As a punter, the 91-yard punt in Dec of 89 would be Randall’s signature play. He received the ball just inside the field of play in the end zone and booted the punt as confidently and professionally as an everyday punter. He also drilled an 80-yard punt 5 years later.
As a QB, the play remembered for the ages would come against the NY Giants Oct 10th 1988 on MNF. Carl Banks drills him in the backfield bringing him down to what appeared to be a sack but Randall stabalized himself with this left hand on the turf. He springs back up and throws a TD pass to Jimmie Giles. To this day Carl Banks still cant believe Randall escaped.
“It was a pretty damn good tackle, and he was just better,” Banks said. “I’d salute that any day of the week. He was just better than I was on that play. It’s something you shake your head at and just salute that dude.”
The moment would be the Jan 2005 Championship game vs the Falcons to finally get over the hump, but the signature play would be between the 4th and 26 or the 14-second scramble against the Cowboys on MNF in that championship season of 2004. I’m going to let Fred Ex (Freddie Mitchell) have the miraculous 4th and 26 play. McNabb’s 14-second scramble and 60-yard heave to Freddie (again) for a remarkable completion are just as wild every time I watch it. I can’t get over how accurate that pass is to hit Mitchell in stride. Donovan’s full athleticism was on display during that play and he ended that game with 4 TD 0 Int and 345 passing yards. A play to marvel at every time I watch it.
His signature game would be the comeback win against the Giants in 2010 capped by Desean Jackson’s (Miracle in the Meadowlands two) heroics to end it. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen another game where someone willed their team to victory in that manner. But the plays I decided to choose from were the MNF 80-yard TD pass to Desean or the Oct 11, 2011 game against the 49ers when Vick threw for a career-high 416 yards. Michael Vick escaped a sure sack (twice) to throw a TD pass to TE Clay Harbor. A fantastic moment. But that 88-yard TD throw to Desean was amazing and introduced everyone to what was to come on that magical connection.
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I began by thinking of his toughness during the Super Bowl season, like the 2017 Carolina game where he ran over a linebacker for a TD. Or the same type of play where he got injured in LA against the Rams, then throws a TD to Alshon. But when I thought more about the plays he made that just blew my mind, I chose between the ones that he had Houdini-style escapes. In 2019 against the Falcons Carson threw and completed, a pass to Agholor ashes going down while his knee was one centimeter from the turf. I also thought of the Seattle game where he scrambled and threw a bomb, again, to Agholor, for a huge gain. The play is somewhat reminiscent of the McNabb signature moment. But I couldn’t get all of the WFT games out of my head. He made a lot of mind-blowing plays during these games. One of the prettiest passes you will ever see for a TD to Miles Sanders in the back of the end zone in 2019. A TD pass to Corey Clement while being sacked in 2017. The unforgettable return of Desean Jackson to Philly where Carson tosses two TD bombs to him in the opener in 2019 season opener. I finally landed on the game the Eagles won against the Redskins in 2017 where he alluded to a pile of would-be sackers and somehow came out of the pile. I’ve watched that 50 times just for this article, and still can’t understand how he got out of that. For all of the negativity that surrounds Carson Wentz today, his 2017 season was magical before his late season injury.
Can there be any other signature play as spellbinding and satisfying as the “Philly Special”? That is the play. So for this article, I chose to decide on a non-Super Bowl moment from Saint Nick. The Championship game flea-flicker to Torrey Smith is that moment. This was a beautiful throw that I waited on pins and needles for Torrey to catch before exploding into joy in the stands (with 65,000 other fans). I also believe this to be the very instance when the entire fan base started to believe that he was going to lead us to our first Lombardi Trophy. He was playing with a confidence and swagger that he had rarely shown. Outside of the Patrick Robinson interception during this same game, I had never felt a stadium rock like it did after that touchdown completion. That night is one of the greatest celebrations in Philadelphia that I have ever been a part of.