restaurants.

Oh, no. Because I remember you always took track of that. I always do. Yeah, he's got great taste, by the way. My favorite restaurant in Philly is on his list. But you don't live in the city anymore. I don't live in the city anymore, but I bet I live the same distance to that restaurant than driving that as you do.

Well, I live in Kent and Ohio, so probably not. Okay. All right. All right. I keep going. What was my question? Yes, so my favorite parts. So those are my favorite parts. Oh, yes, my question.

So the first chapter, was it the first one that? you wrote? No, good question. Good question. You know what? I didn't finish it, but it was the first like thousand words in that chapter. Yeah, I did start with that to kind of give me some writing momentum, but I didn't finish it because I want Uncle Moe on your side. Yeah, because I wanted to have a thread through the book. So I actually finished that chapter. The last thing I did was, was finish that chapter. Oh, it was the first thing you started and then the last thing you finished? Yes. Well, yeah.

It's kind of fun. That's a little poetic. Yeah, other than like the intro and the epiloc, yep. Okay. If you had, I know you were sprinting. Yeah, 10 weeks. To get this bad boy out. What an impressive endeavor.

Thank you. If you had more time on your side, what would have been different about the book version that way? Yeah, so in my outline, I actually had 25. five cutaway chapters on different players and figures around the team. And I had to condense that based on time and space because actually if it got to a certain number of words, they would have had to print. The printing costs would have been, I don't even get into all that. Oh, let's talk.

I like the business. No, yeah. So I had to keep it to a certain amount of words there. But I really take pride in humanizing these people and in humanizing my. I say these people, the players and the coaches and the executives. And I would have liked to have more than 10. And in hindsight, I could have made some of the chapters shorter. I probably got, there's probably too much game detail or there's, there might be some

game detail that can be taken out. Can you do me a favor? Yeah. Stop beating yourself up about the book that could have been. Well, no, but this is the book you made. It's wonderful. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. But I'm really proud of, of the finished product. And I do think the game details, in a lot of cases are. like pertinent and and you know i should say too what the game details are important this i mean you're not writing this book if correct me if i'm wrong for people to read right now and never remember again you're writing this book as a piece of history well said or you know a two-year-old eagles fan yes who's going to grow up and in 10 years wants to learn more about the super bowl championship team exactly or if if if you want to open up to a particular chapter you know i forgot

I forgot about that game. Like, I really enjoyed writing the book on Sequin's Leap. That's the Jacksonville game. And there's some cool details in there. But I think what I need to give, and I gave credit in the acknowledgments, well, first off, the Boat Wolf and Julia and a lot of the fine people here, P.H.O.I. But also, and I should have mentioned Fran in there. That actually haunts me to this day.

I feel bad about that. Fran. I love you, Fran. No wonder he's not here today. I love you, Fran. But the Eagles Entertainment was a big part of this book. And we're NFL films. They're technically the ones who are filming it.

But being able to use, you know, the on-field audio video, there's so much more content now than there was when the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017. And I think that really makes the show Chapters come alive. Is there a little nuggy noug that you want to share that people may not know? Well, yes. So the post-game locker room, if you recall in 2017, Doug Peterson gave a speech and Malcolm Jenkins gave a speech, right? And if you read the first chapter of underdogs,

you would see that, you know, verbatim what those speeches were. Well, there were no speeches this year. We were in the locker room basically the whole time, right? I was not there. Oh, okay. Bo and I were in the locker room. And there were no speeches. And I was fascinated by this.

Like, Nick Siriani, you would think, this is a guy who's been, you know, I don't want to, he takes walks during the summer and thinks about what, like, particular speeches are going to be in particular moments. You win the Super Bowl. This is, this is like made out of a movie, the coach giving that speech. There was no speech. And I asked Nick, why there was no speech. And his answer's in this book. Oh, that's a pro tease. Trying to learn from Mina. She's outstanding. National reporter. That's, that's a good, that's a good place to try to get to. Okay, settle down.

Book man. Book man. How does a book deal come together? Yeah, so it's it. So a book like this, by the way, you need to have the deal in place before the Super Bowl, really, because you start writing, you know, basically.

Talk about getting over your skis. Yeah, the day you get home. You know, your bridges. You, I have 10 weeks to write this book, right? So if I'm spending four weeks trying to get a book deal, it's going to put me behind the eight ball. You need to get it out to the publishers early summer. Oh, I'm sorry, out to the printers early summer.

