During the Eagles’ team meeting to start Week 12, Darius Slay took center stage.
“We talked about Slay today,” Sirianni said early Wednesday afternoon. “He was the topic of our team meeting today, just being able to overcome adversity. So you have to overcome adversity in-game and DBs have to go through that quite a bit. And you have to overcome adversity through your career.
“I talk to Slay quite a bit and we just talked about how he’s had to overcome early adversity in his career. And now he’s on Year 12. So, if bad things happen and you can’t overcome them, maybe you don’t deserve to be in year 12 and he is. Bad things happen and you don’t overcome them, maybe you don’t deserve to continue to win games.
“So that was our talking point today, being mentally tough because of how long the season is and how grueling it is. There will be ups and downs, and really handling that.”
Slay, 33, was a second-round pick back in 2013 and has been a six-time Pro Bowler in the NFL. But there have definitely been some ups and downs, especially early in his career.
The Lions used the No. 36 overall pick to take Slay out of Mississippi State but he actually got benched during his rookie season.
“I wanted to give everybody that perspective because everybody’s journey is not the same,” Slay said. “The same guy that benched me twice, my head coach Jim Schwartz, who was the DC here who stood on the table to get me traded here. Obviously, saw the growth and everything.
“It’s a great story. They shared it with the team. Everybody in this game goes through a lot of adversity and if you play the cornerback position that’s where it comes in at a lot. That’s where you got a lot of adversity because it’s on to the next play. I’ve been in that position early in my career with a lot of adversity and had to find a way to get out of that mud and I did.”
Slay said he shared his story with Sirianni and they worked together on the presentation to the entire team, including clips of some plays from early in Slay’s career. Slay seemed impressed that the staff had all his plays ready to show.
During his four years as Eagles head coach, Sirianni has found inspiration for his team meetings from many different sources. But it’s special to him when he can share the story of one of his most respected players.
“It’s always great to pull a video and show, ‘Hey, watch Michael Jordan talk about this, or watch Tiger Woods talk about this or watch Roger Federer,’ whoever it is,” Sirianni said. “It’s so much better when you’re able to put your own guys up there, and then that can lead to questions that the other guys have for Slay.
“So when we were able to do that and take his progression of his first year, when he was wearing No. 30 through everything. It was really awesome story about how he’s persevered and why he is where he is. That’s what you want to accomplish for the entire team.
“Again, just can’t say enough about the leaders that we have on this football team, particularly the two you asked about. Man, big time leaders. That’s important for any team, any organization.”
Now in his fifth year with the Eagles, Slay has been voted a team captain in each of the last three seasons and has been a steady veteran presence for the young defensive backs coming through the building. He even made sure that rookie Quinyon Mitchell’s locker is right next to his in the NovaCare Complex.
While Mitchell’s rookie season is off to an incredible start, he’ll eventually face some adversity in his career. That’s life in the NFL, especially for a cornerback.
If he has any questions about it, he can just ask the guy in the locker next to him. Slay still uses his own early-career struggles as motivation to this day.
“Whenever I feel like, ‘Alright, Slay, you gotta get right. Slay you been worse than this. Way worse,’” Slay said. “It always just puts a smile on my face. Let’s get after it and go out here and go compete.”
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