While it had been known that Fletcher Cox was hanging up his cleats for good this offseason, the former All-Pro defensive tackle held a retirement press conference at the NovaCare Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
Surrounded by family, Cox thanked teammates new and old, discussed the heightened stakes of playing in Philadelphia, and, notably, the possibility of making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.
When asked about the prospect of being enshrined in Canton, Cox had the following to say:
I think me and Howie [Roseman] just talked about that. I gotta get in the Eagles Hall of Fame first, so that might help me [laughs]. But yeah, obviously, that's something I think about. Apparently, it's all in everybody else's hands right now, but hopefully I'm, one day, a few years from now, putting on a gold jacket and I'll be looking forward to it.
Cox was the second-best DT of his era behind only Aaron Donald, who will go down as one of the greatest defensive players of all time. Being a shade behind Donald is no slight, and Donald's overlapping presence probably hurt Cox's national profile for a bit.
Still, Cox made six straight Pro Bowls from 2015 to 2020. He was a First-Team All-Pro choice in 2018 and received Second-Team nods in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
Among the Eagles' core over the last decade, Jason Kelce is assuredly on his way to the Hall. Lane Johnson is more than deserving as well, but it remains to be seen how the Hall will weigh his candidacy. Cox likely falls into the latter camp as a player who isn't a clear-cut choice, rightfully or not, but whose career deserves to be weighed alongside the best of the best.
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