Eagles great Fletcher Cox on retiring from NFL: 'I gave this game all I can give' (2024)

PHILADELPHIA — Fletcher Cox had his entire family with him on the day he was drafted. So, he wanted his entire family with him on the day he retired.

There they were, 21 people in all, taking up two rows of an auditorium in the NovaCare Complex. They watched Cox, one of the greatest defensive players to ever suit up for the Philadelphia Eagles, smile through an unscripted speech given almost exactly a month after he officially announced he retired.

“Well,” Cox began, “today’s the day.”

One family member was not seated. Cox still has his older brother’s name tattooed on his forearm: Shaddrick.He was 34 when he died from a heart attack in January 2015. Cox regularly spoke of his brother’s passing, of how it ignited in him the motivation and desire for greatness.

No one else fully understood this loss. Not until his former teammate, Derek Barnett, lost his brother in a car crash in December 2018. Cox again expressed his gratitude for what “I never thought I’d have” in Barnett — someone he could lean on, who understood that no matter how many people said “it’s going to get better” that it wouldn’t, someone who knew the importance of memory and spirit.

“He’s always with me,” Cox said of Shaddrick. “I know he’s probably got his chest stuck out right now, how proud he is of his little brother. His little bigbrother.”

Cox did reach greatness. He started as a young kid in Yazoo City, Miss., whose mother, Malissa, was initially hesitant to risk her son getting hurt playing football. Cox went on to star at Mississippi State, then received the first of six straight Pro Bowl selections in 2015. He started in Super Bowl LII, the team’s only title since the NFL merger. He was an All-Pro in 2018. The Pro Football Hall of Fame named Cox to its 2010s All-Decade Team.

Cox, who said he spent his first five seasons in relative obscurity, eventually surpassed the expectations that befell him in 2012 when general manager Howie Roseman packaged two mid-round picks to trade up and select the defensive tackle No. 12 overall.

“When I made this decision, I wanted to do it with no regrets,” Cox said. “And I have no regrets.”

Roseman stood near the back of the auditorium. So did coach Nick Sirianni. So did “Big Dom” DiSandro, whose title as the organization’s security chief is insufficient, plus a trove of other employees Cox thanked one at a time. The 6-foot-4, 310-pounder spoke for almost 10 minutes with no notes — a distinct brevity in the wake of the 45-minute retirement speech of another fellow franchise pillar, Jason Kelce. (“I hope you didn’t think it’d be an hour long,” Cox quipped.) Cox glanced down just once at the list of names he didn’t want to forget.

“Lifetime’s a long time,” Cox said. “You never forget who helped you along the way.”

Cox, 33, played the entirety of his 12-year career in Philadelphia. His durability (he missed just seven regular-season games) and dependability were driven by his dominance and dynamism as a defender whose skill transcended scheme. He played long enough to see DeMeco Ryans, a teammate and mentor from 2012 to 2015, get named head coach of the Houston Texans last season. Cox said it was Ryans who once told him not to let the defensive scheme determine what kind of player he was.

“Great players find a way,” Cox said Ryans told him.

The era of Eagles lifers is nearing its end. Only the most tenured teammate, Brandon Graham, remains. The 36-year-old defensive end, the team’s first-round pick in 2010, signed a one-year contract for what he’s already called a “farewell tour.” Cox, who was often the foil in Graham’s playful locker room sparring sessions, joked when asked if he didn’t want Graham to go unchecked in the locker room. Cox suggested that Big Dom keep Graham in line, or to outfit Graham with an electronic buzzer that would go off when his gab gets into top gear.

The loss of leadership is significant. Other than Graham, no defensive lineman currently on the Eagles roster is older than 27. A new era is beginning with the wealth of resources Roseman invested into Philadelphia’s D-line. It spent first-round picks on defensive tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter in the last two draft cycles. Davis, 24, addressed the significance of Cox’s departure on locker room clean-out day, when he acknowledged he and Carter, 23, no longer had one of their sturdiest crutches in Cox to lean on.

“Of course we can call him. He’s not dead or anything,” Davis said then. “But you know it’s just having him on the sideline, having him in the room every day. It’s really like, kind of like a security blanket for us. We can always look toward Fletch to lead the way. But at the end of the day, it’s going to be us leading this on our shoulders. But you know, it’s a lot of pressure. I’m not going to sit there and sugarcoat it. It’s a lot of pressure that goes into it. But at the end of the day, that’s what we’re here for.”

Cox said hewantsyounger players like Davis and Carter to call him. Cox understands his legacy and the weight of his words. He doesn’t intend to disappear. He intends to follow the advice of teammates who retired before him: “Don’t rush.” He’ll designate more time for his nephews and nieces, watching sports instead of playing. He’ll spend more time on the land he owns in Texas, where he clarified “I’m a rancher, not a farmer.” He’ll enter a “slow transition into life” where the goal is “just having some peace.”

Cox, whose green shirt aptly had the word “gods” woven on the front, has completed a career in which he, like Kelce, established himself as a demigod in Philadelphia sports lore. Owner Jeffrey Lurie has said both players will be honored in the near future. As for the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Kelce, a six-time All-Pro, should secure that honor on a first-ballot basis. For Cox, the committee will need more convincing. How many years might that be? Cox, whose 70 sacks rank fifth all time in franchise history, hoped that “one day, a few years from now” he’d be gathering his entire family together again for one more memorable moment.

“I gave this game all I can give,” Cox said.

(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)