NFL players will go to great lengths to find bulletin board material.
The latest example is Eagles defensive back Darius Slay, who is claiming a relatively innocuous George Kittle quote last week motivated the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here’s Kittle’s quote when asked if he thinks the Eagles defense could match the 49ers’ physicality:
We’ll see on Sunday, won’t we? I mean, they’ve got six first-round draft picks on the D-line. They have physical guys in the secondary, physical guys at linebacker. Whatever you see on paper, sure.
When you look on paper, you say, ‘Yeah, we should be able to match physicality,’ and things like that, and then you get on the field on Sundays and the film after the game will show you exactly what you’re asking. I know we’re going to come out and be violent and physical. I’m expecting them to be the same thing. But we’ll see.
Doesn’t exactly seem a slap in the face, but here’s how Slay said the Eagles took it:
Let’s talk about the week leading up to the NFC championship game. We do pay attention to the media man. We do. We were showing our respect to San Fran, but what triggered us as a team and as a defense…I got a lot of respect for George Kittle, I think he’s one of the best tight ends in the league, but when he said that we look good on paper in the football world. We know how to take that.
That’s basically saying not too physical. As a defense, with us being one of the best defenses in the league as well, we took that as kind of disrespect. We said they’re a great defense. It triggered us to go out and play harder, to show who’s physical.
They’ve got one of the best defenses for sure. I got a lot of respect for them but that pushed our buttons. We just had to show who’s the best team in the NFC.
So there you have it. The Philly defense was triggered by George Kittle saying the Eagles might be as physical as the 49ers, and apparently motivated them to play harder in the NFC championship.
