Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Hayes: Wentz shows 'hero' potential

'CITIES ARE always looking for a hero. Whenever a franchise quarterback comes along, they end up being that beacon of hope."

Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz.
Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz.Read moreClem Murray / Staff Photographer

'CITIES ARE always looking for a hero. Whenever a franchise quarterback comes along, they end up being that beacon of hope."

Malcolm Jenkins was there when Drew Brees put on a cape and saved New Orleans.

He was there Sunday when Philadelphia found her hero.

The Eagles mortgaged their world on Carson Wentz, a small-school quarterback from Bismarck, N.D., population slightly less than the 69,596 who witnessed his ascension Sunday. Wentz was beating Weber State a year ago.

The Cleveland Browns might not be much more of a challenge but that shouldn't diminish Wentz's sparkling debut: 22-for-37, 278 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions. His passer rating of 101.0 is the highest for an Eagles rookie since John Reaves (remember him?) in 1972.

The only stat Wentz cared about: Eagles 29, Browns 10.

"We won," he said.

Perfect answer.

In his first big moment Wentz sounded like those one-name superstars: Peyton; Brady; Jeter; LeBron.

Winners.

There's a long way to go before "Wentz" rolls off the tongue like "Manning," but for the first time in a long time Philadelphia has a chance - a chance the Eagles got by pushing every chip they had into the middle of the table.

Consider the byzantine route the Eagles traveled since the end of the 2015 season to draft Wentz second overall and get him under center for the opener. At some point, in some combination, for various return, they traded their No. 1 running back, their No. 1 cornerback, two first-round picks, a second-round pick, a fourth-round pick and, finally, veteran starting quarterback Sam Bradford and the $11 million in bonus money they paid him in March. There were varying other degrees of outlay and varying degrees of return, but, at 1:05 p.m. Sunday, those details were all front-office kerfluffle.

All that mattered was that the big, goofy redhead validated his presence; that Wentz would take a step toward saving the city's sports scene; that he might become every little kid's hero.

"That means a lot for any town," said owner Jeffrey Lurie, beaming and triumphant in the locker room afterward.

It does. Think about it.

Who was the last undisputed hero in Philadelphia? The last athlete whose play and profile was unassailable?

Phillies second baseman Chase Utley held the region, but not the nation, and MVPs Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins didn't shine bright enough long enough. Allen Iverson's insubordination cost him blanket adoration. Claude Giroux isn't there yet and Eric Lindros' issues cooled many people on him.

Has there ever been an Eagle? Lurie bet on Donovan McNabb but McNabb's fractious relationship with the city and his imperfect play cost him unanimity. Maybe Brian Dawkins and Reggie White, but they played defense and it's tough for casual fans to identify with guys who never touch the ball. Randall Cunningham? No. Ron Jaworski? Please. Sonny Jurgensen starred mostly in Washington. Norm Van Brocklin played here only three seasons.

You might have to go back to Julius Erving and Bobby Clarke to find a Philly superstar who enjoyed both local and national unconditional awe.

You have to fast-forward a few seasons before Wentz fully earns it. But the Eagles saw his potential and they sold it. Incredibly, they sold it. Howie Roseman, the least popular general manager in town, sold it. Rookie head coach Doug Pederson, once a poster child for incompetence, sold it. Lurie, a punch line and a punching bag for nearly 25 years, sold it.

Of course, it wasn't a real tough sell after Bradford pitched a fit and went AWOL during OTAs when Wentz's arrival was imminent, and with all four teams rebuilding anyway. This town craves a messiah.

"Walking through the parking lot today, you had the sense people wanted Carson to succeed," said team president Don Smolenski.

For a day, for this week, Wentz succeeded beyond any realistic expectations. but then, that's what heroes do.

He completed four of his first five passes, and the incompletion was a drop. He threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Matthews to cap his first professional drive. He converted a chancy fourth-and-4 from the Browns' 40 with a 5-yard dart to Zach Ertz; then, on the next play, gutted the Browns with a 35-yard butterfly to second-year, first-round pick Nelson Agholor.

As fate would have it, the Browns were one of the trade partners that brought Wentz to Philadelphia. They sent the Eagles the No. 2 overall pick because they believed Robert Griffin III was better. They were right . . . four years ago, when Griffin was a rookie in Washington and Wentz was a freshman on the bench at North Dakota State.

They weren't right Sunday. RGIII, hampered by a lousy receiving corps and a porous line, went 12-for-26 for 190 yards, no touchdowns and an awful interception.

Wentz, meanwhile, made every type of pass, without much effort. His 6-5, 237-pound frame absorbed two sacks and a handful of hits but he shook them off like the cold of a frosty Fargo night. He was not flawless - both a flat-footed throw after a bad snap and a high toss into traffic could have swung the game - but every dashing debut involves a little luck.

This performance was doubly remarkable because Wentz had virtually no time to prepare. He played just 38 snaps in one preseason game, in which he broke two ribs. Nevertheless, with no preseason playing time against starters, Wentz mastered the Eagles' scheme, checked down to correct audibles and made the Browns pay for early blitzes.

"We didn't scale anything down," said left tackle Jason Peters. "One or two times he missed a couple of hot throws, but he was 'on' all day."

Wentz said he wasn't nervous. Peters concurred: "That's the way he's acted since the day he was drafted."

"This is who he is," Pederson said. "This is his DNA."

Jenkins has seen DNA like this before. Jenkins was a rookie when Brees led the Saints to a Super Bowl win and helped heal a city shattered by natural and political disasters.

Certainly, Philly isn't quite as direly broken, but no city places more of its self-worth on the stature of its sports teams. Today, none of them is close to real relevance. Today, none of them has a player with as much potential to carry the standard as does Wentz.

None of them has ever experienced the monumental pressure Wentz might have felt. He had a minimal preseason and minimal preparation time and was expected to win for a franchise that spent maximum assets on him, a kid with only 23 starts, and those at an FCS (I-AA) college.

Then again, he is the highest pick ever from an FCS school.

"It's obviously still early, but it's very exciting to have a young guy like Carson come in under the circumstances that he came in and have a really good game, in the season opener, at home," Jenkins said. "That's huge."

Nothing's too huge for a hero.

@inkstainedretch Blog: ph.ly/DNL