:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66240934/usa_today_10558640.0.jpg)
I am ALL IN on Chris Long’s show ‘Green Light’ and just ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, the former Eagles’ defensive end had teammate Torrey Smith on to discuss how he ended up in Philadelphia and the team’s route to their Super Bowl win a couple years ago.
Smith has 2 Super Bowl rings — one with the Ravens and the one with the Eagles — and at the end of the show, he admitted that the ring ceremony AND the ring itself were both better from Philadelphia.
Here’s some of the Eagles-related things Smith had to say on the show:
On signing with the Eagles
After talking about Torrey’s multiple Super Bowl appearances and performances, Chris Long asked the receiver how he ended up with the Eagles.
Smith explained that it was his relationship with Joe Douglas — the now Jets’ GM was a huge reason Smith was initially drafted to the Baltimore Ravens and he drew the WR to Philly.
“I had a really good feeling about it. I remember watching in San Francisco and seeing Carson Wentz, I was like, ‘This cats a beast, he’s gonna be a good one’ and the more you start to learn about it — their talent and their team — you’re like, they’re only a few pieces away. Even though the record may come off a little differently, you know what it’s like when you look at a roster and you’re like, ‘Man, they’re a few pieces away’. And I felt like they had the better opportunity.”
He said it was also an opportunity to be closer to his wife’s family.
“I literally passed up the opportunity to go back to Baltimore to go to Philadelphia.”
Long then jumped in and said that he and Smith spoke before they both signed with the Eagles, and the receiver encouraged him to talk to Joe Douglas, as well. The DE said at this point he and the Eagles weren’t really on each others radars, but that was a free agency cycle where a bunch of talent landed in Philly.
The host also said that when he chose Philadelphia, he wasn’t sold that they were Super Bowl-level good, but at least talented enough for a postseason run.
On Smith’s big TD vs Minnesota
Smith then talked about the big flea-flicker play during the playoff game against Minnesota.
“The flea-flicker is the same play you draw up in the back yard and hope that you can run it one day. That feeling man — I get goose bumps just thinking about that still, because it’s like, honestly, you look at what that meant for Philadelphia was that we’re going to the Super Bowl.”
He further explained how it was an even more impressive (and spontaneous) play.
“That throw was ridiculous. It was a great feel by [Nick] Foles, because I was actually supposed to run a post, so I was supposed to be across the middle of the field. But, I realized the safety was standing in the middle of the field, so why am I going to run my route that way and have him stuck on Alshon [Jeffery] only?”
Smith said Foles saw the same thing he did and they were able to connect on the outside.
On the Super Bowl win
Long and Smith joked that the Eagles couldn’t have asked for a better location than Minneapolis for a young team’s first Super Bowl appearance — since there’s nothing to do there other than walking around the Mall of America.
They also talked about how pretty much half the Eagles team was sick in the week leading up to the big game, with Long saying he had a “solid cold” in the days prior — but Smith missed that round of illness, after suffering most of the playoffs instead.
The wide receiver said that going into the matchup against the Patriots, he thought they were going to be able to score a lot and that Tom Brady and New England’s offense would be what kept them in the game.
“We didn’t fear them at all, we knew we were going to be able to score points.”
Smith joked that he thought the Eagles’ defense would actually shut them out, but Long had them pegged for about 24 points. Long explained that the Patriots’ half-time adjustments were just so good, that they ended up putting another score on top of that.