Eagles Learn Lesson Of Sustaining Success From Olympic Sprint Champion

He’s 57 now, and maybe not as well-known as he was at his peak in the 1990s. What he has is knowledge on how he was able to stay great for so very long, long enough to win four gold medals as a 100-, 200-, and 400-meter sprinter at three different Summer Olympic Games – 1992, 1996, and 2000.

To stay on top for that long, well, that was something that interested Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni when sprinter Michael Johnson came to Philadelphia this spring and reached out to the Eagles about the possibility of speaking to them.

“He kind of talked about sustained success, and I was like this is perfect,” said Sirianni. “It’s a perfect fit. I think the other thing you see is there is an elite mindset that if you’ve done something at the very highest level, these guys have elite mindsets, and there’s always something. It’s never just about talent. Talent is a starting point. It’s your floor, but your ceiling is all the extra stuff.”

Sustaining success is a big theme for the Eagles as they prepare to begin defense of their Super Bowl LIX title when they report to training camp on Tuesday.

Only nine teams have won back-to-back Super Bowls in the 59-year history of the big game. The Eagles had a great team last year, without question, considering their 18-3 record and blowout wins in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl LIX.

The truly great ones come back and do it again the following year.

“Of all the people I talked to (in the offseason), and it was a lot, similar themes kept coming back on sustained success and the themes were really – there’s a lot of different things, but if I really broke down everything it was thinking about the past too much and resting on your laurels was one mistake or looking too far ahead.

“Both are very dangerous. Being where you are each and every time, because if you’re going to do anything special again, it’s going to be the work. It’s going to take the work you need to do day in and day out to get there. Nothing you did in the past is going to help you. Thinking about the future isn’t going to help you. It’s about being right here (in the present).”