Fletcher Cox’s eyes lit up and he broke into a huge smile on a Zoom call Tuesday when he was asked about Darius Slay.
Cox and Slay have known each other for 12 years, since they met as high school kids on a recruiting trip to Mississippi State, and after Slay played JUCO ball for two seasons they were teammates for two years in Starkville.
Back in early April, when the Eagles acquired Slay from the Lions, the Pro Bowl cornerback talked about Cox and how much he was looking forward to becoming his teammate again.
On Tuesday, Cox spoke for the first time about Slay and what his message was to his long-time friend the night before the Eagles pulled off the trade.
“I just told him, ‘If you want to win, come to Philly,’” Cox said. “I told him, ‘We win around here. We do things different around here,' and I know what he can bring to our team. The character, the swagger, the hard work and the leadership, I know he can bring to the team. To have a guy like Darius will be really good for us.”
Cox is a five-time Pro Bowler for the Eagles, and Slay was a three-time Pro Bowler for the Lions.
Slay wasn’t a free agent, but he said Cox’s message to him the night before the trade is what really convinced him that Philly was the right place for him.
NFL
“Talking to Fletcher, man, that’s what really convinced me, ‘Yeah, this is where I’m supposed to be,’” Slay said last month. “He just told me all the positive things, consistently going to the playoffs, something I haven’t been doing and something I look forward to doing, so I want to be a part of something great. Fletcher really put it in my head: ‘This is where you need to be, man, this is where it’s at, man.’”
Slay played seven seasons in Detroit, made the playoffs twice and never won a postseason game.
During those same seven seasons, the Eagles have had five winning seasons, made the playoffs four times and won a Super Bowl.
Turns out Cox isn’t only a perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle. He’s also a pretty good ambassador for this franchise.
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