Man Behind The Man

PHILADELPHIA – Upon walking into the Eagles’ locker room on a given Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, glancing toward the back right corner, near the end of a narrow walkway, you’re likely to see veteran offensive lineman Brett Toth conversing with a group of younger linemen.

Typically within earshot is rookie center Drew Kendall, whose locker is stationed two stalls down from Toth. Neighboring lockers aside, the rookie and the veteran have forged a visible connection, which Toth attributed months earlier to Kendall’s professionalism.

He cites Kendall’s businesslike approach of coming to work every day and accepting his role in servicing the starters as examples – a job description that, as Toth explained, includes holding the bag during individuals and understanding how the opposing defense is playing on a given week.

“When you’re a guy that holds the bag for individuals, you’re essentially learning a whole different position,” he added. “Playing a modified d-line and certain techniques that we see on film and you get 10 minutes of a meeting to try and replicate it to service the guys that are gonna be performing. So, just seeing that he’s truly a team guy.”

GETTY IMAGES/Mitchell Leff: Even though he’s a backup, Brett Toth is a leader for the Eagles’ young offensive linemen.

Toth, a seven-year veteran, has been in Kendall’s position before. He was once a wide-eyed rookie, eager to obtain field knowledge from his veteran linemates and immerse himself in the teachings of renowned offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.

Before any of that, though, the mental acuity piece – an often-understated aspect of the job – took priority, which can steepen the learning curve for some.

When it comes to mentorship, Toth has a unique perspective. The 29-year-old is well versed in the Eagles’ rich ancestry of offensive line play. He honed his craft under franchise stalwarts such as Jason Peters, Brandon Brooks and Jason Kelce, the latter of whom demonstrated a diligence in preparation that left a profound influence on the way Toth approaches the game.

“I would ask Jason a lot of questions, probably one too many questions than he wanted to hear,” Toth recalled. “Overhearing a lot of his conversations, whether it was with Stout – I used to remember him speaking to Matt Patricia, as well. And that’s one of the things I noticed, is even offensive players, sometimes the best thing you can do is go to defensive coaches. And a bunch of guys get, in a way, complacent with their scheme and it’s just like, ‘Oh, any given play, we do this.’ But understanding what a defense is trying to do to you, as well. And that was probably a big thing I saw in the way that Kelce prepared every week. Because you always know it’s player versus player, but he was also very aware of the coordinator.

“And for how long he played, he could reference having played this coordinator while he was with a whole different team eight years prior, and understanding the game within the game of, ‘This is the player I’m going against, but I know that this defensive coordinator tends to do this in this situation.’ But just realizing that it’s so much larger than just any given play. It’s a part of where you realize how invested he truly was to this organization.”

Now it’s Toth paying it forward, devoting as much of his time as possible to pouring into the younger linemen. He makes himself available to educate and explain, but also to support and encourage.

There’s a palpable sense of authenticity and relatability in Toth, who himself is an NFL survivor and a byproduct of adaptability, preparedness and staying the course.

He twice relocated to other cities as a young player, navigating the equivalent of NFL limbo, tasked with adjusting to different schemes and coaching techniques. For much of his career, Toth was never afforded the luxury of stability, often teetering on the fringes of various roster renditions. Opportunities have been scarce and the proverbial leash has been invariably shorter.

Pulling from seven years of experience to help arm the next wave for long-term success, Toth’s selflessness when it comes to imparting wisdom is evident. He’s simply doing what those before him did.

“Guys will talk about vets on different teams, and they recognize it’s not like that around the league,” he said. “A lot of places, every vet’s gonna consider it a threat, like, ‘This guy came here to take my job.’ But in reality, I think that’s an example of us putting the team first over everything.

“Like, if it’s not you, then you’re preparing the next guy. I think it’s been that situation for me, where it hasn’t been me. If I can help the guy that it is, that’s my contribution to the team.”

Kendall is just one example of a younger player in whom Toth has invested. Another would be another rookie center Jake Majors, who has mired on the Eagles’ practice squad since early September. A Texas product, Majors might not register as a household name in Philadelphia from the outside, but his role is vitally important to the Eagles’ weekly preparation.

Majors, like Kendall, also helps in preparing the starters on the scout team and in helping grasp the tendencies of the opposition. It’s an anonymous role to most, but Toth, always thoughtful in response, was quick to mention the contributions of the unsung Majors during conversation.

