Every year it seems an NFL player or coach guarantees his team will be playing for or winning the Super Bowl.
The only question is, who will make the yawn-inspiring guarantee this year?
Byron Maxwell of the Philadelphia Eagles has taken the initiative in 2015, declaring to MMQB’s Jenny Vrentas that his squad will be playing for the Lombardi Trophy next February.
After hinting that Philadelphia will be playing in “No. 50,” as Maxwell called it, he finally made this bold statement:
“You can take that as a guarantee. That’s just me believing in my team and the product we’re going to put out there on the field. I really do believe that. I have no choice but to think that way.”
While it certainly doesn’t have the panache of, say, a Rex Ryan guarantee, it’s clear Maxwell has put Super-Bowl-or-bust pressure on his team.
Coming from that same culture in Seattle, he understandably has high expectations.
Maxwell was brought in this off-season as a high-priced free agent to help fix the porous secondary of the Eagles, and he brought along with him the outspoken confidence of Richard Sherman, to boot.
Rarely do these kinds of guarantees work out well for those who speak them into existence, however. The Eagles are going to be a lot of fun to watch this year, but given the many personnel moves made by head coach Chip Kelly, there’s no telling how this team will finish.
The Eagles very well could shock the world and win a championship. On the other hand, it wouldn’t likely surprise anyone if they finished near the bottom of the NFC East, either.