Philadelphia Eagles roundup: A letter to Chris Maragos (that he may never read)

From 2014 until 2018, Chris Maragos gave it all to the Philadelphia Eagles organization, and we, at Inside the Iggles, just wanted to say thank you.

At some point, we’ve all looked at our favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and we’ve probably envisioned or dreamed about what it would be like to suit up with them. Once you’re in that mindset, you ask yourself a question. What player would I most resemble? Maybe you’d be Randall Cunningham or Chuck Bednarik. For most of us, we’d probably, more realistically, be just like Chris Maragos.

Why? We’re glad you asked. As a matter of fact, rather than answer that, let’s do something different. Here’s our letter to Chris Maragos.

Dear Chris,

Today is a weird one. When you think of football, you think of several things. One is the ‘three phases’, offense, defense and special teams. When you think of offense, you probably think of guys like Nick Foles or Carson Wentz. When you think of defense, there’s Fletcher Cox.

For us, at ITI, and for many, over the last few years of our fandom, when we’ve thought of the special teams unit, several names and moments have come to mind:

There’s Dave Fipp, the man who reminded us that special teams is a weapon and turned that unit into a weapon. Just think about the day an Eagles team that was trying to learn how to win walked into Gillette Stadium and beat a New England Patriots team that was supposed to be the best team in football.

On that day, Philly blocked a punt and returned one for a touchdown.

Then, there’s Darren Sproles and what he did in the return game. He returned that punt that day. The Eagles and their fans have recently fallen in love with Jake Elliott, but ask any die-hard Eagles supporter, and they’ll tell you.

Then, there’s you. That Eagles special teams and every special teams unit we’ve seen over the past few years isn’t the same without Chris. Injured or healthy, your spirit could be felt.

Chris, you’ll always be an Eagle. Sure, there was that year with the San Francisco 49ers and those three years with the Seattle Seahawks, but when you finally call it a career, you’ll do so as an Eagle. You’ll always be remembered as an Eagle. The city of Philadelphia and ‘Birds’ fans all over the country will always love you.

You weren’t Randall. We don’t really recall you bouncing off of a Carl Banks tackle and tossing one into the end zone on Monday Night Football. No one remembers any highlight reel catches.

What we do remember is a guy who may have never done those things, but he gave everything he was physically capable to give for the few seconds he was on the field.

He didn’t try and do anyone else’s job. He did his job. He did it to the best of his ability. He wore the midnight green proudly, and he did it with honor. In our minds, that ‘C’ will always be on your jersey.

Thanks for everything and we hope your next step in life is just as successful as this one is.