Austin Celebrates Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles As Hometown Hero

AUSTIN, TX — Philadelphia, home to the Super Bowl LII champion Eagles, may be 1,622 miles from Austin by car or about 1,437 miles as the crow flies, but the city has a hometown hero in quarterback Nick Foles.

You might even say Foles is as big a toast of the town in Austin as he is in Philly. The man who took down the once-thought-invincible Tom Brady is a 2007 graduate of Westlake High School, where he distinguished himself as a standout player during his senior year. His alma mater is now all agog over their star alumnus, currently selling a limited edition T-shirt honoring their former star player.

"We all kind of knew deep down that this guy is a special athlete and we would probably see him on Sundays," former Westlake football teammate told KXAN. During Foles' time at Westlake, he also played basketball and was recruited by Georgetown, Baylor and Texas before enrolling at the University of Arizona to play football.

Even before Sunday's big game, sports pundits had posited that his time at Westlake shaped him as a player. Remember that play on Sunday when they called a pass to Foles on fourth down late in the first half of the Super Bowl? Westlake High School ran the same trick play at his helm. Foles’ touchdown on Super Bowl that gave the Eagles a 22-12 halftime lead, but the play was perfected at Westlake against formidable foe North Mesquite High School.

Given those strong ties, Westlake High officials were selling a limited number of Nick Foles Super Bowl T-shirts on Monday. The shirts were being sold at Chaparral Stadium for $15 a pop.

The day after the Super Bowl when untold legions call in sick to work after a day of partying, Westlake was feeling its oats. Foles is the second alum to play in a quarterback after Drew Brees, as they made a point to note on social media. Brees is the 2009 Super Bowl MVP-winning quarterback for the New Orleans Saints.

Foles' local ties run deeper than his high school stint, and haven't been severed since his ascension to the big leagues. He is a co-owner of a high-end Mexican Food restaurant in downtown Austin called ATX Cocina, as the Austin 360 blog reported. His dad is a prolific restaurateur in Austin, a co-partner behind several Austin restaurants: Roaring Fork, Salty Sow, Red Ash, Tumble 22 (and its forthcoming brick-and-mortarT22 Chicken Joint), as well as ATX Cocina.

Foles' popular eatery was closed on Sunday to allow employees to watch their leader's day in the Super Bowl sun.

So while Philly's in the throes of excitement over their MVP and the first Super Bowl win in team history, Austinites are quietly celebrating their hometown hero, the local boy done good, with the knowledge that we knew him before he got big and cheered him along the whole time. While Philadelphia fans have rightfully embraced him like a conquering hero, Foles is as much ours here in Austin and he is theirs — and we knew him way back in the day.

>>> AP Photo/Chris Szagola