A Report Came Out That Labeled Carson Wentz As "Selfish" And "Egotistical". I'm Here To Say There Is Nothing Wrong With That
By now I’m sure that if you’re an Eagles fan, you’ve already seen the report that came out this morning. But in case you didn’t, Philly Voice put out a pretty in-depth report filled with a ton of (anonymous) sources today which essentially said that Carson Wentz is “selfish”, “uncompromising” and that his ego is what caused the team to be 5-6 with him as a starter this season.
Now let me first start off by saying this–I do not think that Joseph Santoliquito simply threw some bullshit report out there just to stir up a controversy and get a ton of clicks. So I’m not going to discredit everything in the report simply because I don’t like what it has to say. I’m sure that there is plenty of truth in there and I’m sure that Carson Wentz does, in fact, have some sort of an ego. The same way that quite literally every athlete who has ever gotten to the highest level has. That’s the thing. These guys are professional athletes and guys like Carson Wentz? Well he is elite. Think about how many kids out there in America play quarterback. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions. And how many of those kids then grow up to be a starting quarterback in the National Football League? Well there can only be 32 at a time so I’d say maybe 0.00003%? Carson Wentz is one of them. And he was an MVP-candidate before tearing his ACL last year. So you don’t get to that point as an athlete and not develop at least some sort of an ego. Just look at all the reports that have come out about Tom Brady over the years. Calling a starting quarterback in the NFL “egotistical” would be like calling water “wet”, even though water technically isn’t wet but rather it just makes other things that it touches wet.
So Carson Wentz letting his ego get in the way a bit here really isn’t much of a story. There’s nothing too out of the ordinary there. What I think is a more glaring issue is right here–
Philly Voice – Indeed, sources describe Wentz as “incredibly hard working,” “determined,” and “highly intelligent.” But the true Wentz is more nuanced and complicated, with sources describing him as “selfish,” “uncompromising,” “egotistical,” one who plays “favorites” and doesn’t like to be “questioned,” one who needs to “practice what he preaches” and fails “to take accountability.” …
…This was different in 2016 and ’17 under former Eagles coaches Frank Reich, now the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach, and John DeFilippo, the new Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator, because they would rein Wentz in and stop him from going off-point, sources said. Reich and DeFilippo are two respected, entrenched NFL coaches who have experienced success. They forced Wentz to run the Eagles’ offense, a Super Bowl-winning offense that scored 41 points in the biggest game in franchise history and outdueled all-time great Tom Brady…
…Reich and DeFilippo stressed to Wentz the importance of sticking with the play that was called — a completed pass was there waiting. When Wentz deviated from that, it was sometimes met with bad consequences, like an interception or a sack. When Wentz trusted what Reich and DeFilippo called, it led to an MVP-like season that produced an Eagles’ single-season franchise record 33 touchdown passes and an 11-2 record in 13 games.
Basically what I’m getting out of that is that Frank Reich and John DeFilippo were much better at managing Carson’s ego than Mike Groh has been so far. And that’s an issue. Because like I said before, you’re not going to get an elite athlete who doesn’t have any sort of ego at all. You don’t get to that level without one. So every great team needs a few great coaches who can then manage those egos and keep them in check. It’s clear that Reich and DeFlippo could do that, but Mike Groh cannot. Or at least he hasn’t so far. To me, that’s the biggest part of this story so far. That the Eagles don’t have anybody on staff who can manage that ego anymore. That’s a way bigger issue than the fact that the starting quarterback thinks that he knows what is best for the team. Carson Wentz doesn’t have an ego issue any more than the Philadelphia Eagles have a player management issue.
The 2nd “bombshell” from this report is that people within the organization think that Carson was selfish to return as quickly as he did this season.
PV – Our sources expressed the same narrative: Wentz was so hell-bent on getting back after Foles led the Eagles to the Super Bowl that he risked his own health, the health of the offense and the health of the Eagles in doing so. That translated into a 6-7 season, up until Pederson announced that Wentz had a stress fracture in his back and would be doubtful the final three regular-season games, spurring further questions about Wentz’s long-term health.
Listen. Carson Wentz is the face of this franchise. The Philadelphia Eagles moved up to draft him 2nd overall. He’s QB1. And he just had to sit on the sidelines and watch his team win the Super Bowl without him last year after an ACL tear ended his MVP-caliber season. Find me one person in Carson Wentz’s position there who wouldn’t want to return as fast as humanly possible this year after having to go through what he did at the end of last season. Find me one person in the entire world who wouldn’t be hell-bent on getting back. If there’s anybody out there who says that they wouldn’t, they are either a liar or an absolute shit competitor. Again, you don’t get to the level that Carson Wentz is at without being a competitor. I’m sure that he loves Nick Foles. I’m sure that he was beyond happy for Nick Foles. But that doesn’t change the fact that he saw his team win a Super Bowl without him on the field and that, as a competitor, he would want to have his team back as soon as possible. Does that make him selfish? I don’t know, maybe. But part of being a great competitor is being a little selfish so that is simply not an issue either.
Carson Wentz thinks that he knows what is best for this team. Carson Wentz desperately wanted to get back out on the field as soon as possible after suffering a season-ending injury the year before. If that makes Carson Wentz “egotistical” and “selfish”, well then I am completely find with having an egotistical and selfish quarterback. Because that’s exactly what I want to see out of my guy. That’s the kind of fight and drive I want to see out of a competitor. Now what it comes down to is the Eagles bringing people on staff who can manage Carson’s ego and reign him in a little like Frank Reich and John DeFilippo were able to do. And now that he’ll be beyond a full year removed from his ACL surgery? The Eagles don’t need to worry about him rushing back out onto the field next season so there’s no reason to worry about that issue again.
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I guess the one big point I’m trying to make here is that Carson Wentz went into this season after tearing his ACL the season before and watching his team win a Super Bowl without him. Obviously it was going to be a weird year for Carson physically, mentally and emotionally. If you take anything that Carson Wentz did or said this past year and make a character label out of it, well that’s just asinine. It was one year. Whatever he did this past season doesn’t mean it’s who Carson truly is as a person or as a player. So he can move on and grow from this season, the Eagles can move on and grow from this season, and as long as the Eagles can find somebody who is able to reel Carson’s ego in every now and then? Well then both Carson Wentz and the rest of the team can all move on and grow together. Simple as that. It was one strange year, but nothing to make an actual issue out of.
Go Birds.