BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Nick Foles wasn’t sure if he’d play football again, but he was certain he wasn’t going to play football forever.
When he asked to be released by the Los Angeles Rams before the 2016 season, Foles started thinking about his football mortality.
He was a long ways away from his out-of-nowhere Pro Bowl season with the Eagles in 2013 when a seven-touchdown performance against the Raiders cannonballed him onto the NFL radar.
In the two seasons since, he’d gone from breakout starter to journeyman backup.
A year after the Rams obtained Foles from the Eagles, they drafted Jared Goff with the first overall pick in 2016 and Foles could see the writing on the wall. He was cut in July and signed as a backup in Kansas City.
Once the season ended, he tried to get as far away from football as he could.
“When I became a free agent, I was released by the Rams, I had a couple days just to sort of reflect and take a breath,’’ Foles said.
He planned a camping trip with his brother-in-law. It was supposed to be a means of getting away from the game and processing his next steps.
He decided to enroll in seminary classes. He spoke to middle and high school students. He thought about the idea of becoming a pastor at a high school.
“It was just on my heart,’’ he said.
But when he talked to his wife, she could tell Foles wasn’t done with football.
“It was tough because I knew she wanted me to keep playing because she knew that I wasn’t finished and that I still had the gifts and abilities to go out there and play and be a leader and all those things,’’ Foles said. “In that moment, I said a prayer to God just to guide me. In that moment, I just realized I needed to take a step of faith.’’
He put in a call to his former coach Andy Reid, who had moved on to Kansas City, just before the start of the 2016 season. It took some pride swallowing, but it was worth it. He signed with the Chiefs.
At the time, there was no way he could realize that call would eventually lead him to the Super Bowl as the Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback. He saw the field just three times in Kansas City, playing behind Alex Smith. He made just one start.
But getting back in the game was the most important step he could take.
“The reason I decided to come back is I love the game of football, since I was a kid,’’ Foles said. “I loved playing sports. I loved being a part of a team. And I knew as a person, the more growth I would have and the more opportunity to glorify God and trust in him was to go back and play football, because of everything I had encountered.
“So it took a lot more faith to go back and play than if it would’ve gone the other direction, but either way it would’ve been fine. I know I would’ve trusted in God. I think that’s where people get confused because everyone likes to see the Super Bowl and everything. No, everyone’s going to have to make decisions in their life that go one way or the other.’’
Once his year in Kansas City was over, Foles was back on the market. He found out Philadelphia was still the perfect fit — but for different reasons.
From a purely football vantage point, the Eagles were talented and in need of an established backup for second-year quarterback Carson Wentz.
“He was just a proven winning quarterback, who was starter level,’’ said Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich. “We felt like we got a guy at the time we acquired him in some ways you could say based on what you’ve seen on tape, ‘This guy’s one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the league.’ He’s done enough in his career to make that statement and we had a chance to get him back in a city where he’s already had a lot of success and we’ve had familiarity with him.’’
At the same time, Reich and Foles had a common bond.
Reich knew firsthand the value of a backup quarterback from his years playing behind Hall of Famer Jim Kelly with the Buffalo Bills. But he could also relate to the larger questions Foles was asking himself.
A devout Christian, Reich served as a pastor at Cornerstone Church in Charlotte, N.C., once his career ended.
The more they got to know each other over the course of the season, the more they were able to connect beyond the field
“He’s been a huge influence on me this year,’’ Foles said.
It’s part of the reason Foles has been unflappable since stepping in after Wentz, in the middle of an MVP-caliber season, suffered a season-ending knee injury in December.
But Foles has been able to get them to football’s biggest stage.
The locker room had complete faith in Foles when he took the reins because of the composure he had shown when he was on the sideline.
“Nick’s comfortable in his own skin,’’ said receiver Torrey Smith. “Nick Foles is the same guy who threw seven touchdowns in a game, so he’s a bad man.’’
It was hard for Foles to believe himself when he was considering retirement. But standing at that crossroads, he knew there was no wrong decision.
“A lot of people look at that moment, like, ‘Wow, aren’t you super excited that you made that decision? You’re in the Super Bowl. What if you wouldn’t have?’ But I look at it this way: It wasn’t a matter of that. I’m grateful to be up here, I’m grateful to have this opportunity to speak, to play in this game. But at the same time, if I would’ve made the other decision, my life wouldn’t have been a loss. I would’ve gone and done something else and glorified God in that instance.’’
After being at the brink of walking away, Foles now stands at the footstep of NFL immortality.
“I think we as people, we go through that and we’re afraid to talk about it,’’ Foles said. “I’m not going to talk about it because, I wouldn’t be the person I am today — I’m a father now, so I can share all this with my daughter when she grows up — and it makes all this more surreal because every moment I get to play this game is a gift.’’
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.
