Nakobe Dean, Philadelphia Eagles Linebacker

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Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. We continue this at Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. The Philadelphia Eagles are back in the NFC title game and they will be going up this weekend in South Philadelphia up against the San Francisco 49ers. And now joining us from the Eagles is Nicobe Dean, a rookie linebacker who's here with us today on behalf of Sky Motor Cars, skymotorcars.com.

Nicobe, first off, congratulations on making the NFC title game. How are you? Oh, yeah. Thank you. Thank you, first of all. I'm well.

I'm well. It's working. So when you hear the Philadelphia Eagles are playing in the NFC title game and Nicobe Dean is 60 minutes away from going to a Super Bowl, has it hit you yet? Has it really sunk in or not yet?

No, no, not just because I'm trying to keep the main thing, the main thing. And that's, you know, just winning the game. So it's just kind of been head down, work, head down, working and trying to focus on everything we got to do to play the best game we didn't play all season in this game. You have so many things on your plate when you're a rookie in the NFL. When did you start to realize that this team could really be special and be in an NFC title game?

It was from the beginning. It was from camp, the type of work we put in, the type of leaders we had, the type of veterans we had on our team that you don't really see a lot of other teams. It kind of was during camp, you know, everybody was working it, how everybody kind of held each other accountable for just working hard and trying to be the best.

I felt like I kind of felt it during there. I feel like we emphasized connection so much, even though we are an NFL team. The only thing I heard was in the league, you just don't connect with the guys as much, you know, but I feel like we emphasized connection so much, the type of togetherness we had was second at night. Some of those veterans that have taken you under their wing, who are some of the guys that you really relied on in that Eagles locker room?

I mean, we got some great veterans on the team. We got all the supervision, the BG, the Bernie Graham, the Fletcher Coxes, all those guys. And then we went in the middle of the season, grabbed a couple more guys with Sue and those other guys who have been playing, who play a lot of football, so there's a lot of knowledge in that locker room to help me out with whatever I need.

If I was to ask questions, they always open to just answering and just be there for me anytime. You mentioned some of those great players, whether it's in season getting the Domic and Sue, you mentioned a Super Bowl hero in Branson Graham and Fletcher Cox, was it at all intimidating? I know it's professional, I know it's a business, but watching some of those guys, was it intimidating when you first walked into that locker room?

Oh, no. No, I wouldn't say intimidating, just because you kind of knew this, wherever I went, it's going to be some type of guy who's been playing football for a long time, more so, I would say, exciting, just to be able to play alongside somebody who's been playing the game. You think about a guy who's been playing the game 10 plus years, I just turned 22 in December, I was 12 years old, 11, 12 years old when they got into the league.

So it was like, this is kind of exciting to just try to pick their mind and try to learn certain things from it. Nicobe Dean here with us on behalf of Sky Motor Cars, skymotorcars.com, Eagles in the NFC title game. So when you look at this team, what Jalen Hurts did, and I was in the building on Saturday night, was really impressive. And from the outside, we were all wondering, how is the shoulder going to be?

How is he going to be able to execute at a high level? It looked like the leader of the Eagles in Jalen Hurts, that shoulder was no issue. When did you guys know that he was going to be ready to go for that game? I mean, I feel like he was always ready, you know, he was going to show up for the big game whenever he was ready. And the way he practiced, he practiced, everybody knew he was going to be good.

So I had no doubts he was going to go out and perform. And just like everybody else, I had no doubts that we were going to go out and perform the way that we needed to perform, just because of the type of work we put in week in and week out. So I see the videos that you guys put up online, and Jalen always has a great speech after a game, especially after a win, and tries to keep the group level-headed.

How would you describe Jalen Hurts' leadership style? Yeah, it's just like you explained, you know, it's keeping the main thing, the main thing, everybody kind of trying to get everybody to continue to just lock in. Of course, Jordan wins, enjoy everything, but everybody lock in to know that we haven't not done what we set out to do yet.

You know, we still got a little minutes to go, so we're just trying to keep everybody focused and locked in on the main thing. I've lived in Philly for seven years, now I'm back in New York, but I was there when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. And I know how crazy Philadelphia could get, especially when it's dealing with their best team, their favorite team in the Philadelphia Eagles. How do you kind of give us the perspective of living in Philadelphia and being a part of this as a player and interacting with all the fans? Oh yeah, it's been great. It's been great just being able to be a part of everything, seeing how everything has been folded.

I mean, unfolded. Like I said, Philly has some of the best fans in the world with all sports, not just football but baseball and basketball and everything. So it's just been great just seeing the type of atmosphere and the type of energy that the Philadelphia fans bring. You played at Georgia, and I mean this in a good way, crazy football fans. You now play in Philadelphia, crazy football fans.

How do they compare? It's a little different. It's a little different just because Philadelphia is like, it's like, well, it's in the league. It's like, it's different in the NFL than in college. You know, you got people in college who kind of grew up, you get some students that grow up and they probably don't become Bulldogs fans until they actually go to the school or they just live in the area for a little minute. But it's more so, they got more so college pride. When it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles, you got people who were born and raised in the city of Philly, who live, eat, and breathe the Philadelphia Eagles, who are a little bit more passionate about it. How did you describe that environment on Saturday night? Because I was there, and I've seen big Philly crowds.

