When he said it in Chicago in January, it was crazy talk. But now that he’s in Philadelphia, Alshon Jeffery looks like a prophet.
The Eagles wide receiver can laugh about it now, now that he’s on the best team in the NFC and perhaps the NFL.
But when a 3-13 Bears season ended, Jeffery seemed bold and/or nuts when he declared: “I guarantee you we’ll win the Super Bowl next year.”
“I never said a team, though,” Jeffery said Tuesday, via Tim McManus of ESPN.com. “I never said a team.”
It’s all working out well for Jeffery, who signed a one-year deal with the Eagles, earning him a pile of cash as well as a culture change. He’s also a huge part of an exciting offense, and that makes up for the fact his gross numbers aren’t what they were. He was nearly a 90-catch-a-year player for the Bears (when he was healthy), and he’s on pace for 61 catches this year.
He does not seem upset about that.
“Winning championships, that’s most important to me,” he said. “A lot of players make a lot of money, but they never make the playoffs, never get to experience a lot of things. Like being here in Philly, the atmosphere where we all want that for each other. We all want to go to the playoffs. We all want to win a championship. We’re all together. I think players who want a lot of individual stats, my opinion, there team doesn’t do well. It’s not basketball. In basketball, I can go out there and score 40 or 50 and we can win . . . Football you need everybody.”
If they do win a championship, he’ll be well positioned to enter the free agent market again. And if he does, it will be interesting to see if he’s still as committed to success over cash.