Watch: Eagles QB Asks for Football Back from Excited Young Fan in Front Row
When it comes to trying to ruin a moment, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor is a strong contender for Moment Ruiner of the Year after an incident in the Eagles’ playoff-clinching win over the Washington Redskins on the road Sunday.
Agholor caught a 22-yard touchdown pass and gave the ball to a young fan sitting in the front row who was wearing a Nick Foles jersey and who’d come to see his favorite player smack down the hometown team in hopes of sparking a Super Bowl miracle repeat.
There’s just one small problem with this perfect moment.
Agholor didn’t catch the ball from Foles, who got injured in the fourth quarter; he caught it from third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld, and it just happened to be Sudfeld’s first career touchdown pass on his only throw of the entire season, against the team that drafted him in the sixth round with the 187th overall pick in 2016 but cut him before he could play a down on the actual field.
Sudfeld had to negotiate with the kid to get his ball back.
When ur teammate gives away ur 1st Touchdown pass?
(They ended up giving the kid another ball) #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/VgIaokbwd3
— Marc Farzetta (@MarcFarzetta) December 30, 2018
The story does have a happy ending; the Eagles did supply the boy with another game ball in exchange.
Agholor, meanwhile, defended his decision to give away the momentous ball.
“Nate Sudfeld is going to throw a lot more of those,” he said. “That first touchdown ball don’t mean nothing. He’s going to throw a hundred more.”
That might be true for a certain other sixth-round draft pick quarterback in New England, but just where Sudfeld is expected to hook on and play is something of an open question since it took two injuries in front of him on the depth chart just to get to throw one pass all season, albeit one that Agholor took to the house.
What’s more, if Foles can’t get healthy in time for Philadelphia’s playoff game in Chicago, Sudfeld may find himself in the same role Ryan Lindley played for the Arizona Cardinals in a listless 27-16 loss to Carolina in the 2014 playoffs. (Unfortunately for Sudfeld, Foles is expected to start against the Bears, although whether he’ll finish is another matter.)
This was Sudfeld’s second appearance for the Eagles this season; he got into the game against the Houston Texans after Jadaveon Clowney lit up Foles with a filthy hit for which the NFL fined Clowney $40,110.
Sudfeld came in for one play, missed Jordan Matthews on a throw, then handed the reins back to Foles, who completed the 11-play, 72-yard two-minute-drill drive that culminated in Jake Elliott’s game-winning 35-yard field goal.
So maybe that ball was a lot more special for Sudfeld than Nelson Agholor seemed to think it was. It’s a lot more likely that he may never see such a thing again as a golden moment in relief of a fallen franchise savior.
As for the kid, he goes home with a heck of a souvenir and a chance to see his face on television in the highlight reel.
So all’s well that ends well, and it’s on to Chicago for the Eagles to try and do the impossible for a second straight year.
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