Former Cardinal Haason Reddick: 'It's been a journey ... but I wouldn't change anything'

As if he needed any reminders upon becoming the first player in NFL history to have 10 or more sacks in three consecutive seasons with three different teams, someone asked Eagles outside linebacker Haason Reddick what he’s learned about himself the past three years.

“That I could do this thing, you know what I’m saying?” Reddick said. “I know during my career a lot of people had questions if I could really do this thing, but like you said, three different teams in three different years, three seasons back to back to back with double-digit sacks.

“I mean, I’m here, baby. I can do this thing.”

A first-round pick out of Temple by the Cardinals in 2017, Reddick finished his first season in Philadelphia with 16 sacks, tied for the second most in the regular season behind only the 49ers’ Nick Bosa (18½). Reddick has since added 3½ more sacks in two postseason games and can push that total into the 20s if he can bring down Patrick Mahomes on Sunday when the Eagles face the Chiefs during Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium.

“To sack him in the Super Bowl? Man, that would be crazy,” said Reddick, who led the NFL with five strip sacks and five forced fumbles. “He’s one of the quarterbacks in the league that I haven’t gotten to yet, so if I’m able to get to him and I can get him in a Super Bowl, I mean, that’s going to be historic for me.”

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It's already been like a Hollywood story for Reddick, the former walk-on in college who didn’t know how long his career might last in the NFL following his first three seasons in Arizona. The Cardinals, after all, declined to pick up his fifth-year option before he finished the 2020 season with a team-high 12½ sacks.

He was determined to test the open market as a free agent after that, which included a five-sack performance in a 26-7 win at the Giants. He signed a one-year deal with the Panthers and put up 11 sacks in 2021 and has a staggering 43 sacks the past three years combined, including the playoffs.

“This thing feels like a movie script,” Reddick said. “One of them stories how it all started off going wrong and now it’s all working out. Truly, I’m blessed to be in this position because I remember not knowing if I would be in this position. To be here now, man, I’m just blessed.”

Contrary to what you might have thought, he doesn’t harbor any ill will toward the Cardinals for letting him walk.

“My feelings towards the Cardinals? I have no feelings,” Reddick said. “No ill feelings, no none of that. I’m still playing football, I still get to do what I love, I’m in a different place and I’m balling, so I have no ill feelings towards them.

“It’s evident they’ve got some things going on, but … ”

The Cardinals finished this past season 4-13, cleaned house, and in addition to likely not having quarterback Kyler Murray ready for the start of 2023 following ACL surgery, they have yet to hire a new head coach.

Reddick, though, doesn’t fault the Cardinals for trying to make him an inside linebacker instead of letting him rush the passer on the edge as an outside linebacker.

“They saw my skill set at the Senior Bowl, they liked what they saw, and they wanted me at inside linebacker,” he said. “But this is the elite of the elite of the world and it’s hard to learn inside linebacker at this level and play it at a high level. It’s crazy on your mind. Your game knowledge, it has to hit so fast and it was just taking me some time at the end of the day.”

Reddick showed what he could do his final season in Arizona once the team let him play on the edge and he’s been proving he can be a dominating disruptive force from there ever since.

“Being able to get back on the edge, man, it’s been tremendous for me,” he said. “It’s natural. Playing on the edge allows my instincts, my abilities to fully take over and allows me to play football without even thinking. It’s purely reactionary out there, so it worked out in my favor. Everything’s working out for me.”

It couldn’t have gone much better for Reddick and the Eagles a couple weeks ago during the NFC Championship game against the 49ers. He barreled through blockers for two sacks, a tackle for loss, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. One of the biggest plays was a game-changing hit on quarterback Brock Purdy when he struck Purdy’s arm, forcing a fumble and forcing the QB out of the game with a serious elbow injury.

“The NFC Championship game, man, what an experience,” Reddick recalled. “To be able to play at home in front of your hometown crowd, man, it was crazy. That atmosphere, the energy, the crowd, it was exciting, and I had fun. I made a couple big plays for my team, which I’m happy to do – I’m happy to be an asset in any way. But man, it was a great game, I had a lot of fun and geez, it got me here.”

So far this season, the Eagles have racked up 78 total sacks as a team, just five shy of breaking the 1984 Bears’ single-season NFL record of 82. The reason for Philly’s success is no secret, according to the man who has been leading the sack parade.

“We simply feed off each other,” Reddick said. “When one guy makes a play, now another guys makes a play and another guy makes a play and the next thing you know, you’ve got five, six guys on the D-line that have made a play. But it’s not a competition. We all support each other, we’re all fighting toward the same goal and we all get to eat.”

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Reddick said he got a chance to duck into the Cardinals’ training facility earlier this week and check out the practice fields he used to roam. It was an inspirational reflection in preparation for Sunday’s showdown against the Chiefs.

“I soaked it all in, thinking about how my career started and how I ended up here at the end of the day,” he said. “It’s been a journey, man, ups and downs – a lot of them – but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Everything happens for a reason, and I believe that and look at me now. I’m with my hometown team getting ready to play for the Super Bowl.”

A Hollywood-type story deserved a Hollywood-type finish, like perhaps an Eagles’ victory with Reddick getting three sacks and winning Super Bowl MVP honors?

“I hope so,” Reddick said, smiling. “I hope that’s script is right.

“I have no personal goals outside of just trying to be an asset. I mean, of course, I want to affect (Mahomes). I want to affect him as much as I can in order to help the team win. But I have no personal goal, man. We’re here for the Super Bowl and the only thing I want is a chance to hold that trophy and see my ring come in in a couple months.”

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former Arizona Cardinal Haason Reddick relishing role with Eagles