'Anybody can be the hero:' Trey Burton on Super Bowl glory, Florida days, Nick Foles, Nick Sirianni, Eagles today
Here's our full Q&A with the tight end central to one of the most iconic plays in the sport's history.
On Super Bowl Sunday, legacies are scripted in a split-second.
For better. For worse.
It’s been that way since Super Bowl I. One blunder can haunt a player for decades. One act of heroism and you’re an icon. That’s the power of the greatest sports game on earth.
Trey Burton will forever be known for the “Philly Special,” the iconic play central to the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl LII win over the New England Patriots seven years ago. With the Eagles triumphing again, we thought it’d be a perfect time to check in with Burton at Go Long.
Everything is discussed…
His football journey. Burton could not stand Charlie Weis and nearly transferred out of Florida.
One blunt message from Eagles ST coordinator Dave Fipp that changed his life as an undrafted rookie.
Why it’s smart to present yourself as one crazy MOFO as a young special-teamer. James Casey knew how to make himself appealing to Howie Roseman, and Burton did the same.
How the Eagles managed to keep the “Philly Special” a secret… even against Bill Belichick.
One conversation with Andy Reid he’ll never forget.
What made Nick Foles a special leader.
What makes Nick Sirianni a unique coach. Burton played for him in Indianapolis.
The full written transcript of our conversation is below.
(To those reading in the email inbox: Be sure to click to read full message at the bottom.)
Audio & Video is available here:
Right here is the man central to one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history. The Philly Special in Minneapolis. And he’s so much more than that. How is life today? Where are you? Three kids. I imagine your hands are full post-NFL.
Burton: Yeah, man, all is good. No complaints. We are living down in Tampa, Fla. Like you said, I’ve got three kids that are rocking and rolling in the sports world, so it’s been fun to be a Dad and to be around and help out with that as much as I can. But all is well down here.
Are they into football?
Burton: My son last year played a second year of tackle football. We’ll do his third year again this year. We’re in a tough league. It’s kind of crazy. All kids sports are actually kind of crazy, just like the politics and stuff that go into it. But yeah, we’re figuring it out and we’re getting our groove.
How is it transitioning? You played seven years. Was it smooth for you to dive back into getting your kids into sports, finding a purpose outside of the NFL?
Burton: Yeah, the transition for me was smooth because I never really wanted to be a lifer. I didn’t want to play in the league until the wheels fell off. I wanted to get in and get out. And so I enjoyed my seven years. Honestly, it was probably cut short just due to Covid and not wanting to get the vaccine and all the loopholes that went on during that time that a lot of people don’t really know about in the sense of being a free agent and Covid tests every morning and all the crap that you had to deal with during that. So without getting too deep into the woods, it was kind of cut short just by a year or two.
And honestly, it was all I’ve ever wanted to do specifically as a Dad. To be there. I didn’t have a Dad growing up, so I wanted to be there for my kids and wanted to be as involved and hands-on as I possibly could. I’m a very hands-on dad, but I’m a very like, “Hey, you guys do what you want to do.” In the sense of sports and being on what team and all that type of stuff. We’re competitive. But it’s funny because — back when I was growing up — I always wanted to be on the best team: best baseball team, best football team. But it seems like nowadays the kids are really more interested in playing with their friends, which is cool. And so that’s kind of what we’re dealing with right now.
My oldest is a pretty good volleyball player and so we’re traveling all over the place right now. Almost every other weekend to play volleyball at a pretty high level. But volleyball’s fun dude. That’s one of my favorite sports to watch. There’s so much action. It’s nonstop. You’re playing three or four games a day. And it’s kind of like AAU basketball for men. That’s what volleyball is for the women. And so having a lot of fun. We’re in Orlando this weekend coming up on a national qualifier.
There were GMs that basically said, “We’ll be more apt to keep a vaccinated player than an unvaccinated player.”
Burton: That’s what they all said, man. They all said they wanted a vaccinated guy. And to a degree it made sense because if your starter is vaccinated — if anybody in the tight end room got Covid — he would still be able to play because he was vaccinated. But if your starter wasn’t vaccinated, you had to have a vaccinated backup because if the starter got Covid, then the backup would be able to play because he was vaccinated. So just the whole politics and how all that went about was wild. And it was wild for everybody. It wasn’t just for me. Every morning having to take the test if you weren’t vaccinated. A lot of loopholes you had to go through.
Before we get into the Philly Special and your career, I imagine you watched the Super Bowl. Do you see any similarities between the 2024 team and your 2017 squad that won it all?
Burton: Yeah, I think honestly every year you see a lot of similarities between a lot of the champions because of how many things had to go right to get to that point. Just because you have the best roster doesn’t mean you’re going to make it to the Super Bowl every single year. So I think this Eagles team was different and unique. Their defensive line was out of this world, and that’s really how you win championships. Our defensive line was really good back when we won. This defensive line was out of this world. And then you also see a quarterback being extremely accurate definitely helps you win a Super Bowl. And then being able to have a threatening running game and then making your field goals. Jake Elliot was there for both of the Super Bowls. Special teams plays a huge factor into it as well.
