Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott shows support for Cody Parkey

Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott is definitely a class act.

The Philadelphia Eagles were victorious on Sunday. It was a close game, and it all came down to one final kick with just seconds left on the clock. Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey trotted out on the field to attempt the game-winning field goal for the Bears. A few years back, the Eagles knew that Parkey was a reliable kicker with a strong leg. However, times have changed. Parkey has struggled in 2018, and his final kick on Sunday was far from a sure thing.

Parkey ended up knocking in his first attempt with ease. Thankfully, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson called a timeout to ice the kicker for one last hope. So Parkey had to attempt the field goal for a second time, and the results would be different.

Apparently, Eagles defensive tackle Treyvon Hester tipped the ball, and it ended up hitting the upright, then the crossbar and taking the luckiest bounce forward in favor of the Eagles. Just like that, Parkey is getting booed out of Soldier Field as the Eagles advance on. As expected, the city of Chicago did not treat Parkey so kindly after the game.

Jake Elliott shows support for a fellow kicker

Being a kicker in the NFL is tough. While they do have just one job, it’s not as easy as everybody thinks. We’ve seen kickers struggle around the NFL throughout the season. Even Jake Elliott has his misses. It happens. Unfortunately, Parkey’s one and only miss on the night happened to be the most important one. And while many Eagles players were thanking Parkey in a joking manner after the game, Jake Elliott felt for his fellow kicker.

If you look closely after the miss, you can see a few Eagles players run off of the sideline to go onto the field to celebrate the miss. One of those players that ran onto the field happened the be Eagles kicker, Jake Elliott. While Elliott’s teammates were running on to celebrate the potential win, Elliott instead went over to Parkey to talk to him.

Now, there isn’t any audio or footage of the quick conversation, but just knowing that it happened is definitely a feel-good story for the two kickers. That’s sportsmanship at it’s finest. Elliott wasn’t finished there though. As social media piled up with hate, and offensive support for Parkey, Elliott also tweeted out his support for the Bears kicker.

Elliott has Parkey’s back

The Eagles might be happy that the kick didn’t go in, but a lot of their players understand that the criticism for Parkey is a bit over the top. Now that the NFL has officially ruled the kick as a block and not a miss, it isn’t really reflecting well on those fans who are calling for Parkey’s job. Regardless of how Bears fans feel though, Parkey handled his postgame interview like a classy professional. Most players would decline to talk or have their head down the entire time. Parkey, on the other hand, had no issue taking the blame for the loss.