First-round pick Nelson Agholor wasn’t an Eagle long before he met Troy Robinson, a janitor at the Eagles training center. In fact, coach Chip Kelly had Robinson pose for photos with him, as a tribute to the background that got him to this place, at this time.
Agholor’s father, a Nigerian immigrant, works as a janitor at the University of South Florida. And the workmanlike traits were clearly passed down to his son.
“I think I understand the way life works,” Agholor said, via Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I don’t feel like I’m entitled to anything. . . .
“Work like a peasant. That’s the mind-set.”
His father worked many jobs, sometimes riding a bike between them since he couldn’t afford a car. His mother worked at a nursing home. And Agholor and his four siblings saw every day how they worked to provide for the family.
“My parents have raised us to be very humble and to understand everything in life you have to earn,” Agholor said.
That’s a lesson coaches don’t mind hearing from their players, particularly first-round picks.