Getty Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni knows the expectations are always extremely high in Philadelphia.
Nick Sirianni earned more street cred than Rocky ringing the Liberty Bell after he dropped an F bomb at the Dallas Cowboys sideline on Sunday Night Football. Philadelphia Eagles fans ate the scene up, with all the gusto of a deranged Michael Myers on Halloween.
Sirianni’s legend continues to rise to unparalleled heights in the City of Brotherly Love. The native of serene and peaceful upstate New York has suddenly turned on the Philly tough guy switch, a football pugilist with a faded blue collar. That’s a compliment in these parts, by the way. But Sirianni’s outburst in Week 6 apparently had a deeper context that no one knew about.
According to Brandon Graham, a few overzealous Cowboys players disrespected Sirianni during last year’s 51-26 loss. It stands to reason that the slight remained on Sirianni’s mind.
“He said a couple players came up to him and said, ‘Ya’ll don’t belong on this field with us,’ and all this stuff, ‘We the NFC East,'” Graham told Angelo Cataldi, via Audacy’s SportsRadio 94WIP. “So, it was cool to kind of hear that to know it was building up for this moment so that was probably part of why he was going off too.”
“It was ROCKING in there…it just carried over all week.”
Nick Sirianni on the atmosphere in Philadelphia leading up to their game on SNF against Dallas.
Interesting. When Sirianni was asked to confirm Graham’s story, the fiery head coach squashed the flame by dodging the question altogether – although there was enough levity in his voice to assume it was probably true.
“There are so many things that go on during the game,” Sirianni said. “I do have a lot of respect for that team and those players on that team. They’ve got really good players and they’re going to be good this year, I know that.”
Sirianni Dishes on ‘Heated’ Eagles-Cowboys Rivalry
Sirianni is a master of sticking to the script. Just like quarterback Jalen Hurts, he doesn’t ride emotions. He never gets too high or too low. After the Eagles beat the Cowboys 26-17 in Week 6, the Eagles’ fearless leader was asked to evaluate his first career victory over Philly’s fiercest NFC East rival. He wouldn’t give out any bulletin-board material – “they all count the same,” Sirianni said – but finally admitted that it was “cool” to be on the winning side.
The hated rivalries🍿
“These are the heated rivalries. They are heated rivalries that guys are still playing into,” Sirianni told reporters. “Sometimes I hear Michael Irvin talking about that rivalry that he has with Philadelphia. I think that is so cool. I hear Eagles players of the past talking about how important this game is with [Brian] Westbrook and [Donovan] McNabb and those guys and [Michael] Vick. I think that is really cool. There is no doubt that that is cool.”
Cowboys Star DeMarcus Lawrence Refuses to Credit Eagles
Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence has a history of trash-talking the Eagles. He loves it. Scratch that, he thrives on it. And even though the two-time Pro Bowler was held in check on Sunday – 8 tackles, 0 sacks, plus a pancake from Jason Kelce – he still felt the need to discredit Philadelphia. The Cowboys simply beat themselves.
“What I saw today was us beating ourselves,” Lawrence told reporters. “We gave them more opportunities to score the ball and I’ve got to be more disciplined on third-and-5. It’s all about getting back in it and cleaning it up, learning from these mistakes, and moving on. Like I said, I don’t feel like we should hang our hats on a game like this. We know we played tough and learned from our mistakes.”
.@Eagles @JasonKelce not everyone has a “flipper” the way Kelce does. Maybe it’s that star on the side of those helmets that makes him FLIP. This film room is electric today. #BaldysBreakdowns