But this team was just unbelievable on the defensive line and their pressure on Mahomes. Anybody that had 1-on-1 pass protection, the D-line beat ‘em for the most part. It seemed like Mahomes was running for his life and was uneasy back there for maybe the first time in his career. But it was just fun to watch these guys make plays and it wasn’t fun to be a Kansas City fan, I can tell you that. And it wasn’t fun to be a casual NFL fan because Kansas City was getting beat up pretty good.
But I think if you are a casual fan — an objective football consumer — you’ve got to love it because as much as I love to bitch about the NFL getting soft and football becoming something else, it’s blocking, it’s tackling, it’s still beating the snot out of the guy across the line of scrimmage. That’s all Philly did, right? It brings the game back to its roots. Football is preserved. No matter how many infomercials we’re spammed with about it being safe, it’s not safe and that’s OK. The Eagles just told the world: “This is how you win.”
Burton: No, it’s extremely violent and obviously the D-Line is a huge factor in that win. The pressure they got on Mahomes was spectacular.
Back at Florida, you ran it 153 times. You caught 107 passes. You scored six touchdowns in one game. You were a football player that could not be put in a box. Do you love that football itself is preserved in a game like this? We always hear guys say, “I’m just a football player,” but what does that even mean? That seems to be you. Nobody really knew what to do with you out of college: Is he a running back? Is he a receiver? You were recruited as a quarterback. Do you look at yourself — when you look back at your own career — as “I was just a football player. I just love the sport itself?”
Burton: The guys that say that, they just want to play, they want to be on the field. I remember my freshman year in college, I was recruited as a quarterback. I was in the quarterback room. And the second week of training camp, Urban (Meyer) liked to keep us super late, so we were probably there watching film at 10:30 at night. And I remember him busting through the quarterback room door and he goes, “You’re too athletic to sit on the bench.” Because I was going to be behind the guy that was the starter. And I was like, “Alright, what does that even mean?” And he said, “I need you to go play a different position on offense. You need to play tight end or wide receiver. We don’t know yet.” And I said, “Well, I don’t want to sit on the bench. I can tell you that right now. I didn’t come here to be a bench warmer.” And so from the next morning on, I was in the tight end room the next day. The day after that, I was in the running back room. The day after that, I was in the wide receiver room. I just wanted to figure out how I could play. Same with the NFL. I get to the NFL, I’m supposed to be a “tight end,” but no one really knows. I’ve got a tight end/running back number so I could play both positions just in case I don’t pan out one way or the other.
And then the best thing that ever happened to me was walking into Dave Fipp’s office, the special teams coordinator. And he said, “Look at this depth chart. Do you think you’ll ever play offense this year?” And I was like, “Yeah, I think I’m going to play offense. I can do this, I can do that.” And he says, “I’ll bet my whole salary right now that you won’t play one snap on offense and the only way you’ll make it in the league is to play special teams.” And so what did my mindset do? I shift from playing, “Oh, I’m going to play offense” to “How the heck do I get on every special teams and make sure I have one of 53 spots on the team,” and didn’t really care what team it was. I just wanted to make one team. I guess that’s kind of what wanting to play or being a football player is.
What year was that with Dave Fipp?
Burton: My first year was ‘14. I’ll never forget it. I was walking through all the hallways to meet all the coaches because I was undrafted. Shaking everybody’s hand. “I loved watching you at Florida” — almost everybody said the same thing for the most part. And then I go to see Dave Fipp and he’s like, “Come here, come sit down.” And I sit down. He closes the door. Because the special teams — and this is typical for every room — they have the whole depth chart because they need to know who’s the starter because they’re not going to use the starter for the most part on special teams and who’s second and third string. And so I was the sixth guy. I remember it said “Burton 47.” I was the sixth guy on the depth chart. And yeah, he went through the whole spiel. But I respect that so much. Without him saying that, I probably would’ve… and it wasn’t that I wasn’t paying attention to the offense. I still had to know those types of things. But I probably would not have taken special teams as serious if he would not have sat me down and kept it real with me.
You can really go one of two directions. You can say, “Screw you. No. I’m going to play offense. I’m going to find a role. You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m talented.” Or you kind of look inward and “No, I’m going to survive somehow in this cutthroat business.” He’s telling you right then it’s a cutthroat world.
Burton: I appreciated it. I respected it. But that’s the problem. You get guys that come in and they say “No, I’m playing offense” or “No, I’m going to do this.” And then you never see ‘em again. They don’t make a team. They don’t make the next team. They get cut. And then next thing you know, they’re out of a league. But I felt like truly if I could figure out a way to just make a team, then I have a chance to refine my skills on offense. And then eventually — hopefully down the road — I won’t just be a special teams player. I’ll be able to play offense. But regardless of all that, if I don’t make a team, then I have no chance of doing any of those things down the road.
Which in a way, you went through that in college. In your mind, are you thinking, “I’m going to be the next Tebow” at Florida? Things changed in a hurry. Your position. The coach. Maybe not winning as much as you wanted to win and your role became this hybrid, do-it-all kind of player.
