Phil Jackson Offers Championship Advice to Eagles

In an optimum setting keeping the interest of young men in a classroom environment can be challenging.

In the COVID-19 virtual world it has to be even more difficult so Doug Pederson is doing some things to spice up his messaging. On Thursday, that meant Hall of fame basketball coach Phil Jackson hopping on MS Teams to show off his 11 rings, 13 if you feel like counting his hardware as a player.

A Hollywood starlet couldn’t wear that much jewelry of course and Jackson wasn’t really there to do a fashion show. It was Pederson taking advantage of a new generation learning about one of the greatest sports dynasties of all-time through ESPN’s popular “The Last Dance” documentary.

The Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls won six championships with Jackson leading the way from the bench and Jackson ultimately ended up winning five more with Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers.

Bradon Graham alerted everyone to Jackson’s appearance with an Instagram post and later discussed it on a Zoom call with Philadelphia-area reporters.

"It was cool because that's a legend right there," Graham said of Jackson.

As the steward of legendary superstars Jackson focused on the idea of the team first and the roles in the finished product.

"Everybody's got to know their role and enjoy your role,” Graham said when asked about Jackson’s messaging, “because if we're a team, everybody has a place and everybody has a job, so whatever that job is issued to you, that's what you have to accept until things change."

Pederson himself has said similar things in the past and has adopted a mantra of “trust” as his team navigates through the uncharted territory of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jackson offered similar sentiments encouraging the players to fight through adversity as good teammates.

"Injuries happen. All kinds of things happen. But how you handle yourself as a teammate is very important,” said Jackson, via Graham.

For Graham personally, the championship wisdom hit its intended target.

“I think that's going to translate real good," said Graham, "especially hearing it from him."

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen