When Mike Trout was 14-years-old, a young youth baseball player in Millville, New Jersey, the future MLB MVP watched Tom Brady lift the Lombardi Trophy after beating the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
He thinks it will be different this time.
“I was at my parents house watching with my family,” Trout remembered. “It was a tough one to watch, it was a close game — this team this year is just a little bit different. They just want to win. It’s not just one guy carrying them.”
The one guy — Carson Wentz — is a personal friend of Trout’s as the pair have spent ample time hunting in the Garden State. And with his torn ACL, the Eagles have rallied together to earn a berth to Super Bowl LII in two weeks.
“It’s difficult,” Trout said, remembering his own struggle with injuries with the Angels. “I went through it last year, it’s tough for him, he had an MVP season and I still think he’s the MVP but it was hard to watch when he went down. He’s working hard and he’s not on crutches anymore.”
Trout was sitting behind the end zone at field level Sunday when the Birds bashed the Vikings 38-7 to win the NFC Championship. He was the only believer in the Anaheim locker room.
“A lot of people doubted them,” Trout — who said he picks the Eagles to win 31-24 on a last-minute interception — said. “A lot of players from the Angels doubted them, they give me grief all the time — but they’re all rooting for them now because they’re going up against Tom Brady. Throughout the whole year, a lot of ups and downs, but they’re there.”
With other celebrity Eagles fans like Charles Barkley and Bradley Cooper expected to follow hoards of Philadelphians to Minneapolis for the Super Bowl, Trout is undecided about whether he’ll join them.
“I think we are,” Trout said. “I like watching it on TV, watching the commercials and spending it with my wife and family and friends. I don’t know yet”
Another tough decision for Trout will come three seasons from now when his contract with the Angels runs out. Will Trout ever play in Philadelphia? The Phillies have a young core that could be ready to compete when he is set to be a free agent. Well, the door isn’t closed but Trout isn’t fueling the speculation either.
“I’m an Eagles fan. I grew up a Philly sports fan,” he started. “I love playing in Anaheim, obviously I have a couple years left on my contract.”