Burton: Florida was a really weird time for me because I did come in as a quarterback. I thought I was going to play quarterback. I wasn’t good enough to play at the next level. I didn’t have the arm strength or the talent that especially some of these guys have now. But back then, no one was really as arm-talented as a Joe Burrow or any of these guys playing currently. Maybe there was one or two guys. So I did think that I could play at Florida, but I knew I didn’t want to sit the bench. And then like you said, with the coaching change, I actually tried to go play defense when (Will) Muschamp came in to be the head coach. I remember his first couple days there, I was an offensive guy. I think I tied the record for touchdowns as a freshman at Florida. But Charlie Weis came in and I didn’t do well with him. I didn’t like him at all. He was probably one of the only coaches I never really liked and didn’t really have a connection or a relationship with.
And so during spring camp, I went into Muschamp’s office and said, “Hey, I would love to play safety.” And I actually practiced once or twice with the safeties and then Charlie convinced me to come back and play offense and the rest was history. So I was just trying to get on the field. I didn’t really know what my role was going to be, but I know I didn’t want to sit and I would do whatever I had to do to get on the field.
Is that when you seriously considered transferring? This is pre-NIL, pre-portal. You thought about leaving Florida. Was it because of Charlie Weis?
Burton: Yeah, it was because of him. If he would’ve came back my junior year, I would’ve been gone. But since they fired him after my sophomore year going into my junior year, I stayed.
What made it a brutal time with Charlie Weis looking back?
Burton: A lot of things. His personality and my personality didn’t mix very well. And so I’m not here to bash anybody, but that’s the bottom line. I’m glad he left and I’m glad I stayed. Looking back, I would’ve been miserable. I love everything about Florida. I bleed orange and blue. By far, head and shoulders, above any other team. Obviously, I love the Eagles as well, but Florida, I just grew up being a Florida fan. You have that one team that you just grow up your whole entire life, you never miss a game, dah-dah-dah. So yeah, just the relationships and the connections that I’ve made through the University of Florida, I’m forever grateful. So I’m really glad I didn't have to leave.
So you’re a UDFA, you listen to Dave Fipp, you find a role, you stick around. At what point did you realize, “OK, I’m talented enough to play an offense, to have a role?” Was there a turning point?
Burton: Yeah, honestly, when I first got there, I felt like I could play on offense. But the problem was we had Brent Celek and Zach Ertz in front of me. So being realistic, I’m like, “Well, I’m definitely not going to play in front of these guys. These guys are better than me. They’ve been here in the league longer. They have way more money invested in these guys.” So honestly, I owe a lot of my success to a guy named James Casey. He was the third tight end and I was the fourth tight end. Anytime I asked for anything, they immediately were like, “Yeah, let’s do that” or “this is what happens,” and they would explain it to me. But they would also take me under their wing and show me their pre-practice and their post practice stuff — what they would do, what they’re looking at, what they’re seeing. And so I was just a sponge. I spent all day long in the facility.
James would get there super early. James was crazy. I remember during training camp, I was like, “Bro, you going to get a haircut?” He says, “No, bro, I’ve got to look crazy so that they keep me here.” He said something like, “So they think I’m crazy and they keep me here and they can’t cut me.” And I’m like, “Alright!” And I did the same thing. I didn’t shave. I didn’t cut my hair for months, bro. I looked like a madman. But I just was following his footsteps. He was like, “Yeah, you’ve got to look crazy. When the GM walks down here, you’ve got to look at him in his eyes and shake your head. Make it look like you’re nuts. Like there’s something wrong with you.” And so I did the same thing. I followed their footsteps and their guidance.
And I had another guy on the special teams side of things. Chris Maragos was an absolute rock star for me. Him and his family. My wife and his wife, we had the same amount of kids, just an unbelievable man and father and football player. But he took me under his wing, too. As soon as we walk off the practice field — there’d be an hour gap between the end of practice and the first meetings. And as soon as we would walk off, I would always see him duck off to the left and go to the meeting room and watch practice before we would watch practice with the coaches and stuff. And so I’d just follow him in the room. And then next thing you know, we’ve got three or four guys in there watching film already knowing what the special teams coordinator is going to say in the special teams meeting and then we would have input. I would listen to Chris and see how he saw things and talked.
I owe those guys specifically a ton because it’s easy — when you have someone that’s younger than you and potentially going to take your position or you’re going to fight with him for the job — you see it in the media a lot. These older guys, especially quarterbacks, they get a lot of the pub of like, “Oh no, that’s not my responsibility to bring this guy up” or “it’s not my responsibility to teach him the game.” But we didn’t have any guys like that in Philly, honestly. And so I’m really thankful for them to basically open up how they do things and how to be a pro.
Howie Roseman has never been shy in saying he wants to take some chances on different personalities. So even if you are the most clean-cut human being and never even had detention in middle school, you want to look a little crazy to Howie Roseman walking the halls. Look a little deranged. You’re listening to System of a Down banging your head against the wall.
