Why 'Hamburgers' Are The Goal For Eagles' Decorated Edge Rusher

Za'Darius Smith is ready to help the Eagles this Sunday in Kansas City.

Eagles defensive end Za'Darius Smith after his first practice with the Eagles after signing Sept. 5. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA - It’s been a whirlwind of a week for new Eagles’ edge rusher Za’Darius Smith, who is trying to get up to speed to help his new team on Sunday in Kansas City.

All signs point to the veteran, who signed early this week, helping in obvious pass-rushing situations against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

“I feel good,” Smith said after practice Friday. “Going into Year 11, it’s nothing new to me. I’ve been keeping up with my training. Sometimes when I train, I put my helmet on for the past couple weeks before I got here, just to get a feel for the game again, putting the helmet on and getting going.”

The effusive Smith had already found a kindred spirit in Philadelphia defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who reminds the proven sackmaster of his old boss in Baltimore, Dean Pees.

“Oh man, he's been doing it for a long, long time,” Smith said of Fangio. “I talked to him [Wednesday] and I don't know if y'all ever heard of Deen Pees. I said y’all are built the same. … I love [Vic] man."

Smith, though, did find it curious when Fangio broke out a videotape of himself “making hamburgers” in a team meeting.

Hamburgers?

Eagles Za'Darius Smith (No. 52) takes part in his first practice with his new team on Sept. 10. | John McMullen/Eagle on SI

“I think he came in the day before yesterday and he showed a video of him making some hamburgers,” Smith laughed. “We’re like why is he showing us a video of him making hamburgers? He got the hamburgers, throw them on the thing, cook them. He said player of the game. So, he brought the player of the game that came up and he gave them hamburgers.

“So, that was something cool.”

Fangio was decked out in “the whole nine” with a chef hat and apron before awarding the “burgers’ to All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun for the play of the game against Dallas for chasing down Miles Sanders from behind, and defensive tackle Byron Young for persevering and playing well after Jalen Carter was ejected.

It wasn’t hamburgers, though, it was Fangio’s famed meatballs, made from a recipe that dates back to 1919 when Andelinda and Anthony Fangio left Castiglione, Italy.

Fangio has carried a laminated copy of the recipe through all of his coaching stops, and the finished product – a combination of ground beef, ground pork, and parmesan cheese topped with tomato puree and tomato paste – is evidently so good it’s a credible award for a job well done on game day.

“Hopefully I can get a burger next week, how about that?” Smith smiled.

MORE NFL: Inside the Chiefs: K.C. Defense Wants 'Payback' Vs. The Eagles