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While there's plenty of room for debate as to whether Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles will continue to be a highly successful NFL player, there's an aspect to Foles that shouldn't be contested. Let's face it: Nick Foles is an extremely boring person. Or at least that's how he comes off. I can't claim to know him personally.
But just take a look at things like this ESPN interview or his Madden cover vote video. Put aside the extremely low quality video recorded at a vertical angle, even. Just look at his dialogue:
Hey Madden fans, it's Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback. Just sending y'all a video to say "Hey, vote for me." I know there's a lot of Eagles fans out there. Fly Eagles Fly.
If you need even more proof, there's even a parody Twitter account called @BoringNickFoles. Or just check out his actual and official Twitter feed (@NFoles_9) that's riddled with sponsored tweets. Some examples:
Loving the @VitaCoco water! The lemonade coconut water is awesome
— Nick Foles (@NFoles_9) May 15, 2014
Hope to see Eagles fans at @SportsVaultShop Sunday, June 8th. I'll be there courtesy of @FansAuthentic #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Wi2gbqjSmF
— Nick Foles (@NFoles_9) May 27, 2014
Thanks for another great ride @Uber !
— Nick Foles (@NFoles_9) June 14, 2014
Another great ride with @Uber. Thank you!
— Nick Foles (@NFoles_9) June 20, 2014
Getting ready for a great day! @vitacoco. Who has tried this flavor? So good... pic.twitter.com/G5CN2TYyn0
— Nick Foles (@NFoles_9) June 27, 2014
Can't wait for the #NFL season! Photo via @FansAuthentic. Check them out -> http://t.co/aSYJeZuYQ3. #FLYEAGLESFLY pic.twitter.com/7AWnmIGVYA
— Nick Foles (@NFoles_9) July 9, 2014
Every day's a good day to be an Eagle! Fly with us all year on @VerizonWireless and fight #FOMOF pic.twitter.com/w996JSElCx
— Nick Foles (@NFoles_9) July 9, 2014
But hey, I certainly can't blame Foles for taking advantage of his marketing power. It's just smart business. And at this point it's actually kind of funny how boring he comes off.
At least that's how I feel. Buzz Bissinger, best known for his book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, apparently doesn't feel the same way. Bissinger recently wrote an in-depth background profile on Foles which I definitely suggest you read. Here are some of the parts where I take issue with what Bissinger had to say, however.
THE GREATEST ATHLETES all have arrogance; no matter how thick the playbook of humility, it still seeps through. You can see it and you can feel it. Except with Foles.
"Every time I ask him how things are going, it’s always about the team," says Wang. "All this success hasn’t changed who he is."
Michael Vick is a great guy. It was an extraordinary team effort. The offensive line deserves all the credit.
Give it a little bit of a rest, kid.
Nobody can deny Nick Foles’s toughness, at six-foot-five and 240 pounds. He played the last 12 games of his senior year at Westlake High with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder without telling anyone or complaining about the pain.
But there’s still an aura of softness about him, no fire. Maybe it’s the hee-haw face. Maybe it’s the stream of selfless platitudes about others. Maybe it’s that at 25, he’s still very much a boy among men with the Eagles, with no interest in the extracurricular world of clubbing. Or maybe it’s the reality that if he fails in football, he has the likely cushion of going into an enormously successful family business. It’s the intangible hunger factor that appears to be missing.[...]
But unless he stops being chickenshit and goes into the middle, he will never guide the Eagles to the place that only tantalizes us. We are tired, Nick. We are already dependent on you. So man up to be the man.
Sidle up to a bar on the road and order a slug of single malt, not a double shot of milk. It’s okay to address LeSean McCoy as "Shady" instead of "Sir Shady." Don’t ever publicly say again that your favorite movie is The Lion King.
Though I agree with Bissinger that Foles lacks personality, I don't say it to criticize Foles as much I do to point out a mere observation. Foles has the right to be as boring as he wants. I really don't even see it as a bad thing. In his case, it's probably a GREAT thing. Foles works hard and stays away from controversy. He takes responsibility and doesn't throw his teammates under the bus. He's not the most fiery orator but he's far from a church mouse. He puts the team above himself and says all the rights things ("Stats? Whatever.") From a fan perspective, that's really nothing to complain about. Sure, I can see why the perceived lack of personality can come off as a little annoying at times. From a media perspective, it can be very annoying. If Foles were more interesing (such as, say, Johnny Manziel) it would make their job easier. But none of that really matters. What DOES really matter is how Foles performs on the field (duh).
So I'm failing to see how Foles needs to change his personality to help the Eagles win a title. Many "boring" teams or players are capable of winning championships. The 2014 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs aren't exactly brimming with personality. Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco has a boring Twitter account that rivals the one operated by Foles. Same goes for recent Super Bowl winning QB Russell Wilson. It's just a complete non-factor.
Nick Foles is really boring. He might be the most boring person on the entire face of the Earth.
And that's perfectly OK.