Bowling Birds

The buzz surrounding this year’s Super Bowl feels rather tame compared to previous years. Apart from the Sam Darnold redemption arc and the Patriots’ turnaround in short order under 2025 NFL Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel, there weren’t an abundance of particularly splashy storylines emerging from Santa Clara in the days leading up to the big game.

Perhaps that narrative is skewed a bit, though that’s merely outside perception.

For those without rooting interest, and maybe more entranced in the commercial ads, there are relevant Eagles angles on Sunday that could renew interest in the game itself. Four former Eagles – three on the New England Patriots, one on the Seattle Seahawks – will be announced as starters on the NFL’s biggest stage.

Without exception, each individual has experienced a winding path, marred with setbacks and adversity, to reach the bright lights of Levi’s Stadium. Here’s a truncated overview of how they arrived.

GETTY IMAGES: Former Eagles iDL Milton Williams, one of the biggest reasons for the team’s Super Bowl blowout of the Chiefs, hopes to get his second ring with the Pats.

New England Patriots

DT Milton Williams

An Eagles 2021 third-round pick out of Louisiana Tech, Williams initially entered a room of interior linemen that included veterans Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave and Hassan Ridgeway. Still, Williams quickly took to the directives of position coach Tracy Rocker and factored into the team’s defensive plans, playing 41 percent of the snaps. The room got a bit more crowded in 2022, with veterans Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh, resulting in a dip in playing time for Williams, who showcased relentless effort and shrewd use of leverage in his opportunities, collecting four sacks and six quarterback hits. If there were any doubt, the Eagles had identified a building block at the position.

Williams notched 10 starts the following season, but experienced his inevitable breakout campaign in 2024, serving as a centerpiece in the teeth of the NFL’s top defense under coordinator Vic Fangio. For perspective, Williams, who appeared in all 17 regular season games (seven starts), compiled a career-high five sacks and 10 quarterback hits. He added two more quarterback sacks in Super Bowl LIX, in the Eagles’ 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The harsh reality of the Eagles’ last offseason is that the team had no shot at retaining its homegrown prospect. Williams had effectively priced himself out of the Eagles’ budget and was positioned, for the first time in his career, to command life-changing money, which the Patriots provided. Williams, who played a career-high 60 percent of the defensive snaps, amassed 3.5 sacks in the regular season over 12 games – and another two in the Wild Card round of the AFC playoffs.

The reserve defensive tackle made good on the Patriots’ investment, serving as a disruptive interior force, and his playoffs performance is among the many reasons the Patriots are playing Sunday in Santa Clara. While it wasn’t realistic to expect the Eagles to invest more into a position that already had Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo, Williams during his time in Philadelphia was nothing but first-class. And he delivered on the grandest of stages, doing his part to help push the 2024 team over the finish line. Now, Williams will have a chance to win back-to-back championships.

LB Christian Elliss

A common theme shared among each player listed is that they all carry compelling stories. In the case of Elliss, the son of former Detroit Lions defensive lineman Luther Elliss, his path is one of perseverance.

A rookie free agent signing of the Minnesota Vikings out of Idaho in 2021, Elliss’ stay at his first stop was an abbreviated one, as he was waived ahead of cutdowns. He would latch onto the Eagles’ practice squad weeks later, though was released by mid-October. He spent a week on the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad later that year and rejoined the Eagles’ practice squad shortly thereafter. His regular season debut came in Week 18 that season.

The 2022 season offered more of the same for Elliss, who spent most of the season on the Eagles’ practice squad before ultimately being signed to the active roster later that season. He made the team outright the following season, logging 238 special teams snaps across 12 games. Elliss would make his first NFL start in the infamous 42-19 loss to the 49ers and was waived in a corresponding move once the Eagles signed linebacker Shaq Leonard.

While the team, presumably, expected Elliss to clear waivers and return on the practice squad, roughly a half-dozen teams placed claims, with the Patriots ultimately awarded his services. Elliss hasn’t looked back, registering 18 starts — including 13 this season — for the Patriots over 35 games. The uber-athletic and rangy defender, who has compiled his share of highlight-reel collisions this season, finished with a career-high 94 stops, three passes defended, and a forced fumble. Keep an eye out for Elliss roaming the second level, where he figures to see plenty of action Sunday in Santa Clara.

WR Mack Hollins

The eccentric wide receiver entered the NFL with the Eagles as a fourth-round pick in 2017, collecting 226 yards and a touchdown on 16 receptions (22 targets), while also doubling as a special teams ace. Hollins added a nine-yard reception in the Eagles’ narrow Wild Card win over the Falcons before the Eagles proceeded to tear through the NFC playoffs en route to their first Super Bowl victory.

