By the time he was about 45 minutes into his interview with Jason Kelce on the latest New Heights podcast, Howie Roseman had definitely let his guard down.
Roseman had already spoken at length about his own philosophy of roster building, Jordan Davis’s potential, why the Eagles drafted Kelce in 2010 and a lot more, and he wasn’t slowing down.
So Kelce kept peppering him with questions, and Roseman, a notoriously reticent interview with the mainstream media, kept talking.
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And talking and talking and talking.
By the time Kelce and Roseman finished their hour-long chat, Roseman had opened up in a way he never had before in the nearly quarter of a century since Joe Banner first hired him as an intern in 1999.
And it was right around the 46-minute mark where Kelce asked Roseman to share his “Welcome to the NFL moment.”
Howie didn’t hesitate.
NFL
“I came in and my first real full season (as a full-time employee) was 2000 and we made the playoffs and then we went to the (NFC) Championship Game in 2001,” he said. “We lost to St. Louis - St. Louis was the Greatest Show on Turf, we played really well, Tory Vincent got hurt during the week, Buck (Correll Buckhalter) got hurt at the end of the first half, he was doing really well (9-for-55 in the first half), and we lost the game probably to a better team.
“The next year, went to the (NFC) Championship Game in 2002, it was the last game at the Vet, we played Tampa, we come out, and Donovan had gotten hurt and missed a bunch of games, Brian Mitchell returns the opening kick like 50 yards (actually 70), Duce takes it 50 to the house (actually 20), the whole stadium’s shaking. We wound up losing (27-10). Joe Jurevicius takes like a 71-yard slant to the house (actually to the 5), Ronde Barber picks one off for 6 and we lose.
"The next year we play Carolina at home in the Championship Game, Donovan gets hurt, he punctures a rib in the first quarter, Koy Detmer comes in and we lose to Carolina.”
None of this really has anything to do with Roseman’s Welcome to the NFL Moment, but it’s amazing just to hear him talking about those three straight NFC Championship Game losses. Remember, at this point he was still an entry-level front office employee. In 2000 and 2001, he was salary cap specialist and staff counsel and from 2003 through 2005 he was director of football administration.
It wasn’t until 2010 – when he had been with the organization in one form or another for 11 years – that he became general manager.
But that’s a story for another day.
Howie picks up the story going into 2004.
“The next year, we sign T.O., we sign Jevon Kearse, we go to the Super Bowl, we lose in the Super Bowl,” he said “And then the next year (2005) we come back after losing, there was an issue with T.O. You probably heard about it, and it was awful that year.
“We end up 5-11 and it’s just a bad year. Donovan got hurt, T.O. got suspended (and after the season) Andy (Reid) basically says, ‘Hey everyone’s tired, everyone’s freaking exhausted, let’s take two weeks and we’ll reconvene and we’ll have plenty of time to talk about the team.’
“At the time I was traveling a little bit, on the road, and I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to go to South Florida, go to Miami for a couple days and get some sun on my face, and I get upgraded (to first class on the flight).
“So I’m like, ‘Man, maybe things are turning a little bit.’ So I get on the plane and the pilot comes on and says we’re just waiting for one passenger and then we’ll be on our way to Miami and I realize the seat in front of me is open, so the passenger we’re waiting for is the person that’s going to sit in front of me.
“And as they’re about to close the doors T.O., walks on the plane, and so T.O. walks over, he looks at me, I kind of was in the middle of that (in 2005), dealing with that, and he kind of looks at me, nods his head, he takes his seat, and he jacks it into my lap for the whole 2 ½ hours.
“And he gets off and I was like, ‘Have a good trip to Miami!’ And he was like BLEEP YOU. And I was like, ‘OK, so it’s not all going to be championship games and Super Bowls,’ and I think that was my first moment where I realized that what we had done was unusual and it was hard to get to.
“Great player, but it was definitely welcome to the NFL.”
For the record, after Roseman shared this story, T.O. denied he cursed at Roseman:
“Anybody that knows me, knows I wouldn’t have said Bleep You to anyone! But ok, if that’s how you remember it then oh well.”