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First off, in a league that is absolutely overflowing with selfish, egotistical people – the NFL – if other players are calling you selfish and egotistical, that is really, really saying something.
While I don’t know any of them personally, I am guessing that in order to make it to the NFL, being a bit selfish and egotistical is kind of a job requirement. Especially if you are a good enough quarterback to start in the league.
So when several anonymous Eagles players reportedly said their franchise QB Carson Wentz is a bully, selfish, uncompromising, egotistical, plays favorites, doesn’t like to be questioned, doesn’t practice what he preaches, doesn’t take accountability, and not a team guy, it’s a rather scathing indictment.
“He’s had his ass kissed his whole life, and sometimes acts like he’s won 10 Super Bowls, when he hasn’t played in, let alone won, a playoff game yet,” a source told Philly Voice after the Eagles’ 2018 NFL season was finished.
Fast forward to Sunday, and Carson Wentz finally publicly responded to the criticism.
“I know who I am, first of all,” Wentz told the Philadelphia Inquirer in a lengthy interview. “I know how I carry myself, I know I’m not perfect, I know I have flaws. So I’m not going to sit here and say it was inaccurate and completely made up, I’m not going to do that. But at the end of the day, I will say our locker room is really close. If there were guys that had issues, in hindsight, I wish we could have just talked about them.
“It’s never fun to read, but to an extent, you look at it and be like, ‘Well, if someone did have this perception of me, why? What have I done wrong? What can I get better at?’ I realize I have my shortcomings. Yes, I can be selfish. I think we all have selfishness inside of us. There’s human elements to that, that I really look at and say, ‘Well, I can get better.’ I always say I can be better on the field, off the field, how I carry myself.”
Wentz did admit that due to his being injured again and unable to play, he might not have been the most wonderful guy to be around.
“It hasn’t been the easiest last year for me on the physical level, just battling the injuries, but then just personally going through it, sitting on the sideline and then playing and then sitting on the sideline again,” said Wentz. “So I realize I maybe wasn’t the greatest teammate at times because I was emotionally kind of all over the place. To the outside world, I probably didn’t show it much. But internally, you’re definitely fighting some sort of emotions. So there’s things to learn just about how to handle myself in certain situations.”
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has already gone on record saying that the 26-year-old Wentz will be the Eagles’ starting quarterback in 2019. Which means that the 29-year-old Nick Foles is probably going to be traded.
This despite the fact that Foles is 21-11 (.656) during the regular season as the Eagles’ starter with 58 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions (2.52 TD/int ratio), won a Super Bowl and a Super Bowl MVP award, while Wentz is 23-17 (.575) as the starter with 70 touchdowns and 28 interceptions (2.50 TD/int ratio), and back-to-back season-ending injuries.
Whether that turns out to be the right move for the Eagles remains to be seen.