Hollins would miss the entire 2018 season with a groin injury and was never able to etch out an offensive role in Philadelphia despite playing a touch under 50 percent of the offensive snaps in 2019, mustering only 125 yards on 10 receptions (22 targets) across 12 games before he was ultimately waived.

Hollins found a home in short order with the Miami Dolphins, where he’d play another two seasons before his career took a nomadic turn. Following one-year stops with the Las Vegas Raiders — where he’d establish career highs in receptions (57) and yards (690) — Falcons and Bills, Hollins’ latest stop brought him to New England, where he signed a two-year deal last offseason. With the Patriots, the 32-year-old started 13 games, reeling in 46 passes for 556 yards and a pair of touchdowns. An abdominal injury shelved him late in the season, but Hollins made his return to the starting lineup in the AFC Championship game, bringing in both targets for a total of 51 yards. On Sunday, Hollins will have an opportunity to become a two-time Super Bowl Champion.

GETTY IMAGES: Undrafted CB Josh Jobe couldn’t grab a starting job in his time with the Eagles but has thrived in Seattle, where he started for the NFC champs.

Seattle Seahawks

CB Josh Jobe

A rookie free agent signing of the Eagles in 2022 following a productive career at Alabama – where he once teamed with Denver Broncos cornerback and 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain – Jobe, widely considered a prized post-draft signing, began at the bottom of the totem pole in his roster bid. Resume and pedigree aside, nothing other than opportunity was assured, but Jobe performed consistently enough in training camp to become one of three undrafted rookies with safety Reed Blankenship and offensive lineman Josh Sills to make the 53-man roster. He appeared in 11 regular season games as a rookie, mostly contributing on special teams, where he rolled up 228 snaps. Jobe appeared in all three postseason contests, including Super Bowl LVII, logging 23 special teams snaps.

Jobe only played 12 defensive snaps as a rookie, but would be called upon for an expanded role the following season because of injuries, appearing in all 17 games (three starts). In starts against the Vikings, Commanders and Jets, Jobe demonstrated some signs of promise intermixed with growing pains. His overly handsy, uber-physical tendencies and lack of recovery speed led to a propensity for drawing penalties – perhaps best underscored late that season in Seattle. While the defense floundered in light of the midseason shift to veteran coordinator Matt Patricia, the secondary was also piece-mealed together, at that point of the season relying more on draftee Kelee Ringo and undrafted rookie Eli Ricks. Jobe, who had largely been relegated to special teams by that point, was inserted for two plays, his first drawing a defensive pass interference penalty on Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf.

Working in Jobe’s favor, however, was his aforementioned special teams prowess. He’d developed into one of the league’s top gunners, landing on the Pro Bowl ballot, and was a force when covering punts. Still, he’d need to showcase progress as a defender to remain the following season under newly minted coordinator Vic Fangio.

When asked that summer about the development of Ricks and Jobe, Fangio’s comment on Jobe called back to a blemish in his game that ultimately removed him from the defensive mix a season prior.

“I think they’re both improving,” Fangio said back in August 2024. “Eli has been doing a nice job. Josh has been getting good reps in there. We’ve got to cut down on his penalties. He’s had a habit of being involved in too many [pass interference calls] or holding calls. We have to get that rectified with him. I do think both guys are working hard and improving, yes.”

Jobe, who had an uneven summer, fell short of making the Eagles’ 53-man roster but would land in Seattle days later, joining the Seahawks’ practice squad. He appeared in 10 games (six starts) for the team in 2024, collecting 37 tackles, seven passes defended and his first career interception. He re-signed with the team in March and put his stamp on a starting spot, starting 15 of the 16 regular season games in which he appeared. The 2025 season proved to be a career season for Jobe, who racked up 54 tackles, 12 passes defended, an interception and a half-sack across 818 defensive snaps.

But Jobe’s success elsewhere shouldn’t be viewed as the Eagles hastily cutting the cord; he landed in an ideal system that accentuates his strengths. Presumably aiding his breakthrough is that Jobe reunited with Karl Scott, the current Seahawks’ defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator who once held the same title when Jobe attended Alabama.

To some, it was obvious that Jobe had more to offer outside of special teams, though it seemed unlikely he would flourish defensively in Philadelphia. Circumstances, timing and fit are everything, and Jobe’s emergence has positioned him to potentially garner a sizeable pay day in free agency. Hats off to him for preparing for, and seizing, his next opportunity.

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is the Eagles reporter for InsideTheBirds.com