BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Nick Foles climbed the steps to the little conference-room stage Monday morning to officially accept from the commissioner of the NFL the full-size silver football presented annually to the Most Valuable Player from the previous evening’s Super Bowl.
The morning-after ceremony and press conference have been on the league’s calendar for a long time, and the attendance of Roger Goodell was also scheduled well in advance, but having Foles as the guest of honor couldn’t really have been predicted by anyone, probably including Foles himself.
There have been other stand-ins who succeeded in big games, other bit players who were suddenly cast into leading roles and knocked it dead.