Mike Tyson provides motivation for Philadelphia Eagles

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated Jul 27, 2023 7:28 PM ET

Prior to the Philadelphia Eagles' first training camp practice this summer, All-Pro center Jason Kelce appeared on 94.1 WIP Sports Radio and revealed who head coach Nick Sirianni is using to motivate the team: It’s Mike Tyson.

“I think Nick is great with all these little things to motivate the team. I look forward to them.” Kelce said, “Yesterday he shared a story about Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas and how unprepared Mike was and how overconfident he was. Nothing that we did before matters. We still gotta approach it every single day, we got to earn it.”

In what many see as the biggest upset in sports history, Douglas knocked out Tyson to win the world heavyweight championship in 1990, handing the champion his first defeat.

Douglas wasn’t a great fighter and entered the contest as a 42-1 underdog. Tyson, on the other hand, was 37-0 with 33 knockouts. But back then Tyson was constantly told how great he was and that’s exactly what Sirianni is worried about.

Philadelphia may have lost to Kansas City in the Super Bowl, but to many they’re still the team to beat in the NFC. While appearing on the "JAKIB Sports" podcast, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio said, “The Eagles have the best quarterback in the NFC. They're the best roster and they have the best front office.

Paolantonio isn’t alone in praising the Eagles. The team recently landed at No. 1 in his network’s Future NFL Power Rankings and even Chris “Mad Dog” Russo believes Philadelphia is more likely to return to the Super Bowl than Kansas City.

Only eight teams in NFL history have made it back to the Super Bowl after losing the previous year. The 2018 Patriots were the last to do it, after losing to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII. As the defending NFC Champions, Philadelphia will get every team’s best shot in 2023. Eagles fans can only hope the team fares better than “Iron Mike” did in 1990.

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