Hey ,
I just landed in Austin, Texas and I’m staying at the beautiful, 1 Hotel that just opened in the Waterline building. The 7 AM flight out of JFK was brutal (please remind me never to book that early again).
Even though I’m a New Yorker, I have a really special connection to Austin. I feel like It’s where a new chapter of my life started. My first trip here was in 2023 for a tech conference called AfroTech, and it was also my first solo trip, the catalyst for an unexpected start of a new growth journey I’ve been on for the past three years.
It’s also just really nostalgic that I’m staying down the street from the hotel I stayed at back then. Sometimes you don’t realize how God has moved in your life until you’re quite literally standing across the street from where you used to be.
Football has a way of teaching that same lesson. if there’s anything I’ve learned about the game, it’s that no two weeks ever look the same. And if you’re anything like me, that unpredictability is part of why you love it and learn from it.
This season, my team has already faced a level of uncertainty not even I could have anticipated.
As I’m writing this, a handful of our core starters are out (to name a few):
DeVonta Smith (WR, hamstring)
Saquon Barkley (RB, hamstring)
Tank Bigsby (RB, core muscle)
Dallas Goedert (TE, knee/MCL)
If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we’d be dealing with injuries so early, I wouldn’t have believed you, but here’s what Austin reminded me this week: where you are right now isn’t where you’ll stay, and that’s true for both the good and the bad. I think back to the Super Bowl-winning 2024 Eagles and all the memories that came with that season, then look at a team today that’s completely different.
Change is always going to be part of it.
Looking back three years, I couldn’t have seen this version of my life coming. Nothing about it looks the way I pictured when I was younger, and yet I’m so grateful to be living it. Adversity sometimes feels like a permanent season while you’re in the middle of it, but it’s usually just a smaller part of a bigger story, right before things start to shift in your favor.
Building chemistry on a team with a new offensive coordinator and a new playbook is undoubtedly challenging. And as a fan, I’ve learned to take the losses a little less personally, knowing that with time, they’ll figure it out.
Sports have taught me a kind of detachment I don’t think I could have learned anywhere else.
You learn to stay open when your team changes, even when it isn’t the change you wanted, and to work with what you have instead of what you wish you had. You learn to love every version of your team, not just the times when they win. And if you think about it, life is a lot like that too.
So here’s to active recovery and lots of good energy for my team and for anyone in a season of their own. If things don’t look the way you hoped right now, trust the process and remember, in the words of Jalen Hurts, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint”.
And maybe as you continue your route, one day you’ll look across the street too and see exactly how far you’ve come.
As always, Go Birds!
Love that little quirky, weird city. Used to live there for a little bit.
Have a great time in Austin!