The Sixer Sense
Fansided

Who is the Nick Foles of the Sixers?

By Luke Swiatek

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 21: Nick Foles
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 21: Nick Foles /
facebooktwitterreddit

Nick Foles returned to the Eagles, and carried them to the promised land. Do the Philadelphia 76ers have anyone who could do the same?

No matter what happens in the Super Bowl, Nick Foles has cemented his status as a Philly legend. We don’t forget Super Bowl berths around here.

I live in North Philly near Broad Street, and let me just say that Sunday was the closest I’ve ever been to experiencing a riot before. The police put Crisco on the light poles in the city to prevent people from climbing them, and they still did.

Everything this fanbase does somehow makes me love and hate them more simultaneously. And if you were thinking about trying to drive through Philadelphia during the aftermath of the game… good luck.

I shudder to think of what will happen if we actually win the whole thing. Then again, maybe losing it would be just as bad. Who knows.

Everyone thought this team was done when Carson Wentz went down, but Nick Foles had other ideas. Against the Minnesota Vikings, he threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.

Nick Foles leapt into the public eye back when Chip Kelly was still head coach, and he had a year where he threw for 27 touchdowns to only two interceptions. Yet he was still not considered a very good quarterback, and was traded to the then-St.-Louis Rams along with draft picks for Sam Bradford.

(Interesting side note: while Foles was with the Rams, he met and became close friends with Case Keenum, the quarterback who now plays and starts for the Minnesota Vikings, who he just beat to go to the Super Bowl. Small league.)

More from The Sixer Sense

In any event, Nick Foles didn’t stick with the Rams, and he ended up coming back to Philly, resigned to be the backup to the Eagles franchise quarterback, Carson Wentz. And now he’s leading the Eagles to the championship game, with it all on the line.

The question I want to answer, is this: is there anyone in the Philadelphia 76ers‘ history who could follow the same storyline as Nick Foles? I think there is, and I’m going to describe him for you.

Philadelphia acquired a player, and he had one or two really good years with us. He was known on the team for his length (look up “Nick Foles locker room big” to understand the parallel here, but I won’t link it out of fear for my job security).

Anyway, for some reason we decided that this good player wasn’t that important for our team. We traded him away for some draft assets and another player who hasn’t performed especially well. On his new team, our former player has wasted away as a backup, and is an afterthought around the league.

This offseason, he’ll be a free agent and could return to Philadelphia, re-signed to be a backup to the franchise player at his position. However, an injury to the player late in the season could thrust our player into the spotlight again as we chase the 2019 Finals, and he could be everything he was before and more.

In case you can’t tell yet who I’m referring to, I’ll give you a hint or two: he has a high-top fade, and his name rhymes with Merlins Moel.

That’s right, Nerlens Noel is your Philadelphia 76ers’ Nick Foles. He’ll come back to us one day soon, I just know it.

One final sidebar: The other person I was thinking about was Michael Carter-Williams, possibly coming in to replace an injured Ben Simmons. He perhaps fits the Foles narrative even better, because Noel seems to really not like Philly anymore, and seems to really want to start and make bank, while MCW is inches away from being out of the league.

But, I mean, MCW isn’t GOOD, right? Like Nick Foles was bad on the Rams, because of Jeff Fisher, but he was always good underneath. MCW just padded stats on the Process teams without ever being a truly good player, I think. And he’s not even a free agent this offseason, right?

*checks MCW’s contract*

Next: The January Sixers continue to impress

Oh God.