The Philadelphia Eagles’ dominant win on Sunday afternoon led to many headlines and plenty of attention on the city and the players.
But among the fans screaming obscenities at the visiting Green Bay Packers faithful, fans mocking Tom Brady’s broadcast performance, and Eagles players getting seriously injured, there was a more heartwarming story.
It came when wide receiver AJ Brown was seen on the sidelines late in the game, reading a book.
Brown’s decision to pick up a novel – a self-help book called ‘Inner Excellence’ by Jim Murphy – quickly went viral.
When asked about his players’ choice of down-time activity, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni indicated that he didn’t have any issue with Brown reading.
“I’m definitely OK with it,” Sirianni said. “The crazy thing is, he’s been reading this book on the sideline for a long time. It just so happened a camera saw it this week.
AJ Brown was seen reading a book on the sidelines of the Eagles’ Wild Card game on Sunday
The book was ‘Inner Excellence’ by Jim Murphy. Many fans have since bought copies
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni indicated that he had no problem with Brown reading
‘Some guys pray in between, some guys mediate in between. A.J. reads in between. Whatever these guys need to do to put their mind in a place where they can play with great detail and great effort, I fully encourage them to do that. I love A.J.’
While Brown may have only had one catch for ten yards in Sunday’s win, his reading habit has clearly had no effect on his game in the regular season.
Brown ended the 2024 regular season leading the Eagles in receiving yards with 1,079. He also had the second-most receiving touchdowns of anyone on the team with seven – just one behind fellow receiver DeVonta Smith.
The Eagles dominated the Packers from beginning to end – with the 22-10 final score truly masking how strong Philadelphia was as a team.
While Green Bay may have finished the game with more total yards (302) than the Eagles (290), the Packers also turned the ball over four times (one fumble, three interceptions) and didn’t score until the third quarter.
Green Bay may have scored a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it a 16-10 game, but they didn’t respond after that and Philadelphia was able to kick two field goals to seal the victory.
Philadelphia next hosts the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional round on Sunday afternoon.
