You Can't Faze Nick Foles, The "Laid-Back Texas Boy"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Nick Foles admits he suffers from selective amnesia. The Eagles' quarterback would rather keep 2013 out of his thoughts, when he threw for 27 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He'd also rather keep whatever is said about him, whether it's ostentatious praise or Buzz Bissinger's recent feature story about him, teflon, too.
Foles is what-you-see-is-what-you-get player—and personality. It's the cocoon Foles has wrapped himself in, and he finds himself in a very comfortable position, both on who he is and where he is as the Eagles quarterback.
"I just feel good," said Foles, addressing the media on Friday at the NovaCare Complex. "I think I've grown in confidence [since last year]. There is definitely a huge difference from last year until now."
Listen: Nick Foles on the WIP Afternoon Show
When asked to react to the Bissinger story, in which the Pulitzer Prize-winning author says that Foles, who didn't speak to Bissinger for the piece, holds "an aura of softness about him, no fire" … that … "it's the intangible hunger factor that appears to be missing," hinting that maybe a little arrogance would help.
That just doesn't seem to be in Foles' DNA.
"I've always believed that you need to be who you are," Foles said. "If you're a guy that loves to go out and be in everything, and do that, and you can be a great player and a great leader as well, that's awesome. See if I were to go out and do all of that stuff, that's out of my norm. I've always been a laid-back Texas boy. I love being with my family and that's what I stick to. I love the game of football and I love getting better.
"My teammates know me because I show them who I am in the locker room, and then, I don't change when I go on the field. I'm the same guy everywhere they see me. It's not like everything changes."
The reason Foles didn't speak with Bissinger was because "I didn't want to put that much time on me; it's not about me," Foles said. "I can't go out there by myself and win these games. I have a great team, great teammates and great coaches. When we go on the field of battle, I have all of those guys to lean on—and they lean on me to win. I wasn't comfortable [talking about himsef]; it's all about the team."
Foles said he did "glance" at the story, but said he didn't read entirely read it.
"He didn't talk to me, so he really didn't get a chance to see my side, which I didn't want; it's not about me," Foles said. "You try to make it about me, you lose track on what it's really about and that's the Philadelphia Eagles and this city. I don't regret [not talking to Bissinger]. That's going to happen regardless. Everyone has the freedom of speech and the freedom to write. People want to read the truth. It's one of those things that if I worried about every single article out there, I wouldn't be able to play the game of football."
It goes back to zoning out, Foles stressed. It goes back to his ability to slow things down, shutting off white noise and focusing.
"When I come here, I don't worry about what people are saying," Foles said. "Everybody is going to have their own opinion."
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