The site of black trash bags and boxes in the Eagles' locker room Monday morning could only mean one thing: The season was over.
The end of an NFL season is a somber scene for 31 NFL teams, as players pack their belongings into said trash bags, say their goodbyes, and head their separate ways for the offseason.
But as much as Monday's locker room clean-out marked the end, it also felt like only the beginning for running back Boston Scott.
All the way back in Week 1, Scott was on the practice squad with four running backs ahead of him on the active roster. As injuries ravaged the depth chart, the Eagles promoted Scott to give the team some needed depth amongst the ballcarriers.
Even after he scored his first NFL touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in Week 8, Scott was still only known by the most die-hard of Eagles fans. Things changed drastically once the Eagles played the New York Giants in Week 14, as Scott racked up 128 total yards and a touchdown before a national television audience.
Scott's meteoric rise to prominence culminated in Week 17, when he scored three touchdowns and took home NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Five days later, hundreds of people waited in line for hours just to meet him at a local autograph signing.
It's not easy to remain humble after all of that, but Scott made it clear Monday that he is not resting on his laurels. After being waived by two different teams in two seasons, he of all people knows how tenuous life can be in the NFL, where moments of greatness can be fleeting.
"I haven't arrived by any means," Scott said. "I haven't reached the standard that I have for myself."
Scott has maintained this mentality going back to college, when he walked on to play football at Louisiana Tech. He had to scratch and claw his way onto the field then, and has been doing so throughout his time as a pro.
"I want to be the best at what I do," Scott said. "I want to be up there with the elite and the only way to get there is through hard work and dedication. Like I said, I'm a far way off from where I want to be, but I'm definitely determined to get there."
Scott believes he is in the right place to accomplish that. He never stopped fighting in the face of adversity and neither did the Eagles, who surged at the end of the season to clinch their second NFC East title in three years.
Scott made sure to credit the Eagles organization for not only allowing him the opportunity to play, but also showing the resolve to keep fighting when things got tough.
"I really like it here," Scott said. "I like the culture that Howie (Roseman), Mr. (Jeffrey) Lurie, and Doug (Pederson) have built here. I just think that this season just really defined the culture here."
"We might make mistakes. We might shoot ourselves in the foot – things in football happen – but at the end of the day, we never stopped fighting, and that's what's been consistent throughout this season," he added.
It took two seasons, but Scott may have finally found a home in Philadelphia. He is happy with that, but he is far from satisfied.
"I'm not done. I'm still hungry. There's still more," he said.
