If you happen to catch a Philadelphia Eagles quarterback hanging his head after he tosses an interception this season, just know that it's going to cost him—literally.
John DeFilippo, the team's quarterbacks coach, recently revealed that he fines players for bad body language. The topic came up during DeFilippo's recent appearance on The Howard Eskin Podcast. Much of the discussion centered around second-year quarterback Carson Wentz, and the host noted that Wentz was a player who rarely exhibited poor body language.
"You're 100 percent right—1,000 percent right," DeFilippo responded. "We have body language fines in our (quarterbacks) room. We call each other out for body language. And those guys, if they see me (exhibiting bad body language) on the tape, they'll call me out. So we call each other out for body language all the time. It's something that's talked about, it's something that's coached. It's brought up all the time. You're always being watched as a quarterback. Always."
DeFilippo went on to give a few examples of what he considers to be bad body language. "Sulking, taking your chinstrap and pulling on it…Putting your head down. Throwing the ball down after a sack," DeFilippo says. "We're big believers in positive body language."
There's no position in team sports where leadership is more important than quarterback. While it's hard to imagine the fines being too exorbitant, they likely serve the purpose of driving home just how crucial body language is to success as a quarterback in the NFL.
Photo Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
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