Burton: It sounds kind of stupid now, but James would be sitting in the tight end meeting room at 5:30 in the morning in the pitch black. There’s no light at all. There’s no window. There’s literally nothing. Except for under the crack of the door, there’s a little bit of light. And he’d be sitting in there — at 5:30 in the morning — taping his fingers. And no one would show up to the building until 8 o’clock, 8:30. The first meeting wasn’t until nine and he’d be sitting in there. And if you happened to walk in there, I remember two or three times I walk in there because I forgot my iPad or I forgot my cup. And you walk, “Oh shoot, bro! What are you doing in the corner of the tight end room?” Just taping his fingers. But that was James and I really just appreciate him and he’s doing really well now. He’s the tight end coach in Cincinnati. And he’s been doing that for a couple of years.
That 2017 season, that’s your fourth year in the pros. Even though there are a lot of different tight ends, a lot of different receivers, you caught 23 balls, five touchdowns, and then you lose your quarterback. You lose Carson Wentz, who’s an MVP front-runner at that time. This guy’s having the season of his life. But I remember being down there during that first-round bye. And everybody insisted: No, we genuinely believe we can win a Super Bowl with Nick Foles. We are not just bowing out. This isn’t like every other team that's lost their quarterback. The year before, Derek Carr went down for the Raiders, he was an MVP front-runner and they were one-and-done just like every team is when they lose their quarterback. What was the mood really like in that locker room?
Burton: Yeah, we were really talented. Our second- and third-string guys. There were a lot of dudes that went out. Jason Peters, Hall of Famer, Darren Sproles, Hall of Famer, Chris Maragos, he was a Pro Bowl runner-up for six, seven, eight years in a row. Jordan Hicks, our starting linebacker. There were a ton of guys that were injured. But our twos were really good. A lot of guys went off to get second contracts and that type of stuff. But yeah, we were extremely confident. It wasn’t all like dandelions and roses to start out with. Foles, I wouldn’t say struggled, but he didn’t play as well as he did in the playoffs his first couple games in the regular season. It took a little bit. But we were still winning at the end of the day. And I think Foles was just so dialed in and we knew what he could do, especially since we saw it every single day in practice and training camp. What he did in the playoffs, I don’t know if we’ll ever see anything like that again. He was just lights out in how he was able to conduct the offense and the control that he had. But yeah, we were all extremely confident. Any time you get a chance to get that No. 1 seed and that bye, it’s an absolute game-changer for you.
A young Press Taylor is grinding the film and trying to find any play he can find. Any game, any level. He digs up this Philly Special and I think you worked on it the bye week of those playoffs. That’s when you first implemented it and practiced it a little bit?
Burton: Yeah, they gave us all a couple of days off. The players were off. The coaches still some responsibilities and everything. And I think Doug (Pederson) brought everybody in on the offensive side of the ball and said, “Hey, I want everybody to bring me a trick play that we can install for this playoff run.” So, Press decided to run that. We installed it during the bye week and we ran it one or two times every single week going into the game. But we obviously never ran it during a game until the Super Bowl.
Did it work every time in practice or were there some mishaps?
Burton: The first couple of times there was a couple of mishaps, but I will say it was completed every time. It wasn’t the best throw every time, but it was completed every time.
You had the quarterback experience in high school, so you know you can throw the ball. At the same time though, what’s in the back of your mind? Are you wondering, “When is Doug going to call this in a game?” And maybe you think it’s that Atlanta divisional game, but then you’re blowing out the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game. Did it ever become a real possibility those first two games before the Super Bowl?
Burton: I was obviously very involved because every play, we didn’t know who was going to go in. So I was always standing by my tight end coach throughout my whole career just seeing if I was going to go in or if Zach was going to go in or if we all were going to go in. And so I had times where I thought he was going to call it or he might’ve called it, especially in the Atlanta and the Minnesota game. But I had no thought about it being called in the Super Bowl — at all. And specifically, I remember Atlanta. I’m sitting there waiting like, “Oh, this might be it. This might be it.” Or Minnesota, “this might be it, this might be it.” And it never came. And then for some reason it caught me off-guard, which is probably for the better. But yeah, it caught me off guard in the Super Bowl and I rolled with it.
It’s got to be for the better because if you are anxious, that could feed some paranoia, which could feed restless nights and you’ve got two weeks to think about the Super Bowl. You’re not thinking about it up to the game at all because in your mind it could be: “The ball will be in my hands, everything could be on the line. Am I going to have sweaty palms in that situation?”
Burton: I told my wife and then my younger brother, he played ball as well. So I might’ve told him and my uncle, those were the only three people, I said, “Hey, if you ever see me out here,” something cool’s going to happen. But leading into the game, yeah, we talked about it and we walked through it and that type of stuff, but in the game I was oblivious to it. I had no clue that we even had that play until they called it.
You did it through some walkthroughs, you practiced it. You’re playing the Patriots, too. I mean, “Spygate.” You had to be a little worried they’d have eye balls on this thing?
Burton: We never did it outside of Philly. The Super Bowl is a two-week thing. So the first week, you’re at home practicing. Basically you install all your stuff there and then when you go to the site for the game, you practice. But it’s more repetitive stuff that you might’ve done during the season. And when you do walkthroughs at night — when you do the walkthroughs in the conference room — that’s when you do all the specific stuff for the game. Specifically because we were playing the Patriots. But I think a lot of teams follow that model. We practiced at the University of Minnesota, and it’s an indoor facility. But it’s really public because a lot of people can be walking through. It’s not really super secure. But the hotel is very secure. Especially the conference room that has all the important information. And so we never really ran it in practice that week. We walked through it once or twice in the conference room and that was it.
