He was nearby and he had a lot of friends on his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, and he's been a lifelong Eagles fan, so Paul Worrilow decided that he and his wife, Gina, would buy a couple of tickets and attend the NFC Divisional Round playoff game against Atlanta at Lincoln Financial Field in January.
Worrilow was impressed.
"Incredible atmosphere, which we already knew. Walking through the parking lot and seeing the fans and how they tailgate," Worrilow said on Wednesday, after signing a one-year contract with the Eagles, "they get after it. They mean business."
So does Worrilow, who is here to add depth and competition at linebacker and on special teams. Worrilow has 72 games played and 52 starts in his five NFL seasons – four with the Falcons and 2017 with Detroit – and he's a core special teams player. He's here to help, whatever the role he plays.
And he's darn happy to be 30 minutes or so from his Wilmington, Delaware home.
"For me, Philly was the place I wanted to get to," Worrilow said. "At the end of 2016, before I signed with Detroit, there was interest from Philly, and this is where I wanted to be the whole time. Talking with my agent, letting him handle everything, he knew where I wanted to end up. I fired up. I'm real happy I'm here.
"This is it for me. Driving by the stadium as a kid all the time, you look out and you see the Linc. That's where I wanted to play. It's nice to be home, to be around my family for me and my wife."
Worrilow hasn't been to the stadium yet as a member of the Eagles, but that will happen in time. Right now he's settling into the reality of the whole situation: Worrilow had interest from other teams and had a chance to make more money, but the lure of coming home, of playing for a Super Bowl champion, and of being in Jim Schwartz's attacking defense won him over.
So he's an Eagle and we'll see what that means when the depth chart starts to take shape in August.
"I don't know what to expect," Worrilow said. "I'm just concerned with coming in and trying to fit and learn as much as I can."
Worrilow played at Concord High School in Delaware and then starred for the University of Delaware. He didn't have a lot of love from the NFL after his college days were over, but he found a solid role as a starting linebacker in Atlanta and a key player on special teams for the Falcons. He's had an "underdog" kind of career, and it's been a good one. Six years in the NFL for a kid no major football programs recruited out of high school? Not bad at all. And more to come if things work out with the Eagles.
Clearly, Worrilow is a football junkie, and that's a compliment. He loves the game. He lives it. He breathes it.
"I love ball so much. I love everything about it," Worrilow said. "As a kid, it was probably the physicality of it. Now you understand how much the camaraderie, the locker room, and everything that goes into the game means to you. Football is so important to me. I do it all year. If I'm not playing, I'm training for it. I'm trying to improve myself.
"I'm out to find out my role here and I'm excited about it."
On that ride to Lincoln Financial Field to see his first Eagles game as a fan, Worrilow told his wife he "hoped this would be my drive to work" in the season ahead. He got his wish. He's home, he's an Eagle, and Paul Worrilow aims to make the most of the opportunity.
