NEW ORLEANS – On Sunday night, when Big Easy closed the 40-22 Eagles at Super Bowl 2025, they dismantled the two-time defending champion chief and the biggest player in the uniform. “I cried at the winner's sideline.
Mekhi Becton has been difficult to understand the moment, considering the black hole that he appears to have escaped.
In his first four years in the NFL, Becton certainly wanted to cry, but sometimes for reasons that were quite different from Sunday nights.
And he did it only in quiet moments as he was ridiculed as one of the largest first-round draft busts in Jets history already scattered over them.
“This is the happiest and most emotional thing I've ever had other than my son being born,” Becton told the Post after the match. “As a player, this is what you dream of.”
What was going on in his mind on that sideline?
“Just life,” Becton said. “Think about all the trials and tribulations I have experienced, all the doubts, all the people who told me I could not do that.
“I'm a kid from Richmond, Virginia,” Becton continues, and once again became emotional. “People don't take it out of Richmond from where I come from. I'm not supposed to be here now. I'm thinking about it and thinking that all people are looking at me back home. I was doing it for them, man.”
Becton, the left tackle chosen by the Jets on his 11th pick in 2020, fought weight issues and knee injuries.
The Jets finally admitted their mistake and moved on.
Becton also moved on, signing a one-year certification deal with the Eagles earlier this season and joining highly regarded offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.
A traditional tough love coach, Stoutland, moved Becton from left tackle to right guard, saving his career.
Having only played one game in the 2021 season and never played in 22, Becton started 15 regular season games in Philadelphia, with all four running this postseason in the Super Bowl .
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His proof season has become a lucrative long-term contract not only in his Super Bowl ring but also in the offseason.
These are two things that Becton couldn't imagine just nine months ago when the team that drafted him ultimately gave up on him.
“There were definitely dark days,” Becton said. “I was there a little bit of that dark day. It feels good to actually cry tears of joy.”
Becton admits that it is difficult to believe where he is while standing in that side hustle, when the final seconds burned out from the clock and later confetti bathed the field.
“I'm going to work no matter what,” he said. “No matter what someone says, I'm going to keep my head down. I'm just working. Good things come to people who do good things. I put work in, and now I'm on it It's rewarding for it.”
