Still The 'Same Dudes' Even After Winning Super Bowl As Eagles Rookies

They are still the same person. Winning a Super Bowl hasn’t changed Quinyon Mithell or Cooper DeJean, so they said on Tuesday, nearly four months after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans. As rookies.

“I don’t think, whether I’ve become more popular in the city or whatever, I don’t think that’s changed who I am as a person,” said DeJean. “I’m still continuing to work, and to try and be the best I can be at my job. There are a lot of things I can get better at coming off of last season, that I can be ready for this season.

“And those are the things that I’ve been working on this offseason. Becoming stronger, faster, being more comfortable out on the field, and working my techniques. I don’t think it’s changed me as a person at all.”

And you can forget about it changing Mitchell. There may not be a more chill player in the NFL than him. He is a man of few words and when he says them, he doesn’t say them loudly.

Even when asked about his celebration during the parade, when he looked to be … let’s say tipsy … he smiled, surrendering only a handful of words.

“Man, I just had a good time,” he said. “I mean that's really all I gotta say.”

Mitchell wasn’t far from the only member of the Eagles or the one million or so fans that clogged the Ben Franklin Parkway during the parade who didn’t imbibe in an adult beverage or two.

Mitchell, though, is rarely seen in the public eye. He prefers to just hang out at his apartment, doing whatever.

Asked by Philadelphia Eagles on SI about how his life has changed as a Super Bowl champion at the age of 23, he simply said, “I still feel like the same person. I don't really feel like it's changed that much.”

The Eagles on SI follow up was: “Any more demands on your time?”
Mitchell said, “Nah, I just been the same dude. I feel like I've always been the same dude.”

DeJean is the opposite. He’s the same dude, but his social media platforms are filled with an outing here, there, and seemingly everywhere. He has become a celebrity since Super Bowl LIX, doing charity events, football camps, and starting a podcast with teammate Reed Blankenship.

So, how are the demands on his time?

“It’s been a little different,” he said. “Just walking around, I try to hide as much as I can. But it gets harder and harder. It’s still not going to change who I am as a person. Just be myself, treat people the same way. I haven’t changed, but things around me have changed a little bit. But I’m still the same person.”

This is what happens when you put the icing on top of a sensational first season by intercepting Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl and returning it 38 yards for a pick-six touchdown. It was his first career interception, and it came on his 22nd birthday.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “Everybody in this city loves Eagles football. And you can tell that, especially after you win a championship. Going into next season, they’re going to expect that same thing again. So, you gotta find a way to put that behind you and get back to work and try to do it all over again the next season, because once that next season comes around and that first game hits, I don’t think anybody’s really going to be remembering what we did last season, that Super Bowl.

“There’s going to be new critics for this next season after that first game, so you gotta prepare for that next season and put last season behind you.”