Leading up to the Super Bowl, all the players are at all these tables. There weren’t many people talking to you all week. You’re probably one of those players just sitting there: “What am I doing wasting my time at these media availabilities?” Nobody knew Trey Burton was going to become a prominent story in this game.
Burton: That’s the cool part about it, man. Anybody can be the hero or anybody can do something cool. You just need an opportunity.
Thirty seconds left in the first half. You’re up 15-12 at the 1 ½-yard line. (Fourth down.) We’ve all seen the clip, right? Doug and Nick. “Philly. Philly.” Does it all just happen so fast that you don’t have time to get nervous? Or did it slow down to a crawl where you catch the pitch from Corey Clement and everything slows down? Take us through the play.
Burton: Yeah, we called timeout. Nick came to the sideline. And like I said, I was always standing by my tight end coach because I needed to know what personnel was going into the game. And so he called “Cub,” that was the personnel. That was when Zach and I both went in at the same time. And so he looked at me. He’s like, “Cub!” And so I ran on the field and I get in a huddle and it was weird because I felt like the play clock was — like we needed an extra couple seconds — because Nick had to motion. Slow motion to get to the side and say “Lane! Lane!” and then we would snap the ball. So we needed a little bit extra time and I felt like we didn’t have much time. The play clock was running down pretty fast. So I like to think of it as if I was holding your phone right now or my phone and I threw it at you, what would you do? You’d put your hands up to try to catch it, right? Well, that’s basically what happened with the play. I didn’t have any time to really think about it. I wasn’t like, “Oh, how am I going to catch this — with one hand or my fingers and my pinkies and my thumb? How am I going to catch it?” No, I was just like, “Catch the ball and throw it.” I got the laces really good somehow. And Corey had a great toss. Got the laces. Nick was wide open and threw it. There really wasn’t much thought about it at all, honestly.
Because as easy as it might look, man, the stakes, the pressure, 100+ million people watching.
Burton: Yeah, now it sounds great. But then I’m just trying to do the best I can. And like I said, someone threw me my cell phone, I caught my cell phone and I threw it. That was really it.
This is against a team three years prior at the 1-yard line that made a pretty big play against Seattle in the Super Bowl. A lot of stuff can go wrong, but you’re not thinking about what can go wrong.
Burton: Yeah, just doing my thing, man.
You go up 22-12 and the rest is history. You ended up needing those points against this team. How did your life change with that one moment?
Burton: Yeah, you just get thrown in the national spotlight. It changed multiple ways just because I was going to be a free agent that year regardless of the play or not. And so it was definitely a positive getting your name out there and being a big name to talk about. It’s funny because a lot of people always say I made a lot of money off the Philly Special. Honestly, I was going to make a lot of money no matter what because I was going to be a free agent and I had a good couple years previously. But the Philly Special definitely pushed me up there above probably what I would’ve made prior.
And so yeah, it put me on the spotlight and I was doing a lot of shows and any time you win a Super Bowl, it’s just wild. And it was weird because I didn’t get to fully experience post-Super Bowl because I was gone. My house wasn’t there in New Jersey anymore. Our lease was up. We were back in Florida immediately trying to figure out what was next. Playing in the Super Bowl, then free agency. It happened so fast. You don’t really have much time. It’s such a quick turnaround. I ended up signing with Chicago, which had a new head coach, which if you have a new head coach, you’re three weeks before everybody else reports to spring camp. So everything happened so dang fast. It’s hard to really catch your breath. But yeah, just rolled with it and made the best out of it.
There’s something about that Super Bowl stage where one moment can change a person’s life to one extreme or the other. Jackie Smith, the old St. Louis Cardinals tight end, we’ve talked about it. He drops a touchdown in a Super Bowl when he is with the Cowboys in the last game of his career. And it took him decades to mentally get through that. It wasn’t easy. You hear his name and think of (a much different) iconic image. He’s one of the best tight ends in NFL history. He changed the game itself. Yet people think of that one moment and there was so much that went into that play that was out of his control. It just blows my mind how a split-second — one extreme or the other — everything can change. Have you ever thought about that? Like, “Man, if this play goes haywire, it could have gone that route.”
Burton: Yeah, I don’t really think about it honestly. Nick and I have joked like, “Oh, what if he would’ve dropped it?” Or, “What if I would’ve thrown a bad throw?” Or, “What if Corey didn’t pitch it perfectly?” Yeah, I mean for sure. The personality that I have, I think regardless of if it went really bad or really good, I wouldn’t really think of the negative side of things. Winning masks everything. If that would’ve went bad and we still would’ve won, no one would’ve ever really talked about it, but the fact that it went well and we won. It was a double positive.
What kind of person is Nick Foles? I feel like everybody I’ve ever talked to about this guy, they just cannot say enough about him as a human being.
