PHILADELPHIA, PA – Our lead story in our May 3 edition, titled “Super Bowl Champion Maragos Tells His Story,” began like this: “Super Bowl XLVIII (48), played on February

2, is the most-watched television program in American history. An astonishing 111.5 million viewers watched this professional football championship game, according to the

Nielsen ratings, which means more than half of the nation’s entire population.

“And in the thick of it all, during a frenzied pace in which the two combatant teams tried to take control of the game, all cameras were on one player, his name – MARAGOS – embedded on the back of his jersey. ‘Hey, Maragos! That’s Greek!’ tens of thousands of Greek-Americans from coast to coast no doubt exclaimed.”

That jersey belonged to Chris Maragos, a safety and special teams player for the Seattle Seahawks, who overwhelmed the Denver Broncos and won the Super Bowl. At a critical momentum-building instance, Maragos was in the thick of things. “Hopefully, through my play, I can represent [Greek-Americans] in a way that they will feel proud,” he told TNH during that interview.

A year later, as America awaits Super Bowl XLIX (49), Maragos will not be in the game. The Seahawks might (at press time, they were scheduled to host the Green Bay Packers in the National Football Conference Championship game) – but Maragos became a free agent at the end of last season, and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Though they mounted a respectable 10-6 regular season record, the Eagles nonetheless missed the playoffs. Accordingly, Maragos and his teammates, just like the rest of watch, will watch the Super Bowl on TV.

Nonetheless, 2015 was another solid year in Maragos’ young football career. In fact, in the fifth game of the season (there are 16 regular season games), Maragos scored his first NFL touchdown against the St. Louis Rams, capping an Eagles win that placed the club at an impressive 4-1 on the season, and the team was poised to win the division as long as they kept up that level of play.

But as the New York Post noted, the 4-1 record was deceptive: neither the offense nor the defense looked particularly good. The bright spot? Special teams, Maragos’ domain.

As the Journal Times newspaper of his hometown Racine, WI reported, “if you’re looking for eye-catching statistics, you’re not going to find them with Maragos…But when the conversation turns to game-changing charisma that heightens the play of his special teams brothers, that captures what Maragos is all about.”
It is those types of intangibles that bodes a promising future for the young Greek-American. Even as he keeps an eye on this year’s remaining playoff games, he is surely motivating himself – and his teammates – about participating in them again, next year.