I just finished ESPN's "The Last Dance," an extraordinary 10-part documentary following Michael Jordan's 1997-98 season with the Chicago Bulls, the final year of a remarkable NBA run during which the Bulls captured six championships in eight seasons. Jordan, the greatest basketball player ever, ended his Bulls tenure on top as he broke the ankles of Utah Jazz defender Bryon Russell and drained a jump shot to provide the winning points in Game 6 of that NBA Championship Series.
It was some of the best sports television I've ever enjoyed as the 10 parts traced the life of Jordan from his childhood days in Wilmington, North Carolina through his collegiate seasons at North Carolina to the NBA, to a dramatic shift to professional baseball at the minor league level and then a return to the NBA, where Jordan and the Bulls pulled off their second three-peat and Jordan cemented his on-court legacy.
Everything about the series was brilliant – from the behind-the-scenes footage, to the current interviews with key figures from the era, to the recollections from Jordan so many years later, and the raw emotions of the moment – and it got me thinking about the 2020 Eagles and the task that is ahead.
There is no Michael Jordan on this team, but that's not the point. The Bulls required some time to put together a championship team. Then they re-tooled the roster and came back with another three consecutive championships and while Jordan was clearly the dominating presence, he required the right pieces around him and then the championship chemistry spun together from the center of the universe, Jordan. The dynasty was a team effort, then, from upper management to the locker room, scouting, the public relations department, the marketing and sales staff, the ticket department, and the team security.
Everyone contributed.
That is how championship teams win. Everyone plays a part, and everyone understands the role. All of the pieces are moving in the same, unified direction – and if you think Dennis Rodman was an outlier in this scenario, I disagree. I would call him "unique" for his off-the-court ways (and blowing off a practice during a Finals Series is stretching it, I know), but Rodman was there when the Bulls needed him. He backed up his erratic behavior – and everyone sacrifices for the greater good.
The Eagles won Super Bowl LII because they had a good football team, a roster put together expertly, some breaks during the course of the season and, more than anything, trust in each other, in the entire organization, and an unsurpassed level of confidence starting with Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie and Head Coach Doug Pederson.
And a World Championship was won.
That was the 2017 season, the past tense. We're three full seasons later. Every team in the NFL is 0-0 and conducting an offseason unlike any other. Pederson has the team in its virtual offseason program and things are going well and the players are responding, and the head coach is trying to do even more to create that special chemistry even with the pieces scattered throughout the country. Pederson is emphasizing "trust" and "stronger together" and he's had the players send in workout clips and compete for the offseason championship belt, trying to implement fun and competitiveness into the process. Pederson has brought in speakers like Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr (according to Brandon Graham), both of whom were prominently featured in "The Last Dance," men whom the players would hear and understand and to whom they would relate.
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May 26, 2020 at 09:03AM
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What 'The Last Dance' means for 2020 Eagles - PhiladelphiaEagles.com
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