That was the one Rockets crowd. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. I enjoyed it. You know, I enjoyed it. They definitely brought the energy. I expect the same, if not more, from them this weekend as we played the 49ers, so it was great.

I love the crowd, for them to continue to bring the energy. I know you're a player, Nakobi Dean, so you're going to give me, oh, it's just a normal week probably, but do you feel the intensity around this week that it's a little bit extra more than just a regular week in the NFL? Well, I mean, yeah, it's only, what, eight teams?

Only eight teams left in the NFL playing right now. I mean, we're going to be able to have the opportunity to practice this week. So, of course, you kind of feel it, but at the same time, like you said, we've kind of been preparing for this. We try to bring the intensity every week in practice, in meetings, in practice, in walkthroughs. No matter what we're doing, we try to bring the intensity, so it won't be like anything new that we haven't done, because we've just been doing it all week, so it will kind of feel like another week, but just with a little bit more ways to focus. We'll see at the end of the week if there will be two teams remaining. I'm expecting the Eagles will be in the Super Bowl coming up in two weeks.

We'll talk about Sky Motor Cars in just a second, Nakobi Dean here with us. So, Jonathan Gannon is your defensive coordinator. He's interviewing, right, for a head coaching job. Nick Sirianni's talked about how he thinks he's going to be a head coach in this league one day. If a team called you up and said, Nakobi, what can you tell us about Jonathan Gannon? Why would he be a good head coach?

What would you say with your experience with him? I feel like he's confident in the way he does, the confidence that he brings. He's confident in the way he calls, that the guys on the field don't execute, just because of the way that he got us prepared throughout the season, throughout the preseason, throughout everything. So, he's just confident in his play calls, no matter what.

And I feel like that's one of the biggest reasons. And let me correct myself when I said 18, zero and 14, I was tripping. It's all right. Hey, just win this weekend. No one's going to care about the math. We're on the radio.

Math is not my strong suit. So, I actually went to school with Hassan Reddick. We both went to Temple together. I know you guys are close in the locker room, just seeing what the locker setup is at Lincoln Financial Field. How about the season he's having, 17 and a half total sacks or something?

Oh, yeah, it definitely is. You know, he's been great, great to this team. You know, the energy, the energy and leadership ability that he brings is second to none. Okay, so when you look at the 49ers, this Brock Purdy story is just unprecedented to be Mr.

Relevant. And now he is going up against you guys in an NFC title game. He was the third string quarterback not that long ago. When you watch the tape, what do you see out of the Niners quarterback in Brock Purdy?

You see a guy who's on the road, you know? He's got a guy whose team trusts him, got a good defense around him also. So, it's like just seeing somebody who's just comfortable back there playing. Somebody who they probably say should be sometimes rattled, but he seems comfortable back there and he makes plays for the team. What's the biggest point of emphasis for your defense this week when you're going up against an offense that has a legendary tackle in Trent Williams? They have Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey.

We talk about the Purdy story. What's been the biggest point of emphasis this week? Biggest point of emphasis I would say is probably just going to be doing our job. Just doing our job and executing at a high level. You know, like every week is executing at a high level, tackling, doing communicate, and just doing our job, doing our 1-11. You know, everybody do their job.

If every 11 people on the field do their job at once, then what we have to do will get done. All right, tell me about Sky Motor Cars and skymotorcars.com. Yeah, y'all can go visit skymotorcars.com, you know, to pick out any selection of cars. You know, they got a great selection.

I know I got out of Q8 from there, which is great. I love the car. It's amazing.

You know, also you can buy and sell your cars. So, you know, everybody should just go check them out. How about your boys at Georgia? Back-to-back national champs. I know you're on the first national title team.

How about what they were able to do this year? It was great. It was great, you know, with the coaches and what Kirby got going up there. It's just great, you know, and I'm definitely proud to say that I play at the University of Georgia, and I'm always going to be proud to say that.

You know, I was at the game, so I was happy to see the SmackDown they put on their boys. What do you love the most about Stetson Bennett? Because I think Stetson Bennett and Jalen Hurts are a little bit similar, where everyone tries to disrespect them, and year after year, they just continue to prove people wrong.

Yeah, of course. I mean, if you don't know Stetson's story, you should look into it. But other than his story, you know, I love, for me personally, knowing the person that I love, that he's kind of a guy like me who don't really care what people got to say. You know, he always got to constantly prove himself, and he just continues to do it, you know. And even if it's a misstep, he don't second-guess himself. His confidence is not wavering, no matter what. So that's what I love about him. He don't care what nobody has to say. He's just going to go and he's going to work, and he's going to continue to get better day in and day out.

That's one of the biggest things I love about him. It's probably a little surreal for you, right, because you just won a national championship in college. Now it's your first year in the league, and you could be playing in the Super Bowl in two weeks. That's some pretty neat stuff when you look at it. Yeah, yeah.

It's definitely great. Like I said, I'm kind of a guy who take everything, like, try to stay level-headed. You know, I haven't even made it to the Super Bowl yet, so I'm just thinking about one game at a time, and then the NFC Championship, and that's for your knowledge. So that's the only thing I'm trying to think about, just handling the job this weekend. Well, enjoy coming up this weekend.

Best of luck to you and the rest of the team, and we appreciate you joining us today on behalf of Sky Motor Cars and SkyMotorCars.com. He's the Kobe Dean. Now, Kobe, thanks so much.

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