Reactions as Zach Ertz pens emotional thank you letter to Philadelphia

Even in sports, where things change all of the time, especially players and the teams that they play on, there are a few visions that are burned into our minds that were hard to make sense of. One of the more recent is Zach Ertz, the owner of the second-highest reception total in Philadelphia Eagles history, a homegrown Bird, that now plays for the Arizona Cardinals.

On October 15th, Philly traded the best tight end in franchise history to the Cards for rookie cornerback Tay Gowan and a fifth-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Sure, it’s a win for both sides. Zach Ertz gets some peace, and the Birds get a young player that they’ve actually expressed interest in before along with some draft compensation. For many, this is seen as an easy decision that Philly had to make, but come on.

You know how emotional Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie can be. You know how they get attached to certain players. There’s no way that this could be easy for them. It definitely hasn’t been the easiest of transitions for Zach Ertz.

Zach Ertz says thank you to the city of Philadelphia in an emotional letter.

As everyone on the East Coast rose for another day on Tuesday, they were greeted by a nice surprise if they began the morning by picking up their cell phones or tablets. Zach Ertz wrote an emotional goodbye letter to the city of Philadelphia.

Always the class act, whether he’s shedding tears at the NovaCare Complex, scoring what wound up being his final touchdown in midnight green in Week 6, or just saying farewell (for now), Zach Ertz ALWAYS found a way to make us smile.

His next NFL chapter will be written in Arizona. The thought of him in any other jersey still feels wrong though. Earlier, we mentioned sports legends that wound up on other teams. Think Patrick Ewing in that Seattle Supersonics jersey (yes youngsters, the NBA used to have a professional franchise in Seattle), Michael Jordan in the Washington Wizards ensemble, and though he played for the enemy, Emmitt Smith, in that same Arizona Cardinals jersey.

There are so many other names that could be added to that list, but you get the point. Ertz’s transition feels like one of those moments. He’ll be missed, but we understand. This is a part of the game, and eventually, if you play long enough, these types of things happen to everyone.

Zach Ertz will be back one day though, to retire as an Eagle (as he should) and one day, take his place among other franchise legends to take his place in the Eagles Hall of Fame.