Nick Foles, the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, will be representing the Texas Hill Country at Super Bowl LII. Foles graduated from Austin’s Westlake High School in 2007, where he was a star of the high school football team. Foles is the second Westlake High School graduate to make a Super Bowl appearance. Drew Brees, who graduated from Westlake in 1997, won a championship with the New Orleans Saints in 2010.
Additionally, Malcolm Brown, a defensive lineman for the New England Patriots hails from Brenham, Texas where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. He then went on to play football for the University of Texas at Austin.
Following in the Manning Brothers’ Footsteps
Photo: Facebook/the.nick.foles.era
Together, Foles and Brees are the second Super Bowl quarterback duo from the same high school. The first, of course, is the Manning brothers.
“I like that,” Brees told Yahoo! Sports, with a grin. “We’re proud of that. We’re very proud of that.”
According to Yahoo! Sports, one man coached both at Westlake: Derek Long was the defensive coordinator when Brees was in school and the head coach when Foles broke Brees’ passing records. Asked by phone this week what they had in common, Long said this:
“They’re both slow,” he said laughing. “Drew will probably come after me. The offensive coordinator wouldn’t let him run the ball.”
There is some truth there. Sports experts report that neither Brees or Foles looked like speed demons in high school, so they relied on their eyes and minds (and arms) to win. Foles actually excelled at basketball at Westlake, but he has never been flashy.
“They never take the accolades on themselves,” Long said. “They will always say the offensive line did a great job. That’s a leadership style people can really relate to. If I know it’s not all about him, I’m going to play harder. I think those teammates played harder.”
Photo: Facebook/fox26houston
The Super Bowl LII will be held at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN on Sunday, February 4th. The Philadelphia Eagles will face the perennially successful New England Patriots. For those only there for the halftime performance, this year’s headliner is Justin Timberlake.
