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When the Philadelphia Eagles take the field for the Super Bowl, there will be not one, not two, but four members of the latest National Championship Georgia Bulldogs team playing big roles for the team, with a fifth, Nakobe Dean, standing on the sidelines after landing on IR earlier in the playoffs.
How does that feel, for a collection of players to go from winning one championship to competing for another, all the while sticking together along the way? Well, Nick Sirianni broke that down during his pre-Super Bowl media session on Thursday, where he celebrated just how special it is for Howie Roseman to re-assemble much of that defense at the NFL level.
“Obviously, their talent speaks for themselves, but they’ve also been playing together for multiple years. The couple years that they’ve been here together and then all the years they had on those great defenses and teams they had in Georgia under Coach [Kirby] Smart. So, you have this connection on and off the field that’s huge. Like when we drafted Nolan Smith, I remember how excited he was. One of the first people that he embraced was Nakobe, who was at his Draft Day party. That’s so cool,” Sirianni told reporters.
“Again, when you have a relationship with the guys and the guys have a relationship with each other, they will go a little bit harder because they’ve got a little bit more on the line and because they don’t want to let each other down. I think that’s a big part of it. Some of those friendships we have on this team are developed through the year or through the couple years they’ve been playing here, but their bond goes back. I think that’s important and a huge deal. They can fly around and make plays. They’re tough. Coach Smart and his staff have done such a good job of getting good players there and developing them. We just tried to continue to do the same thing. Love those guys. Big part of why we’re here today.”
You know, the idea of drafting a bunch of former players who already spent time together in a program makes sense on paper, but in practice, how many NCAA teams can really justify six NFL-caliber players on the same unit if you also count recently signed reserve safety Lewis Cine? Well, as it turns out, the answer is the Georgia Bulldogs, as Dean, Smith, Jalen Carter, and Jordan Davis are all key defensive players, Kelee Ringo is a borderline special teams ace, and Cine could contribute on coverage units if Michael Clay needs to call his number. Throw that all together, and it’s not hard to imagine which team many fans in Athens, Georgia, will be rooting for when the big game rolls around this Sunday at 6:30 EST. Kansas City be on alert, as Philly has a few Dawgs ready to hunt.
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