This one is going to be extra, extra, extra special.

The icing on top of the Lincoln Financial Field-2024-opening cake on Monday night will be the presence of former quarterback Nick Foles, who earlier in the day will sign a ceremonial contract to retire as an Eagle and then will serve as the Honorary Captain for the game against the Atlanta Falcons.

And the crowd goes craaaaaazzzzzyyyyy ….

"It will be my first time to go to a game as a non-player. I've never been to an NFL game without a jersey on, running out of the tunnel," Foles said in an exclusive interview for the Microsoft Teams Legend of the Week feature. "I'm so grateful I get to do it as a Philadelphia Eagle. I've dreamed of going out of that tunnel at least once more and being there with the crowd and seeing them cheering on the Eagles, cheering on this team – it's a new team each and every year – and I really don't know what the emotions will be like. Just talking about it right now, I'm starting to sweat a little bit and I'm starting to feel it, and I'm not there (in Philadelphia) yet.

"I'm truly excited. To end it this way is the right way and it means a lot to me."

Of course, Foles means a lot to the Eagles and to Eagles' fans. A third-round draft pick in 2012, he made the Pro Bowl in the marvelous 2013 season during which he threw 27 touchdown passes and only two interceptions and he played through the 2014 season with Chip Kelly as the head coach. Foles then returned for the 2017 campaign as a backup to Carson Wentz, only to replace the injured Wentz late in the season and change the world's trajectory with an incredible run – Foles led the Eagles through the NFC postseason and into Super Bowl LII, where he earned Most Valuable Player honors by passing for 373 yards, tossing three touchdowns, and catching a scoring strike on the "Philly Special" play from tight end Trey Burton.

The Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 and Foles became an instant, all-time Eagles hero.

"I don't necessarily think about the award too much, but I do think about the team often," Foles said. "When I think back to the Super Bowl, I just think of the guys, the journey, everything we put into it together, the fan base just so excited. Ever since then there have been so many amazing stories. Every time I run across an Eagles fan, there is something special, usually there are tears involved.

"I think about what it meant to the city to win that Super Bowl and do it the way we did it against all odds. I think it resonates with the City of Philadelphia so well and it will forever."

Foles' second stint with the Eagles ended after the 2018 season, and he finished his 11-year NFL career with Jacksonville, Chicago, and Indianapolis. But nothing measured up to his time with the Eagles, in Philadelphia and playing the best football of his career.

"There was just something special when you ran out of the tunnel in that stadium," Foles said. "It was in full effect in the NFC Championship Game (win over Minnesota). I think that moment in pregame will always be ingrained in me where I paused before 7-on-7 and I just looked at the crowd and I just took in the crowd and I took in the fans and I just took in everything. I saw the joy in my teammates' faces and I saw the energy that was provided and the energy that propelled us in that game, that propelled us to the Super Bowl.

"It's such a special fan base."

It is a fan base that will express itself, one more time, to Nick Foles and what he did on the field for the Eagles. Monday night is going to be special in a lot of ways, and for Foles and his family in attendance, it will be an experience to remember forever.

"I will be there with gratitude for everything," Foles said. "Philadelphia was always the place that I felt at home. To retire as an Eagle is the right way to end my career."