Burton: Man, Nick’s fun to be around. He is an unbelievable human. He is a great husband, a really, really, really good Dad. Involved Dad. We were talking the other day and he’s talking about how he is coaching one of his kids’ — I forgot if he was saying soccer or football — but he was just complaining to me about the parents. I’m like, “Dude, yeah, they’re crazy, No. 1. But what the hell are you worrying about or dealing with these parents?” But he’s hands-on coaching, which is really cool to see out in California. But that’s him. He’s funny as heck. Loves to laugh. Loves to joke around. Has unbelievable football talent. But just a great dude. He’s a guy you could hang out and have a beer with or he’s a guy you can just hang out and chill and have a conversation with. And he goes out of his way to have conversations with people and is just a great dude.
All that stuff had to have mattered to behind the scenes with that group to gravitate toward him as a leader, as a person to rally for those three playoff games. You could feel it — how you guys really believed in him.
Burton: One my favorite Foles stories is him and I are both Christians. And I remember my first day in Philadelphia — just had no clue where the hell I am or what I’m doing — and they give me a locker and it’s in the middle of the locker room. A makeshift locker that they bring in for all the undrafted guys. I have no clue which way is right and which way is left. It was my first day in the locker room and I remember him coming behind me and tapping me on the shoulder and he says, “Hey, tomorrow morning at 8:30 we’re doing the Bible study in the offensive team meeting room. You’re more than welcome to come.” And then he walks away and starts inviting other people. And I remember the next day I show up at 8:30. I start getting ready for the Bible study and he’s the one leading the Bible study. And there’s also other coaches and other people in the front office of the Eagles in that Bible study as well. The first thought I had — looking at him — I said to myself, “If the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles is leading Bible study, what am I doing with my life?”
From then on, I was changed. He lit a fire in me, which led to a lot of things in the greater Philadelphia city area and all that type of stuff. That embodies Foles. He led studies. He was always at studies. Even if he wasn’t leading, he was always there and he was always inviting people. He opened his house. He would do a bunch of different things. He was just such a really, really good dude and an unbelievable model for a rookie in the league to follow.
So you’re a free agent. You’re trying to figure out where to go. At one point Andy Reid called you and he’s like, “Hey, we’ve got this quarterback. You might want to play with Patrick Mahomes.” So that’s a possibility. But you don’t know what Patrick Mahomes is at that point.
Burton: I had no clue. I watched him at Texas Tech, you know what I mean? But other than that, I had no clue. It’s funny, man, because that was a really fast time in my life. The free agency side. Like I said, the season’s over. There’s a lot of things that happen behind the scenes — legally, illegally. And so you’re always by your phone. I have a couple weeks to figure out what is best for my family and I, and what we’re going to do next. And so I think I was in my backyard. I’m a big cooker, smoker, barbecue type of guy. I was in my backyard doing something and my agent called and he’s like, “Hey, get ready. You’re going to get a couple calls here in a couple minutes.” I’m like, “Alright, cool.” And so I get a phone call and I go sit down on the couch that we have outside and it’s a FaceTime from, I forgot what area code, but it wasn’t the area code I recognized. I never really answered a phone if I don’t know the number, but at the time I had to answer it just the season I was in and it’s FaceTime.
So I answer it, and it’s Andy Reid. Big old face. The phone was close as hell to his face. I’m like, “Oh! Coach! What’s going on, man?” And I had never met him before. We just had a conversation. It was a great conversation. He was the only head coach who FaceTimed me. He was talking about this guy. They had just gotten rid of Alex Smith and he’s like, “This guy is going to be the face of the league. He’s comparable to Brett Favre.” And I'm thinking to myself like, “Bro, this guy hasn’t played.” I’m sure he is great, right? I’m not trying to dog the guy. I’m sure he is good, but he’s never played a snap in the NFL. How are you going to sit here and tell me this kid is going to be better than Brett Favre? He’s never played! That’s just a really high bar in my opinion, to say of somebody if they’ve never played a snap in the NFL.
And so I understand if he’s played three or four years and all the pieces are together, and this is his year, third or fourth year in the league, whatever. He’s matured. But nah, man, it was like this guy’s never played. “He’s going to be Brett Favre. The face of the NFL.” I had a really hard time believing that honestly. I’m not going to lie. Just being blunt. I called my agent after. I’m like, “Dude, he thinks this guy is going to be so good.” And my agent’s like, “Yeah, man. He truly believes. He’s not just blowing smoke.” So I got a bunch of calls and I was fortunate enough to pick where we wanted to go, and we felt like Chicago was the best place to go for us.
At that point, he was just a rookie the year before. I think he played that game against Denver at the end. But yeah, nobody has a clue. And they traded Alex Smith on Super Bowl Week, a few days before your game against the Patriots. So who is this guy from Texas Tech? Nobody knows. But Andy Reid, it says so much about his feel for the position. He knew then that this guy was going to take over the league.
Burton: It was crazy and it was really hard for me to believe it. And I should have known to never doubt him and his knowledge of the game. But it was just really hard. I was making a pretty serious decision — where was I going to go for the next three or four or five years. So yeah, I couldn’t believe it. Now looking back, obviously that would’ve been an unbelievable opportunity.
Were the numbers comparable? I think it was four years, 32 million with Chicago.
Burton: I don’t think it was for Kansas City because they had Travis and they wanted me to be their second guy. But there were three or four other very, very comparable opportunities elsewhere that we were considering as well.