So it publishes and prints late summer is in bookstores in August. It goes on sale in September. That's a very truncated timeline there. You don't have a day to waste. So the conversations start before the Super Bowl. And so I had a book deal contingent on them winning. Interestingly, when they were there in 2022, I had a book deal contingent on the Eagles winning. the Eagles lost that game

and actually the publishers then honored the same book deal if I wrote the franchise which is back there which is on the 25 year period of the of the team but the Eagles won and it's not lost on me by the way that you know in in the in the in the dedication which is to my wife and two children I wrote that reading Sloan make us feel like we won two Super Bowl

since 2017 and it's not lost on me that my son only knows a world in which the Eagles win Super Bowls, right? The first 51 years, had I covered the franchise then, the Eagles made two Super Bowls during that period. They did not win one. Since then, they've made three Super Bowls won, too. I'm fortunate to be covering the team during this period. It's not lost to me that I have the opportunity to write these books because the Eagles win these Super Bowls. But so that's the process there. And then, yeah, you know, I learned kind of best practices throughout the season or from the first time. So throughout the season, I was able to kind of keep

notes, think about this, and I get asked when did you think this was a possibility? For me, it was the drive up from Baltimore. That's when I knew. If the 2017 team, I thought after that Carolina game, they had a chance to win. When the Eagles out physicaled the Ravens down in Baltimore, which you don't usually see, I was like, man, now this team could win. I didn't know if the Lions were going to get knocked off. I thought the Lions were going to be a big contender for the Eagles.

But I thought then that the Eagles were legitimate Super Bowl contenders. What was the biggest hang up in the book negotiations? The biggest hang up in the book negotiations. Let's get into the need to agree. I'm trying to think the biggest hang up in the book negotiations. I hate to say money. I mean, that's not. What are we talking?

That's on. That's on. So we're like how much of their percentage you get after a certain number? What are we talking? Yeah, I was always told, don't talk about. about politics, religion, or money in public. And we're in public here. But speaking generally, if you don't answer this, I'll ask you one of the other ones. Okay. Speaking, I don't want to talk about politics or religion. Speaking generally, yeah,

I mean, I would say the royalties, you know, because I think a lot of writers would say the advance, but in my case, I was interested in royalties because if you sell enough books, you know, that can start to pay for itself. So, well, let's let's get those books sold. Let's get those royalties coming in. Please, please. How does your wife feel about this book being done? And if the Eagles win the Super Bowl again, what happens then?

Yeah, so she, you know, I, well, I think. You are who you are, man. Yeah, she knows who she married, but she, she we've, she thinks my next book should be a children's book. You know, we read a lot of books to the kids and the kid, you know, We just had his book fair at school. And he said, he said to me, he said, dad, you should, you should call Scholastic and write a book for them so they can sell it at the bookstore, at the book fair.

Sorry to give free pub there to, but, yeah, so I think that I enjoy, there's like a certain, I'll admit, there's a certain dopamine hit when a book comes out and you get people buying it and reading it and I've gone to bookstores and seen people like look at it. You know, it's it's like owning a pizza shop and seeing people enjoy your pizza, right? That's a pretty gratifying feeling. So I don't want to say I won't write. You were there and you saw someone pick it up and then put it down. I would ask them, what kept you from going to the counter?

But I, yeah, so, you know, it's similar to, and by no means am I like comparing myself to AJ Brown. AJ Brown's a hallfamer. We'll see. But in AJ's case, it's like the, he said like winning the Super Bowl wasn't as, as like, you know, it felt good for a second. And then it's like you want to go back and do it again. Like, or like you want to put your stamp on it, you know, you're. And so the idea of like starting from zero and coming out with this is a, is a really fun process.

I say when you're in it, it's aggravating. And I probably am not the best version of myself, which is why this offseason, I don't think I'll be writing another book. I've written two in the past three years. But I really, but I won't like do false modesty here. It is, it is awesome, like seeing the holding the finished product.

And that's, and like to know that, you know, my kids have this in their room is, it warms my heart. Okay. last question let's think about Jeffrey Lurie yes dear friend of mine is he love the guy

okay we've shared some meals together who did most of eating well I was eating the waiters okay he's more of a food guy I'm more of a human guy that's a weird thing to say

he actually got me that time what what do you think Jeffrey Lurie thinks about the state of the team at the moment. How patient do you think he'll be about this team moving forward? And do you think that

he believes this is like what the team should be in perpetuity? Well, yeah, I mean, to answer your question, I think Jeffrey Lorry is optimistic about this team. I think he sees the investment that he's made and like the amount of high quality, stark Albert players that they have. So, yeah, I mean, I end to B6 and 2 and in the thick of it.

