It's a moniker given to every team coming off a title-winning season: defending champion.
Just don't call the 2025 Eagles that.
"We're the 2024 world champs, that's it. We're not defending s---," Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata said Wednesday, via ESPN. "I don't like hearing we're the defending champions. We're not defending nothing.
"We just won the title, and now we've got to go win it again, prove it all over again. That's the mentality this team is going to have. We're not here to prove anything to anyone else but ourselves and we know the mission. We're mission-focused."
If any club understands how difficult it is to reach the Super Bowl (let alone win one), it's these Eagles. They won the NFC three seasons ago and lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Chiefs, endured an internal meltdown the following year that nearly cost coach Nick Sirianni his job, then recovered well enough to get back to football's biggest stage and bring home the Lombardi Trophy, all in a three-year span.
During the lead-up to Super Bowl LIX, they were repeatedly asked about their previous Super Bowl experience and how it informed them on their most recent journey. The answer was consistent from most everyone: Don't take it for granted.
But also, don't hold this team to last year's results.
"It's a new journey. It's a new season," quarterback Jalen Hurts said, "and those things are far behind us. The past is behind us, and the future is too far away, so we have to stay present and worry about right now."
Every NFL season is a marathon that requires endurance, mental fortitude and some injury luck in order to achieve the same goal each of the 32 teams set for themselves. The Eagles reside alongside the Chiefs in the exclusive group that can speak about this from experience.
With this in mind, it's clear that while Philadelphia is proud of what it achieved last season, 2025 is a new one with its own set of complex challenges. Surprises are all but guaranteed to emerge, and the last thing the Eagles need is external pressure.
They've already placed enough on themselves to achieve this season. And yes, while Sirianni immediately set a 2025 goal for the Eagles by asking the since-departed offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to run it back moments after winning Super Bowl LIX, they're not chasing lofty expectations in July.
Success isn't about the result, but the process. Many steps remain ahead for this version of the Eagles.
"You got a lot of steps to go and daily work to put in," coach Nick Sirianni said. "Every year at training camp feels the same. You're not looking back, you're not looking forward, you're solely focused on today and how we can get better today."
