In Philadelphia sports lore, there is a famous phrase: “For who? For what?” In 1995, the Philadelphia Eagles were thought to be one player away from Super Bowl contention. In the offseason they signed the NFL’s best free agent, Pro Bowl running back Ricky Watters. In the final minutes of the first game of the season, the Eagles were losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, badly. As Philadelphia marched down the field in search of an irrelevant late-game touchdown, quarterback Randall Cunningham threw a bullet to Watters over the middle. With linebackers closing in on him from three sides, Watters didn’t even attempt to catch the ball. He batted it down.

In the locker room after the game, reporters asked Watters about his lack of effort on the play. He replied: “I’m not going to trip up there and get knocked out. For who? For what?”