I think he's especially bullish on J.1. Hertz. I think that in that organization, if you were to do like a power ranking of people who are highest on J.1. Hertz, I would probably put Jeffrey Lurie on that list. And his opinion is probably the one that matters the most. I think he probably looks at the A.J. Brown situation. I'm careful to call it that because I don't want to sound like a talk radio host here. I mean, they're six and two. AJ's been here for three plus years.

They've been in the Super Bowl twice, won the Super Bowl once. The down year, they had 11 plus wins, and he's been a two-time Pro Bowl. Oh, I'm sorry, two-time All-Pro during that chant during that time. They've done okay with AJ. But I think he probably views this as like, this is Nick's job. Like, Nick's here, Nick's here to manage the personalities. Like that's what makes Nick, that's why they gave Nick the contract extension. Not to take away from Nick, but it's not like these great schemes that he's bringing.

it's his leadership and his ability to manage personalities. And so I imagine he's looking at that. And yeah, I think that I think Jeffrey believes that this is a team that is built for the long haul when he looks at the amount of young players that they have on defense, the picks that they've hit, the giraffe picks that they have upcoming, and the way they allocate resources. And, you know, Jeffrey, who is, he's part of, you know, the owners that, that, are very involved in the media deal. I'm sure he knows what, you know, the money that's coming into the league in the coming

years. And I think the Eagles are well positioned for that. My guess is that if we were to talk about the franchise, like what's a big change for the franchise coming up, I still think the stadium deal. We did shows during the summer about this. I think the stadium is probably the most fascinating thing to watch. And outside of the football team, I think that's probably where Jeffrey's thinking about like the direction of the franchise.

Nick or Jalen, who lasts longer? Jalen. Now, yeah, I'm still saying Jalen for that. In bed. I'm staying far away. I'm sorry. Stay far away from that one. Yeah, I mean, quarterbacks tend to have more staying power than coaches, number one.

Now, like, the reason I'm hesitant there is like if something were to ever happen and like Tender McKee went in or something like that and forced. Yeah, but, but no, I was speaking my language. No, but I, I think, I think Jalen Hertz is going to be here for a long time. Okay, some more super chats before we hit the road here. Joe Rockhead, Zeeb, what is your best recommendation to buy the book? We already went over this. Yeah, yeah, you can message me. Also, I have some book signings coming up, including one this weekend.

At, you know, the Barnes & Noble, I believe it's in. Is it Barnes and Noble? Or Noble and Barnes. I believe it's the Oxford Valley one. And I have a handful of fun book signings coming up in a few weeks. I have one in New Hope. And so, you know, I have one in Wayne coming up on Small Business Saturday. So, so.

SBS. So make sure that you follow me on all my social mediums. And I will. What are those handles? Z. Burm on Twitter and Blue Sky. And then. on Instagram Z underscore Berman. But...

What about truth, social? I don't have that, do you? Yeah, I'm big there. Okay. But if... To be fair, I'm big everywhere. But if you're interested in... I mean, everywhere.

If you send me a message on DM or email, I'm happy to discuss with you ways to get the book. Also, it's great seeing fans on the road. fans have reached out. I'm sorry to the sickos this past week. My son had a football game that I was caught up before the game, so I wasn't there typical time before the game. I'm proud of you for that.

Thank you. Thank you. And then at halftime, I had to make up some things that I missed before the game. So I wasn't able to see the sickos who were... You never make something up as a reporter. You know that. You know what I mean? I had to...

There were some things that I had to fill out the right to do during halftime. and I wasn't able to see Sickos who were at the game. I'm in the Discord. I love talking to the viewers of the show. But in Minnesota, I met a number of fans. I know some games upcoming Green Bay. There are some fans reaching out. So eager to, if you travel, reach out to me

and we'll connect at a game as well. All right. What a pleasure to have you here in the PHLY studios. This was awesome. Thank you. Mr. Berman. The book is Leapier, available, wherever you can get your books, but go to his

DMs. That's where he gets the most money. Let's be fair. Follow him on social media. Check out the Ringers Philly Special. Check him out at the Athletic. That'll do it for this episode of the P. H.L.Y. Eagles podcast. We're back tomorrow, Jamie and Rich,

and then Fran and the Professor on Friday as the Eagles headed into the buy. Thank you, Lindsay. Thank you, Mina Kimes. And most of all, the super chat from Alex is correct. Let's close this bad boy out with uh zach zach zach zach zach thank you he got me again thanks as always i'm gonna eat you