Chicago was great. You were a go-to guy in that offense: 54 catches, 569 yards, six touchdowns, a Pro Bowl alternate. That was the same Bears team that smashed the Rams during the regular season. So a field goal goes in (in the wild card), you win in the divisional round, you’re in the conference championship game, you could be back in a Super Bowl. That Bears team really could have gone the distance, could have won it. And was it the day before that wild card game against Philly, you had a groin injury?
Burton: Yeah, two days before.
Did it come out of nowhere?
Burton: Yeah, it was weird. We didn’t really practice all week for the most part. And then on Friday, we were practicing. And I had some crazy pain in the groin and it was just weird. The whole situation was super weird. I woke up the next day in agonizing pain. I really couldn’t sleep much and I was in the facility at 4:45, 5 o’clock in the morning in crazy pain. But it just led me on a really wild goose egg hunt to try to figure out what was going on and a core surgery and then a hip surgery later, we finally figured out what the issue was.
So you were practicing that Friday when you usually don’t? The extra exertion?
Burton: We didn’t practice all week. It was kind of a walkthrough’ish type of things because you’re in the playoffs, so you want to limit as much interaction or contact that you have so you’re not getting hurt. And so yeah. It was a Friday before the game and a really weird and unique situation.
I imagine as a competitor you’re probably thinking in your head: “I’m on the field, I’m making plays. Maybe we’re back in the Super Bowl, maybe we’re back on that stage.”
Burton: We definitely were good enough, were talented enough for that. Our defense was out of this world. Like I was saying about the Eagles this year, that defensive line and linebacker core we had — shoot, even the DBs and corners— that whole defense in general, Vic Fangio was actually the defensive coordinator for us in Chicago. And they did very similar to what the Eagles did this year. They didn’t blitz much because they didn’t need to. They could get home a lot of times. And so they were always a threat. They always kept us in the game and Mitch was playing at a high level that year. And so we definitely had all the talent, all the tools to go very far for sure.
And so it took a while to figure out what was going on with the groin? You hear that a lot — groin, core, muscle hip. It can be hard for doctors to figure out what in the hell’s going on that area of the body.
Burton: The truth behind it is the core muscle is a lot faster recovery. A lot of people will do the core muscle stuff first to see if it is any better. And then once you don’t get any better, then they do the hip. But the hip is such a long recovery that they don’t want just jump to that. And so you got to go through this parade of treatments and that type of stuff to figure out what actually is going on. And then eventually you end up doing the hip and everything gets a lot better after that.
You played a little longer, too. You get to Indy with Frank Reich and Sirianni.
Burton: So I was done after Chicago. Like I said, I didn’t want to be a lifer, so I was ready to get out and Frank called me. Frank was the offensive coordinator in Philly when we won and I had an unbelievable relationship with him. And so he called me. Same thing, I was out back in my backyard and my agent’s like, “Hey, you’re going to get a couple more calls.” And so I probably had five or six teams call and had some really good conversations, but I was pretty sure I’m done. I’m not going to go out and play again. I had a lot of guaranteed money from Chicago, so no matter what team I signed with, they would sign me for minimum because I was getting the guaranteed money from Chicago, so it wasn’t a financial thing. I wasn’t going to make any more money, dah-dah-dah. I was going to make the same amount of money if I was sitting here in my house or I was going to go play. I was done.
Frank called me and we had a really good conversation. They had just lost Eric Ebron to the Steelers. And he was like, “Trey, I’m telling you, I wouldn’t call you if I didn’t need you.” We’re going to take care of you. And just out of the respect I had for him and the conversation that I was having, I was like, “Man, I really like this guy.” And my wife and I prayed over it, talked about it. It doesn’t just mean that I’m going to go play ball again. That means we have to relocate. The family has to get up and go. And my family would always come with me everywhere I went. And we have to find schools and housing and it’s a lot more complicated than like, “Oh, am I going to go play or am I not going to go play?” And so a big factor was that Philip Rivers was there. A guy that has played forever and knows defenses and offenses like the back of his hand. And so there’s a lot of things that went into it.
I ended up signing there and had a lot of fun in Indy. Indy stinks during Covid, I could tell you that. It’s not a city you want to live in, in the middle of the Covid, but we had a great time. Organization’s great. Some of those people in the facility are some of the best people I’ve been around and I was really glad I ended up doing that.
You guys were 11-5. Was that the year you played the Bills in the playoffs?
Burton: We were really good. Similar thing. Our defense was awesome. We had Kenny Moore, our pass rush was out of this world. We had guys that get after the quarterback and, on offense, I had Philip. It was so much fun playing with him. He’s such a different guy being that old and with that much knowledge and he always got us in the right play. It was so crazy. And the way he conducted the offense was so unique and I’m really glad I got to experience that. We had a great relationship. It was just really special. It was cool being with Sirianni and one of my favorite coaches of all time: Jason Michael. He’s the tight end coach in Philly now. Sirianni brought him with him when he went to Philly. But yeah, it was cool to be around those guys and meet those guys and there was a lot of good that came out of that situation.
