‘All He Does Is Win’

Rodney Peete knows all about what it takes to play for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The former 16-year veteran at quarterback started for the Eagles during the 1995 season, leading them to the playoffs and a postseason win. He would go on to play another three years in Philadelphia, appearing in 30 total games and starting 24 of them.

Fast forward to the present day and the current Eagles are the defending Super Bowl champions. Although they’re 8-2 with the NFC’s best record, they’re still receiving criticism due to the offense’s lack of production. The Eagles rank 16th in scoring, 17th in rushing, 28th in passing and 29th in third-down conversion rate.

A recent report from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini indicates that teammates are growing frustrated with Jalen Hurts’ unwillingness to make throws into tight coverage.

Peete downplays the criticism from the media, saying that Hurts is handling the entire situation – including the A.J. Brown drama – extremely well.

“I can remember games when I played, I would throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and one pick, we’d win the game,” says Peete in a one-on-one interview. “We come back sometimes and win the game and the first question in the press conference was that that interception you threw in the second quarter, what were you thinking on that particular play? That happened often in Philadelphia, and you got to have thick skin if you play there.

“But the noise is just crazy,” Peete continues. “I know A.J. Brown is not happy about his production and not getting the ball and all that kind of stuff. I just think the way that Jalen is handling this and not throwing anybody under the bus. Even Nick Sirianni is handling it pretty well and allowing A.J. just to vent to the media, vent to everybody else, without really commenting on it. Because Saquon Barkley too is having a down year, and everybody’s on him and on their offense, but yet they’re still winning. They’re still winning.”

Peete’s point holds true in that the Eagles are still among the very best teams in the NFL and their record indicates it. They’ve had one of the toughest schedules in the NFL so far and still hold the NFC’s best record. Of the seven playoff teams they’ve matched up against, they’ve only lost to one, the Denver Broncos, after blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.

When it comes to their chief opposition in the NFC, the Eagles are flawless. While the wins haven’t been the prettiest, they’ve managed to defeat the likes of the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers in back-to-back weeks. However, they’ve scored just 26 total points in doing so, which is what the Philadelphia media has been criticizing them about.

The drama surrounding Brown and his unhappiness has been an ongoing topic for a couple of months. The three-time Pro Bowl receiver has taken to social media to vent his frustration, with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie recently meeting with the star receiver over his discontent.

Brown has just 38 catches for 457 receiving yards for 12.0 yards per reception and 50.8 yards per game. His yards per reception and yards per game are career lows. Those numbers obviously pale in comparison to DeVonta Smith, who is normally the No. 2 receiver. Smith leads Philadelphia with 49 catches for 665 yards.

Peete once again defends Hurts’ ability to handle all of the outside – and even internal – noise, saying there’s no such thing as an “ugly win.”

“You have to as a quarterback, because you’re gonna get the noise” says Peete of having to allow the criticism go in one ear and out the other. “I think it’s unfortunate that he hears it from his own teammates when A.J. is talking, ‘Hey, I’m not targeted enough. Our offense is not doing this, and I’m not getting the ball enough.’ It hits home with you and you feel that, you do feel that as a quarterback. He’s one of the best receivers in the league, I gotta find a way to get them the ball, but you can’t do it at the expense of winning. There’s people saying they won ugly. There’s no such thing as an ugly win – a win is a win in this league where they’re hard to come by.”

The former Eagles and longtime NFL quarterback once again hammers home that you gotta “eliminate” the noise in order to success.

“As the quarterback, you gotta eliminate the noise,” says Peete. ‘Because at the end of the day, it is strictly about winning. Everything else will come to you because you’re the quarterback, and you’re the focal point. You’re going to get a lot of the attention, you’re going to get the most money, you’re going to get all those things, but you really got to focus on the winning.”

For a quarterback like Hurts, no one has been better at winning than the Super Bowl LIX MVP in recent seasons. Hurts has the most wins of any quarterback since the start of the 2022 season with 45. He also has a Super Bowl win and two Super Bowl appearances.

“That’s why I’m so impressed with him, because he hasn’t gotten caught up into that drama of A.J. Brown and everybody else talking about the offense is not this and not that – all he does is win,” says Peete of Hurts. “That’s all he does wherever he’s been. That’s all he does is win. From a quarterback standpoint, that’s kind of what we were taught to do, find a way to win regardless. Stats, yeah, they’re great. But if you win, it should mean more than just the stats.”

Rodney Peete On How GEMTESA Has Helped With His OAB And BPH Symptoms

Peete is two decades removed from the end of his football career, but he obviously dealt with ailments from a long tenure in the NFL. One of those ailments that bothered him during his life in retirement was chronic pain in his knee.

The USC Trojans alum says his knee was “bone on bone” when he retired and he started walking around bowlegged and with a limp. He finally had knee replacement surgery after being stubborn “for about five years” after his wife, Holly Robinson Peete, urged him to get surgery.

He also found himself dealing with Overactive Bladder (OAB) and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), something that Peete found out he has after repeated trips to the bathroom, more often usual in his 50’s.

His wife also has OAB and after the urging of Holly, Peete finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with BPH. With GEMTESA – which is a prescription medicine used to treat OAB and BPH – Peete doesn’t have to worry about repeatedly going to the bathroom.

“I was amazed that GEMTESA was able to help me out in that regard,” says Peete of his symptoms. “Once you think that things, there’s nothing you can do about it because of your age, that’s not always the case. It really isn’t, and it’s so important just to get ahead of certain things, especially when it comes to your health, and because so many things are preventable. But also so many things are treatable as well. As we move forward in technology and medicine and all those things, it’s so important just to find out what’s going on with you. Go get checked out on a regular basis, because there might be something there that can help you out.”