NEW ORLEANS — The last time the Eagles were in the Super Bowl, on the trip back home they ended up leaving a valuable piece of luggage behind.
One of their coordinators.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon took the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals two years ago, immediately after the Eagles had lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Cardinals’ home stadium in Glendale.
The deal had been in the works for a while. In fact, it violated the league’s tampering rules. Gannon had to issue an apology, and Arizona had to compensate the Eagles with a swap of draft picks.
Today, with the Eagles in another Super Bowl against the Chiefs, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore seems all but a foregone conclusion to become head coach of the New Orleans Saints next week. Many locals here are expecting it, at least, already speculating on what sort of changes he will make.
But Moore isn’t the only Eagle with a link to this region.
Wide receiver DeVonta Smith, the Slim Reaper himself, grew up 90 miles north of here in Amite City. Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and inside linebacker Zack Baun were both drafted by the Saints, in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Running back Tyrion Davis-Price, safety Andre’ Sam and cornerback Parry Nickerson – all either practice squad or depth players – also grew up in or around New Orleans.
“It feels great, man,” Smith said Thursday of playing in a Super Bowl here. “Being from a small hometown community, everybody supports each other. Just having that love from those people that have been supporting me from Little League to middle school to high school, it means a lot to me.”
Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy and two national titles with Alabama, played in the Superdome twice in high school for the state championship. His Warriors finished runner-up in 2014 and 2016. His parents, as they were back then, will be in attendance on Sunday (and hoping for a different result for their son’s squad).
“A lot of the things I’ve done, it’s because of them, them supporting me, taking me different places, paying for me to go different places and things like that,” Smith said. “Without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
He added that the Super Bowl and the NFL, as well as the Superdome itself, are central to this region, both economically and emotionally, particularly in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 1995 and most recently the domestic terrorist attack on Bourbon Street.
“The people around here, with the Saints being around, with Katrina and the history … I think it just means a lot to this city,” he said. “It was kind of something that helped them get over Katrina.”
Baun, of course, was mostly a special-teams player with the Saints before signing a one-year contract with the Eagles. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw something in him, and he has thrived as a starting linebacker, earning first-team All Pro honors and a Pro Bowl selection.
“It’s definitely special being back here in New Orleans, playing and being here for four years,” Baun said. “Very comfortable. It’s awfully poetic. After the season, when I really look back and look at it and think about it, just my journey in general is poetic, I think. It’s cool to be back here.
“I think when I was here, I didn’t really know what I needed,” he said. “I didn’t know if I was an on-the-ball backer or an off-the-ball backer. I just knew that it didn’t necessarily feel right. Maybe I wasn’t getting it right away. But time ran its course and I just kept continuing to work on my craft and get better at all the things, so whatever opportunity came, I could take advantage of it.”
In August of 2022, Gardner-Johnson was traded by the Saints to Philadelphia, where he was part of the Super Bowl run before signing with Detroit for a year. Now he’s back with the Birds, back in the Super Bowl, and back in NOLA.
“I think, to me, it’s just a blessing,” Gardner-Johnson said. “It’s just a full-circle moment. It just shows guys around the world (that) anybody can do it. I mean, coming from where I’m from, anybody can overcome a lot of things.”
Gardner-Johnson, from the rural eastern coast of Florida, played college ball with the Gators before the Saints drafted him 105th overall.
“I think getting drafted by New Orleans, I didn’t think I was going to be able to stay on the team,” he said. “Getting drafted, you know, going fourth round, it was a trial. And going back to the spot I got drafted to play in the Super Bowl is amazing.
“Winning started (with the Eagles) before I got here, and it was instilled in me with Sean (Payton),” Gardner-Johnson said of the former Saints head coach. “Shout out to Sean Payton. I’ve always been around a great group of guys.”
Many folks around these parts are pulling for the Birds on Sunday, in part because they’re tired of seeing Kansas City win it, and in part because of the Eagles’ ties to Louisiana. (Chiefs safety Justin Reid is from Prairieville, La., but he already has two Super Bowl rings.)
“The job’s not done,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I knew the job wasn’t done when we lost. I knew the job wasn’t done when I left.”
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NOTES >> Eagles DT Jalen Carter (illness) missed his media availability for the second straight day, but is expected to play. He has practiced on a limited basis. … The Chiefs have reported no significant injuries.
Source: Berkshire mont