Cooper DeJean’s path to the end zone on his life-changing pick-six was paved by an unlikely Eagles duo

The play that changed Cooper DeJean’s life — the interception and touchdown in the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX victory that made him a Philadelphia folk hero and made his jersey one of the most-purchased in the NFL — could have just been a regular turnover that set up another Eagles score in an eventual runaway win.

To be sure, DeJean’s first career interception would have been memorable whether he scored or not, especially in his tiny hometown of Odebolt, Iowa. But scoring changed everything, which is why Jalyx Hunt and Moro Ojomo, the two Eagles defenders who freed up DeJean with their blocking on his 38-yard interception return, may have inadvertently changed the course of DeJean’s life in a small way.

In fact, DeJean knows they did.

“I wouldn’t have gotten to the end zone probably if I didn’t have those [blocks],” DeJean said Wednesday ahead of the Eagles’ Super Bowl rematch with Kansas City.

The result of any football play is the outcome of various things happening at various times on different parts of the field. Football coaches like Nick Sirianni love to drone on about the importance of all 11 players on the field and their individual tasks. But plays like DeJean’s touchdown, which gave the Eagles a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter and kick-started a blowout win, are living proof of the theory and Sirianni’s mantra of you can’t be great without the greatness of others.

DeJean, by the way, admitted that he sometimes gets tired of talking about the play.

“I’ve moved on from it,” he said. “I don’t want that play to be the play that defines my career. I want there to be more plays out there that I make.”

He may not get his wish. It will be a play that’s hard to top, even if it happened at the end of his rookie season, which means Hunt and Ojomo’s efforts to get DeJean to the end zone will always be a part of it, and their not-so-linear paths to the NFL, too.

The odds of a touchdown happening on most singular NFL plays are generally long. The odds of the Eagles scoring a touchdown on a third-and-16 from the Kansas City 24-yard line and the ball in Patrick Mahomes’ hands are longer than the average.

DeJean intercepting Mahomes and getting escorted to the end zone by these two specific players? Calculator error.

This wasn’t Brandon Graham and Jalen Carter paving DeJean’s road.

Hunt was a wide receiver and defensive back at University High School in Orange City, Fla., where he was also a track star. He was a “no star” football recruit who went to Cornell, likely to go pro in something other than football. He played safety there, and after his junior season he transferred to another Football Championship Subdivision school, Houston Christian, where after a growth spurt he played closer to the line of scrimmage, eventually ending up on the edge.

Hunt became the first NFL draft pick in Houston Christian history when the Eagles selected him in the third round (94th overall) last year. But he barely played through the first nine weeks of the season before coming on late. As his playing time increased, his production did, too, culminating in five pressures (and one sack) in the Super Bowl in just 23 snaps.

“I’ve always envisioned being here,” Hunt said in the days leading up to the game in February. “I used to do a full circle and picture myself in an arena. Didn’t matter where it was, who I was going to play for. Just a packed stadium — much like it’ll be on Sunday [against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl]. The moment never felt too big for me, because I always pictured myself there.”

Ojomo stopped picturing himself in the NFL when he quit football after middle school. Ojomo had emigrated from Nigeria to Santa Clarita, Calif., with his family when he was 8 and his father, Ololade, who is a pastor and missionary, opened a church. The family later moved to Texas when Ololade became the pastor of a Holiness Pentecostal church near Houston.

Katy High School coach Gary Joseph in 2014 asked Ojomo’s junior high coach if there were any kids who didn’t show up for high school tryouts. Joseph showed up at Ojomo’s house to persuade a 12-year-old younger than everyone else in his grade to stick with it. Ojomo joined the freshman “B” team, made varsity as a junior, turned into a high-major recruit, and enrolled at the University of Texas as a 16-year-old.

The Eagles selected Ojomo 249th in the 2023 draft after he totaled 95 tackles during his five seasons with the Longhorns. Only 10 players were picked after him.

Ojomo barely played as a rookie, worked his way into the rotation last season, and picked up his first career sack in a playoff victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Then he had three pressures in the Super Bowl, when he also teamed with Hunt and helped DeJean’s fame rise.

“The stars aligned,” Ojomo said this week.

» READ MORE: Moro Ojomo gave ‘Inner Excellence’ to A.J. Brown. The lesser-known Eagle has his own motivational story.

A lot had to happen before and during the 12 seconds that transpired from Mahomes taking the snap and DeJean crossing the goal line.

For Hunt and Ojomo, it started at the line of scrimmage with a twist against the left side of the Chiefs’ offensive line. Ojomo moved to his right and crashed into left tackle Joe Thuney. Hunt, meanwhile, looped inside to take on guard Mike Caliendo.

By the time they executed their move, Mahomes, who had been sacked on the previous two plays, one of which Hunt was in on, and had been under siege for the majority of his team’s first four possessions, rolled to his right to avoid pressure.

He had no open receivers. The Eagles had the play covered well, and DeJean, looking for extra work, read Mahomes perfectly. As the quarterback fired a throw on the move intended for DeAndre Hopkins, DeJean jumped in the its path and intercepted the football.

» READ MORE: New Eagles defensive end Za’Darius Smith says he still has ‘a lot more left in the tank’

“I think it was a little bit of a surreal moment,” Ojomo said. “Then you just try to find a body. Sometimes when things out of the ordinary happen in a game, it just moves really slowly.”

Instantly, Hunt, who had started moving toward the action, turned to his left, in the direction of the end zone, and got in the way of Chiefs center Creed Humphrey, who pushed Hunt in the direction of Caliendo. It was a bit of a fortuitous shove because Hunt was positioned perfectly to then two-hand shove Caliendo, who fell to the ground near DeJean’s feet and was unable to stop him.

“It’s football ability,” Ojomo said. “We’ve been playing football for a while and we were able to transition well.”

By then, Ojomo was sprinting toward the sideline to help DeJean get home. He lightly contacted Chiefs guard Trey Smith from behind at the 7-yard line, avoiding a block in the back call, then got in the way of Thuney, who was slowed slightly before trying to tackle DeJean before he crossed the goal line. Ojomo’s momentum and his contact with Thuney sent him to the turf.

“I didn’t really have a chance to provide a block, but I was just trying to provide a body,” Ojomo said. “Cooper did all the work and it was a great play by him.”

DeJean broke Thuney’s tackle and high-stepped in celebration. Ojomo lifted himself from the ground and raised his arms in the air. Hunt, who crossed the goal line not far behind DeJean, lifted his left arm and raised his left pointer finger.

It was one play, the signature defensive play in Vic Fangio’s masterpiece, but it was so much more. To DeJean. To the Eagles. To two players whose journeys to the NFL were via roads less traveled.

“It’s a selfless play, which is what we talk about each and every week in our building,” DeJean said. “It was awesome to see those guys go the extra mile to be able to throw me a block to help me get in the end zone.”