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January 17, 2005
Fredex Delivers on Sundays (At Least At Press Conferences)
The Sultan of Slot Makes PTI!
The most recent version of the Philadelphia Eagles, especially their head coach and star quarterback, make an honest and concerted effort to be bland, boring, and nondescript in their formal dealings with the media. Press conferences, soft-focus TV sitdowns, newspaper interviews -- all feature slightly different riffs on the standard "We're gonna play 'em one game at a time/ Just happy to be here" family of sports cliches. Which, given the jealous and often vicious intentions of the Philly sports press, is a pretty wise plan. Just say enough to get through the interview, and don't give the jackals anything they can sink their teeth into.
Of course, the arrival of TO this summer turned the vanilla-press-conference paradigm on its head a bit, and we've seen glimpses of joy (or at least chuckles) at some of the press conferences and interview sessions from both Coach Reid and Number 5.
And then there's The People's Champ, Freddie Mitchell (!).
Not only did he enjoy a huge game on Sunday (2 TDs, one a fantastic play off a deflection -- and it could have been 3 TDs if he hadn't fumbled on the goal line), but he backed it up with an absolutely virtuoso performance in the post-game press conference. Though they showed some of the snippets as part of the ESPN highlight package, Freddie's sublime interview genius DEMANDS that one watches the whole video -- if only to marvel at his bowtie and Indiana Jones fedora getup. The interesting thing is that he was paired with Eagles RB Brian Westbrook on the podium (a quiet, humble guy if there ever was one). Maybe the most hilarious thing about the whole press conference is that the assembled newshounds may have actually crossed the "laughing with/ laughing at" line with Freddie; that is, I think they were actually laughing AT him. Loudly. Some highlights:
On the last time he had such a busy game:
"Last time I had a game like this? Goes back to UCLA, Fiesta Bowl, 9 catches 185 [laughter from press -- I guess you just don't hear guys quoting their old college stats that frequently] against Wisconsin."
Is it hard to come in and make plays?
"I'm a special player [laughter from assembled press, unclear if Freddie was in on the joke here]....I want to thank my hands for being so great [laughter gets louder, and I want to believe Freddie knew he was being cute]."
How do you feel about stealing the show?
"I'm trying to take a humble approach....I want to say hi to all my new friends out there [more laughter]."
Were you a centerfielder at UCLA?
Yes. [Healthy pause.] One of the best [scattered chuckles -- of COURSE he was one of the best!].
Finally, they asked Westbrook what they'd need to do next week -- and at this point, even humble Brian was in on the act:
"We just have to go out, play our game, get Freddy the ball, and win."
With a victorious local press conference in hand, Freddie takes his show national this afternoon with the boys on PTI for the "Five Good Minutes" segment. Look for an update should Freddie offer any additional insights into the specifics of his specialness as a player.
Posted by thatkid at January 17, 2005 4:05 PM under
Sports
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