Howie Roseman and Jason Kelce had an incredibly honest and interesting conversation on Kelce's New Heights Podcast, which was released on Thursday.
The 47-year-old Philadelphia Eagles general manager and executive vice president has been with the organization since joining as a front office intern in 2000, while the 35-year-old future Hall Of Famer and five-time first-team All-Pro center was drafted by Philadelphia in 2011 and has never left.
The two career-long and legendary members of the Philadelphia Eagles spoke in length about what it is like playing in a city with a fan base as passionate as this one.
"The fans are so passionate, so die hard, they can say whatever they want to us," Roseman said. "I feel like if I walked in Indianapolis right now and their fans start yelling at me and our fans saw that, they would have my back, a hundred percent. So they can say it to us, but nobody else can.
"I also understand at some point, hopefully far, far in the future I'll be gone and people will be compared to me because we had success—because of the players that we've had and the coaches that we've had."
"I've had less than five bad interactions with our fans even in the worst of times," Roseman continued. "From my perspective, that motivates me, that challenges me because I understand there is such a high standard and such a high expectation that I have to be on my game all the time. I don't know how I'd be if I was is in a market where it was like, 'Yeah so they won five games two years in a row.' I think I would be miserable in that situation."
Kelce, who like Roseman dealt with plenty of criticism from the Philly fans and media in the early and middle part of his career before the 2017 Super Bowl winning season, says the sense of urgency from the fan base and media has made him a better player.
"The fans for sure play a role in that, as does the media in that level of attention and care that they have for the organization and how well the Eagles are playing has for sure impacted the sense of urgency that we have as members of the organization," Kelce explained. "I didn't think before I played in the NFL, I didn't realize how much fans impact in a city the mentality and kind of the overall culture the team has."
Roseman agreed.
"I think it does raise all of our levels, to some extent...I think it gets us going because of the attention and energy that it takes and knowing that when you win it's even better," Roseman said. "I think for you and I, there is a point—we're competitive and you hear stuff and you want to say, 'F**k you!'
"I know when I mess up a draft pick, there's no doubt about it. I know when I make a bad move. And so you get reminded about it and it's just like, 'I got to make up for this five-fold.'"
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