A West Point grad, Toth’s leadership comes naturally. In the Army, he learned that everyone has different leadership and teaching styles and not everyone processes information or teaching points the same way.

Much like Kelce, whom Toth referred to as a “pure example of authenticity,” Toth’s actions reflect his creed of staying true to himself. The reality in today’s world, which Toth pointed out, is that many find it difficult to process truth and candidness. But if one is truly authentic than one can respect the fact that someone else is willing to tell the truth, even if one disagrees with that sentiment.

There are different styles of leadership, and being authentic means leaning into your own convictions and philosophies. There are those who lead by example, refraining from a rah-rah vocal manner and setting the pace in their own way. There are X’s and O’s, knowledge-based leaders who dazzle with brilliance. There’s the authoritative style, channeling a charge-into-battle tone. Simply stated, leadership is not a one-size-fits-all. To be an effective one that endures requires authenticity intertwined with emotional intelligence, both of which are emblematic of Toth.

“That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned in seven years, is you see guys that maybe they don’t get it because it’s not being explained a certain way,” he said. “Maybe they’re visual versus audio. Physical learners. So, I think that’s just a huge aspect of how I treat it as a vet.”

ITB PHOTO/ANDREW DICECCO: Brett Toth has worked his way from journeyman and fringe roster player to the Eagles’ top backup iOL.

For more perspective of Toth’s impact behind the scenes, I caught up with Kendall and Majors during a recent locker room session:

Toth’s leadership

Kendall: “I’d say it’s by example more than anything. He shows up every day, works his butt off, he’s always doing the right things. He’ll go into the o-line room early, and he’ll write down the protection plans and all this stuff for the guys, for his teammates. I think it’s really selfless of him, and I think guys really see that and want to be more like that.”

Majors: “I think Brett does a good job putting himself in our shoes, because he’s been a rookie before. He knows how it feels. I just give all the credit to him because he’s very inclusive with all the rookies, you can ask Drew, Luke [Felix-Fualalo], Willie [Lampkin] – all of us – Brett’s a very inviting guy. Some vets, they show up for work and get out. He wants to pour into the young guys, so you could really appreciate that as a rookie.”

Toth’s mentorship

Kendall: “I would say staying level-headed. I think the biggest thing – you never know, with expectations and stuff like that – he’s just like, ‘Don’t look at everything outside, just focus on what you can control and when your opportunity comes it’ll be your time and you’ll do great.’ So, he just gives me reassuring words of positivity and everything like that.”

Majors: “Brett does a good job of asking questions in the o-line room. And for someone who wants to get to that level of football IQ, I think that’s awesome, because that pushes me to ask similar questions. We know the base stuff; let’s get the 400-500 level course questions going. And I think Brett does a good job of that.”

Toth’s off-field bond-building

The brotherhood forged at the NovaCare Complex amongst the three linemen has even extended beyond the facility. The latest edition of the Battlefield, a tactical video game befitting for three intuitive centers, dropped a couple weeks ago.

Described as a “first-person shooter” game,  Battlefield is what the three played together online every night upon its release, though it has since regressed to a couple nights a week. Sometimes, they’re even joined by another fellow center in Cam Jurgens. They’re all on the same team (more on that in a moment), fighting together, and there’s one engineer while the others serve as support. Adding some background, Majors explained that you can play large-scale maps, like Battle Royale, and the uber-popular game yields somewhere around half a million players daily.

“It’s fun,” Kendall said. “We’re all centers, we kind of have that natural bond of talking football, which has grown into playing Battlefield together and stuff like that. So, it’s been great.”

“It’s basically like the o-line within a football game,” Majors added. “It’s kinda cool.”

And who’s the best?

Kendall: “Oh, it’s Brett, by far. It’s not even close. Jake’s better … I’m the worst, we’ll put it that way. I’ve never played it before, was kinda getting my feet wet a little bit. But Brett’s unreal; he’s always getting those call-outs. I mean, Army guy, you know? But he loves it and it’s fun to play.”

Majors: “Brett is in his own category, for sure. I think Brett’s just pretty natural at video games. I don’t really play too often, but when I do, I have my fair share of kills.”

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com