Eagles' Chris Maragos Super Bowl Week About Team, Fun And Family

ST. PAUL, MN — Philadelphia Eagles special-teams ace and Racine, Wis. native Chris Maragos doesn't get to suit up for the Super Bowl this time around, but he's still having the time of his life.

All things being equal, he'd rather be playing, he told Patch.com. "For me, I'm not able to help the team physically, but I am helping teach guys, giving them advice, and adding my leadership," he told Patch. "I want to be a part of it, and help the team reach the goals we set for ourselves."

Maragos' road to the Super Bowl took a divergent path starting on Oct. 10 during a week 6 game in Carolina against the Panthers. With about eight minutes left in the game, and the Eagles up 28-13, Maragos ran downfield covering a punt on special teams when he was injured on the play.

A week later, doctors told Maragos that he had torn his posterior cruciate ligament, and that season-ending surgery was needed. Within minutes of the news, Maragos got the call: his wife Sarah was going into labor with their third child. "I literally got the best news and worst news within 15 minutes," Maragos said in a USA Today report.

The Maragos family, including wife Sarah, and children Micah, Mason and their new baby girl Cambria, joined Chris up in Minneapolis for the big weekend. "It's going to be fun," he said. And while the rigors of an NFL player in the busiest week of the season have kept him occupied, "you find time for the things that are important. When I'm home, I make sure to be present with them and build our relationships."

A Super Week

New England quarterback Tom Brady has been to seven Super Bowls. By contrast, players on the entire Philadelphia team has been to a total of seven Super Bowls combined. "I'm one of the handful on the team who knows what to expect and how to prepare." Yet aside from passing on wisdom gathered from his first Super Bowl, he's also been hamming it up in front of the camera.

During Media Day, the Eagles gave Maragos a microphone, camera crew, and a sidekick in first-year wide receiver Mack Hollins as the two of them pinballed around the XCel Energy Center in Minneapolis as reporters.

They poked fun at the size of quarterback Nick Foles' microphone, Brent Celek's eyeglasses. "Brent, are those prescription glasses, or do you wear those just to look smart?" he asked the veteran tight end. "These are prescription glasses, but I'm smart either way," Celek quipped back.

As "real" television news cameras rolled, conducting player interviews, Maragos snuck up to a few teammates, edging his microphone uncomfortably up to their faces during the live interviews.

Maragos was up to more fun-and-games earlier in the week, when a reporter asked him if there was any sign of Paul Bunyan's Axe. Maragos, who played football at UW-Madison, was of course joking that the rivalry-game trophy between the Wisconsin Badgers and Minnesota Gophers, hasn't been west of the Mississippi in quite some time.

Minnesota residents may have also had some fun-and-games with Maragos and fellow Eagles players as well after they had trouble finding a place to eat.

Maragos tweeted Friday that Minnesota restaurants were "unable" to seat he and his teammates for dinner reservations. Though it's common knowledge that Super Bowl week is extremely busy for local restaurants, started thinking that Vikings fans were after revenge following Philadelphia's 38-7 victory over Minnesota in the NFC Championship game.

Maragos stuck with it, and was able to find a reservation.

Maragos a special teams ace and safety, began his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers in 2010 as an undrafted rookie. He played with the Seattle Seahawks from 2011 through 2013 and won a Super Bowl as his team defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in February 2014.

By late summer, he signed on with the Philadelphia Eagles, and has been a key part of the team's success on special teams. He earned a three-year contract extension last November that runs through 2019.

Photo: SAINT PAUL, MN - JANUARY 29: Julie Ertz of the USA women's national soccer team and wife of Zach Ertz #86 of the Philadelphia Eagles poses for a selfie with Jordan Hicks #58 and Chris Maragos #42 of the Philadelphia Eagles during Super Bowl Media Day at Xcel Energy Center on January 29, 2018 in St Paul, Minnesota. Super Bowl LII will be played between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles on February 4. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)