During his broadcast of the 2024 NFC Championship Game, Fox football analyst and seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady had just alluded to the “Philly Special” — a legendary play where quarterback Nick Foles was on the receiving end of a touchdown in Super Bowl 52 following the 2017 season, defeating Brady and the New England Patriots.
Moments later the crowd erupted as Foles presented the Philadelphia Eagles with the George Halas Trophy.
A few minutes beforehand, Brady chimed in during the telecast when the former Eagles standout showed up on screen. “Nick, I don’t hate you. I’m jealous of you! You caught it, I didn’t,” Brady said.
Former Eagles Quarterback Nick Foles Presents Team With NFC Championship Trophy
Clearly, Brady holds no ill will toward Foles. He was just a tad bit envious as Foles presented the trophy to a man he called the best owner in sports, Jeffrey Lurie.
“On behalf of the National Football League, it is my honor to present the George Halas Trophy to the National Football Conference Champions, our Philadelphia Eagles.”
Nick Foles presents the NFC Championship trophy to the @Eagles! #NFLPlayoffs (via @NFLonFOX) pic.twitter.com/4eTMmHu3Kk
— NFL (@NFL) January 26, 2025
Fox’s broadcast cut away from the field and showed the former Eagles signal caller and Super Bowl 52 MVP in a suite at Lincoln Financial Field, watching the Eagles face the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.
Brady was referring to a pair of plays from the aforementioned Super Bowl between the Eagles and the Patriots. One of the plays went extremely well for Foles and the Eagles, and another went poorly for Brady and the Patriots.
Early in the second quarter, New England ran a trick play that featured a pass attempt by wide receiver Danny Amendola to Brady, who ran something of a wheel route out of the pocket after handing the ball off.
Amendola put some touch on the pass to his quarterback, but Brady dropped the ball on the third-down play.
Later, with 0:38 left in the second quarter, the Eagles were ahead 15-12 and had a 4th-and-goal from just outside the Patriots’ goal line. Instead of kicking a field goal, Philadelphia had something else in mind, and after a timeout and a brief exchange between the Eagles’ coach, Doug Pederson, and Foles, it resulted in the play call: Philly Special.
Foles lined up in shotgun formation and then inched closer to the right side of his line — and the ball was snapped directly to running back Corey Clement.
Clement ran to his left and pitched the ball to Eagles’ tight end Trey Burton, who scrambled to the center of the field and threw the ball to Foles, standing by himself on the right side of the end zone for a touchdown.
The play extended the Eagles’ lead to 22-12 at halftime. The Eagles closed out the game and the title, winning the game by eight points. They denied Brady the second attempt at back-to-back championships in his career.