Nolan Smith had just won a national championship when the Eagles drafted him in the first round a couple of years ago. When he arrived at the NovaCare Complex that spring, the Eagles were still feeling the aftermath of their Super Bowl LVII loss to the Chiefs, which ended their 2022 season.
“Man, I just say it was a little bit of that sour taste in their mouth,” Smith said this week.
“And then it happened even worse last year with the first-round loss. I was on the team for that so I actually experienced that. Guys going home early. It just made me sad.”
By the time the 2023 draft class joined the team, the Eagles were trying to move past their Super Bowl loss and focus on the new season. But the loss still hung in the air a bit, and even some rookies felt it.
“I think everybody was really motivated,” third-round pick Tyler Steen said. “Even though they lost that game, I feel like there was a confidence there that we’re capable of going back there to that game and that we’re a really good team.”
By the time the rookies arrived at the NovaCare Complex, it wasn’t about pain anymore, and the Super Bowl loss wasn’t a constant topic of discussion.
“Guys were a lot more hungry for sure,” fourth-round pick Kelee Ringo said. “Rather than hurting anymore.”
But it did come up.
“I think it was just talked about in terms of flushing it and trying to get back there,” seventh-round pick Moro Ojomo said. “That was the goal.”
The Eagles had a great season in 2022. They won 14 games in the regular season to earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC and easily defeated the Giants and 49ers in the playoffs. They even led by 10 points at halftime in Super Bowl LVII before losing in the second half.
“I think guys were hungry,” sixth-round pick Tanner McKee said. “It’s a tough thing to balance because you know the year went well because you make the playoffs and got to the Super Bowl but you just came up short at the end. You want to do everything you can to obviously get back to that point and actually finish through the finish line.
Philadelphia Eagles fans in the 2nd half“I feel like this year, guys kind of feel that. We’ve been here before and we came up just short at the very end so let’s finish all the way through. Let’s do all we can to go out and play the game and do our thing.”
What stood out to most of the 2023 draft class was the team’s confidence. Despite their Super Bowl loss, the Eagles remained confident in their roster and were determined to return.
“I think there was a lot of motivation but I think they were kind of past that by the time I got in there,” third-round pick Sydney Brown said. “It’s all about the opportunity to get to the next one. I think the big thing is just going through adversity and they’ve been through adversity that year.
“Obviously, we lost in the first round of the playoffs the year after and now we’re back here with another opportunity to do it. How you get here is a journey. I think we’re influenced by the motivation of our losses and what we could have done, knowing that we could have been here. Now, we just have to execute at this point.”
After a strong 10-1 start in 2023, the Eagles fell apart. They lost in the first round to the Buccaneers in Tampa. In the offseason, Howie Roseman made changes, the Eagles got two new coordinators, and they turned things around.
Now, the Eagles are back in the Super Bowl, and the 2023 draft class—Jalen Carter, Smith, Steen, Brown, Ringo, McKee, and Ojomo—are ready to help their teammates finish the job.
“I know a lot of the guys who were super excited that we’re going to have the opportunity to play the same team,” McKee said. “I think it is a motivating factor just knowing we’re back here. We’ve been in the same position before and we’re going to do everything we can to have that good feeling after the game.”
