When he cut me during Week 9 of that season, he had no choice. He had four injuries and had to make a roster spot available. When I went in his office, he was crying. He had to walk to the corner of his office to compose himself. I told him, 'Coach, it's OK. I love you.' He told me, 'I did not want to do this. I love having you around. I know we're going to win the Super Bowl and I wanted to put you on the injured reserve for that, but the more I thought about that it wasn't fair to you. I know you're going to do great things. I want you to have that opportunity. I'm going to do what I can to get you a job.'

I flew to Philadelphia the next day and Coach Vermeil called my wife and asked her if there was anything he could do to help her. No one does that! He was telling her, 'I'm sorry. Chad is going to be fine.' And it wasn't just me; he was like that with his players. I've talked to him several times since. It's always a handshake and a hug.

I've had some great experiences as a result of my career. During the 2004 season my wife Michelle and I noticed that President Bush was making a speech one mile from our house. So we go there without tickets. Everyone is asking for my autograph, and the Secret Service is wondering what's going on. The Chief of Staff asks, 'Who are you?' I apologized and told him I played for the Eagles and that these people love football.

He invited us to sit in the middle of the second row. Afterward, one of the president's aides tells me to follow her. She walks us out back and no one was there except Secret Service, the president and his helicopter. We talked for five minutes. He treated us like we were old friends and he had all the time in the world. You know how during speeches he sometimes stammers around; well, he's not like that in person. He looked us right in the eye and spoke very firmly. As we were wrapping things up, I told him, 'I want you to know that we're praying for you.' He looked me in the eye and said, 'That means more to me than anything else, people praying for their president.' Then he flew away and Michelle and I are looking at each other like, what just happened?

Three weeks later I'm on the team plane after a game in Cleveland, and I got a call from the White House. And they're asking me if I would be willing to introduce the president for one of his last campaign speeches, the day before the election. I couldn't believe it. I introduced the president as planned, with 10 of my teammates and (former Eagle/BYU star) Vai Sikahema. He met with all of us afterward and we had our pictures taken with him.