Vince Papale Likes Eagles' Chances — and Says a New Offense Is No Excuse

ATLANTIC CITY — Vince Papale knows something about adapting to a new offense.

He also knows something about trying to make a football team when nobody expects much from you.

So with the Philadelphia Eagles preparing for another season with a new offensive coordinator, the former Eagle whose improbable career inspired the movie Invincible isn't interested in excuses.

“You can use that as an excuse, but to me, it's inexcusable to use it as an excuse,” Papale said during an appearance on The AC Mike Lopez Show on WOND. “Just go out there, play, make the plays.”

Papale is optimistic about the Eagles as they prepare to open the regular season Sept. 13 against the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field.

“My thoughts are very positive,” Papale said. “They have the talent, and it's just a matter of execution.”

The Eagles are transitioning to an offense led by new coordinator Sean Mannion, putting quarterback Jalen Hurts in the position of once again adjusting to a different play-caller. Mannion is Hurts' sixth play-caller since he entered the NFL in 2020.

Hurts said this week that he feels he's “in a good spot” with the new system following the team's final training camp practice.

Papale believes continuity is valuable.

“You like continuity,” Papale said. “And, you know, that creates confidence and also creates a little bit of calm.”

But ultimately, he said, professional football players have to adjust.

“It's all about fundamentals,” Papale said. “That's what it is. And it's all about getting the plays done.”

Papale: Players have to make adjustments

Papale said experienced players should be able to recognize defenses, communicate and make adjustments at the line of scrimmage.

“You've been in the game, and the guys and wide receivers have been in the game for long enough to know that they should be able to make the adjustments, make the audibles, have that sight adjustment, have that intellectual awareness, have that spatial awareness,” Papale said.

His advice was considerably simpler than the terminology.

“Just do your job,” Papale said. “Play for the guy next to you and do the best you can, and that'll get it all done.”

Papale told Lopez that those mental skills played an important role in his own unlikely Eagles career.

He recalled making two catches after correctly reading defensive adjustments during his first preseason game in 1976.

Papale said Vermeil told him he was one of the few players — including veterans — who had correctly read the defense and made the appropriate adjustments.

“It's not always just that physical capability,” Papale said. “It's what you see with your eyes, and situational awareness is so, so very important, not just in football, but in life.”

‘Four of them would get me kicked out’

There is one part of today's NFL Papale isn't quite as enthusiastic about.

The rules.

Papale joked that he and his wife were watching a preseason game when they looked at several new NFL rules and realized how differently he might have been treated if he played today.

“Four of the five new rules changes in the NFL, four of them would get me either kicked out of the game or at least unnecessary roughness,” Papale said.

Then came the Papale punchline:

“How about unnecessary playing football the way football should be played?”

Papale played wide receiver and special teams during an era when the NFL allowed considerably more physical contact.

“It's a violent game,” he said. “It's a violent sport.”

From $21,000 to millions

Papale also laughed about how dramatically the economics of professional football have changed since his playing days.

While discussing today's multimillion-dollar contracts, he remembered what the Eagles paid him.

“I signed for $21,000,” Papale said.

Not that money was what brought him to Philadelphia.

“I would have given them $21,000,” Papale joked.

It has now been 50 years since Papale made the Eagles after attending Vermeil's famous 1976 open tryout. He remained with Philadelphia for three seasons.

And all these years later, he's still watching the Eagles closely.

A difficult schedule

Papale said one challenge facing the 2026 Eagles is the schedule.

“They've had a brutal schedule,” Papale said. “Games on different time zones and different days of the week.”

That's not an exaggeration.

Philadelphia's schedule includes five prime-time games, a game against Jacksonville in London on Oct. 11, a Thanksgiving Day game at Dallas and a Saturday game against Seattle in December.

Papale remembers a simpler NFL calendar.

“We just had the basics,” he said. “We had the Sunday games and the Monday night games.”

Today's players, he said, have to adapt.

“They're asking a lot of the players,” Papale said. “So, you know, it's just a matter of adaptation and getting it done.”

And that brings Papale back to the same point he made about learning a new offense.

Talent matters. Schemes matter. Coaching matters.

But eventually somebody has to execute.

“Again, it's all fundamentals,” Papale said. “It's the game of football, and it's executing on game day.”

Then the former Eagle sounded less like an analyst and more like the fan he remains 50 years after making the team.

“Let's go, baby,” Papale said. “That's what it's all about. Go Birds.”

“And I'm the biggest Bird fan there is out there.”