We’ve got Baby No. 3 on the way in June. I’m bracing for impact with that zone defense. How in the hell does Philip Rivers do it? You had to have seen it up close to some degree. How many kids does he have? Ten?
Burton: I don’t know, bro. But it was really cool seeing his kids around during the offseason. He would bring ‘em out and they would shag balls and snap it to him and they would throw it to us every once in a while. And it was just cool for him to bring them around and he wasn’t separate from them. They were definitely in his life day-to-day, and that was really inspiring and pretty cool for me to see.
What was Sirianni like up close? We hear and we see the energy.
Burton: Fireball. What you see is what you get with him. Really bright football-minded. But he is a firecracker, man. He’ll fire you up and he’ll love on you at the same exact time. I remember one of my first days there during spring practice, we might’ve had the day off when we were just watching film and everybody left and I was doing some treatment stuff and he walks through the training room and he was like, “Hey, you want to go shoot some hoops?” I’m like, “Sure.” And so we go into the team meeting room and they had a basketball hoop and we were in there with me and three or four other coaches shooting, playing PIG and screwing around. But that’s him. That embodies him 100 percent. He is a big joker, loves jokes. He’s joking nonstop. One of the biggest jokers I’ve been around. But then on the other side, you do something wrong or you give him some attitude, he’ll fire you up really, really quick.
I’d imagine that’s all guys want — authenticity.
Burton: For sure. For sure.
You can smell fake a mile away.
Burton: You can appreciate it and you can have a real conversation with him and it’s not going to hurt his feelings. He genuinely wants to know what you think and what you’re feeling. He doesn’t just ask you, “Hey, what's going on?” and then keeps on moving to the next person. He wants eye contact and to have a conversation and get to know you and understand you a little bit more. And I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s flourished. Your first head coaching gig in general is tough, but to have it in the city of Philadelphia is, man, that’s a tough gig. But he was built for it and you’ve seen his success and so happy for him and this whole entire family. He deserves it.
I mean, the amount of time he puts in. Last year I went to go watch training camp in Philly and they had just come back from one of their preseason games and I’m walking through the facility, I’m hanging with Jason Michael, and he’s like, “You want to go say what’s up to Nick real quick?” I'm like, “Yeah.” And so we walk in. We knock on his office door, he doesn’t answer. We knock on it again. Jason opens it to peek his head in there and he’s passed out on the couch sleeping because he was watching film all night and just knocked out entirely. His commitment to the team. He wakes up and he’s like, “Sorry, man. I just got done watching film on the game we just played last night and I got a couple hours until our coaches meeting.” But he woke up and I sat there for 30 minutes and had a great conversation. I was asking about the family and the kids and he likes to talk about fishing. I used to fish a lot down here. So yeah, he’s just a genuine dude and a great guy.
How easily we forget, a year ago the city wanted to banish him to the streets with “Rickety Cricket.” They wanted him gone. Both coordinators are fired. Given the energy around the situation from afar, I was surprised he kept his job with how much it seemed the constituents wanted him out. And when he’s going through that — knowing him like you know him — you just said he’s “built for it.” Is that what you’re thinking?
Burton: You just never really know through the media, you never really know what’s true and what’s not true. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors, especially in the Philadelphia media. They’re not known for being the most honest people in the entire world. They’re very opinionated, and just because you feel like this should happen doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. I don’t know how close he was to being fired or anything like that. But I knew with him hiring Vic and just me knowing Vic and how unbelievable a defensive mind he is, Nick has the personality to be able to weather that stuff. He’s not going to change. He’s not going to be sad or anything like that. He’s going to put his foot on the gas and do the best he can for that organization and that team. And I knew he had the right people behind them, and he leaned on those guys. He still does lean on those guys a lot. He lets them give a lot of input honestly. He is very open-minded from that standpoint.
So you never really know what’s truly happening. There’s a lot of things, obviously playing seven years and playing in college. You hear this on TV, but what really is going on is something completely different. So I never really was worried about it. I knew he was going to do really well, especially how well he did his first year there in Philly, and how much has changed personnel-wise. They’ve just gotten better. And so really happy for him and the whole organization.
Trey Burton, we hear that name, we’re going to think of that play in Minneapolis, but how do you want to be remembered? How does Trey Burton want to be remembered when it’s all said and done?
Burton: I haven’t really put too much thought behind it. Honestly. I could care less. As long as it’s positive, I could care less. All I really care about is what my kids think, what my wife thinks. The people that are close to me think. I can care less about everybody else, honestly. But hopefully it’s positive.
All Super Bowl LIX coverage, icymi:
REQUIEM FOR AN EPIC QUEST: Making Sense of the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs Season...
What the Philadelphia Eagles' ass-kicking tells the rest of the NFL
CARNAGE: The Philadelphia Eagles didn't only win Super Bowl LIX...
Talent vs. Vibes: How the Philadelphia Eagles avoided an 'avalanche' to get to Super Bowl LIX
Scorched Earth: Xavier Worthy is only getting started with the Kansas City Chiefs
Pod: How the Kansas City Chiefs mentally BURY you, with Joshua Brisco
Happy Hour Replay: Eli Manning HOF debate, Nick Sirianni & Bland Tom Brady with SI's Conor Orr