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#TBT: Nick Foles visits CFB Live in 2010

Andre Ware on admiring former Arizona star, now Eagles' Super Bowl QB

On Sunday, Feb. 4 in Minneapolis, Nick Foles will be on football’s biggest stage as he quarterbacks the Philadelphia Eagles against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

He’s navigated a winding road as a Texas high school football star, Michigan State freshman, transfer to Arizona and – since 2012 – a promising pro quarterback with various NFL teams before finding his groove this season in his second stint with the Eagles.

For this Throwback Thursday post, Front Row dug into the ESPN vaults for old video of Foles at the company’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters.

In July 2010, Foles – in his second year at Arizona after transferring from Michigan State – was one of four star quarterbacks representing the then-Pac 10 Conference on an East Coast publicity tour.

Foles joined Stanford’s Andrew Luck, USC’s Matt Barkley and Washington’s Jake Locker for an appearance on – among other shows – College Football Live.

Analysts Andre Ware and Brian Griese, who piloted the day’s show with then-host Chris Fowler, put the quarterbacks through the paces on the campus green.

“That’s by far the most fun I’ve had on a show since I started doing College Football Live,” said Ware, the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Houston who joined ESPN in 2003. “We had a blast. All of it. The show had so much more interaction that day.”

Foles impressed Ware, the College Football Hall of Famer, long before the Bristol visit. Ware recalls first being impressed with Foles while watching him lead Westlake High School in the Texas state playoffs.

Fast forward a couple of years and he’s at Arizona and then we go outside that day. It was kind of a thrill to meet him and talk to him.

-- Andre Ware, on meeting
Nick Foles in 2010 after watching Foles excel in high school

“Fast forward a couple of years and he’s at Arizona and then we go outside that day. It was kind of a thrill to meet him and talk to him,” Ware recalled.

“He was quiet. But it was a quiet confidence that he exuded. You could just tell that big things were going to happen for him at some point.”

Foles eventually became a third-round draft pick of the Eagles – but not before a visit with former ESPN analyst Jon Gruden at Gruden QB Camp.

Watch the video above for a sample of Ware interviewing Foles. In the video below, watch Foles compete in a College Football Live skills challenge.

Teri Couch contributed to this post.

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