Zach Ertz admits one regret, grieves Eagles era

In a candid moment on ‘New Heights,’ Zach Ertz looked back on nine seasons with the Eagles, admitted his one career regret about arriving to camp bleach blond, and turned emotional recalling the day-to-day bond with Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox,

Zach Ertz walked into the conversation already thinking about time running out.

Entering his ninth season as an Eagle, he could see how the story was trending. Tight end Dallas Goedert’s continued emergence and a rough four-win 2020 season made it feel certain the partnership was nearing its end. For a veteran who had been a three-time Pro Bowler, the expectation was simple: the trade would come.

But it didn’t.

Ertz had expected to be dealt before the 2021 preseason, yet he was still on the roster when training camp arrived. So, on a whim, he dyed his hair bleach blond.

“I essentially hadn’t been there all offseason. I had ankle surgery so I was missing OTAs anyway. And I showed up for training camp with blond hair,” Ertz said on his former teammate Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast.

Then the admission landed.

“I don’t regret much about my time in Philly or this career, but the one thing I do regret is kind of that phase, showing up to training camp with blond hair.”

Jason Kelce, who played alongside Ertz for over eight seasons, had been so sure the end was coming that he treated it like a bet. He promised himself — and the moment — that if Ertz was still there when Week 1 arrived, he’d change his own look.

“It was so obvious. unfortunately. that my time was probably coming to an end. that Jason was like. ‘Bro. when are you getting traded?. You’re going to get traded any day now. If you’re still on the team Week 1 then I’ll dye my hair,’” Ertz recalled. “I don’t think I had anything to lose in this situation.”.

Summer passed without the trade. And when it finally mattered, it showed up in hair and then, somehow, in humor.

Ertz’s wait ended not before the season, but by the time the Eagles played their Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons. When the longtime teammates ran out onto the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, they were rocking the same bleach-blond matching hairdo.

“I just wanted Zach to have something to look forward to if he was still on the team, like, ‘At least Jason dyed his hair to match,’” Kelce recalled.

His wife, Julie Ertz — a former U.S. women’s national soccer team star and a guest on this week’s episode — said she liked the look for a reason that felt more real than any sports logic.

“That’s really all that matters, honestly,” Zach quipped.

The podcast couldn’t let it go without turning the moment into a roast. Ertz referred to Kelce as Guy Fieri as both hosts and guests reacted to a blond image of Jason that Jason called “the worst photo of me possible.”

“I don’t think Kylie [Kelce] liked your hair as much as I liked Zach’s hair,” Julie joked.

After the laughter, Ertz returned to the deeper reason people come back to these conversations: what a place really meant, not just what it gave.

He was asked to reflect on his time in Philly, and he didn’t try to tidy it up.

“When you spend nine years somewhere, you’re going to always have a natural affinity for the place,” Ertz said. “Unfortunately … I wasn’t able to play my whole career [in Philadelphia].”

What he appreciated most wasn’t a stat line. It was the people.

After being selected in the second round of the 2013 draft, Ertz quickly embedded himself into an Eagles core meant to stay together. That foundation included Jason Kelce, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and Lane Johnson.

“The thing I look back on fondest is our core group of guys that we had together for a long period of time. with you. Lane. BG. Fletch. myself. ” Ertz said. “It wasn’t easy all the time for any of us. Like there were times we’d get killed in the media or whatever it was. and I always knew you four always had my back regardless of what we were going [through]. And I hope you guys felt the same about me.

“And it is a little emotional talking about — I don’t know why — but just going through that. just being around the guys. No one is going to remember about how many yards or catches or starts we had. but I do remember the day-to-day. grinding. the stories of you kicking over a trash can because you didn’t like the way a coach was treating someone else. or Lane hiding your helmet — those are the things I remember.”.

His Eagles run ended in November 2021 when a long-awaited trade sent him to the Arizona Cardinals. He played two more seasons with the Cardinals and two with the Washington Commanders.

But when Ertz, now a free agent, returned to the City of Brotherly Love with Washington, something from the past stayed too loud to mute.

“Even when [I was] on the other sideline … It’s still like subtly in the back of my mind,” Ertz admitted, “singing it as I’m over there watching.”

Now the question shifts again: what happens next.

Ertz is aiming to suit up to play in his 14th NFL season, but he doesn’t yet know where. What complicates the timeline is a season-ending ACL tear he suffered in a Week 14 shutout loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He is 35 years old.

Even so, he sounds like a player who’s already measuring progress in days, not just hopes.

“We’re in a good spot. We’re like five. almost six months now from surgery. so just training every day. doing everything I can to get back to where I was. ” Ertz said. “It’s a long process. There’s some long days. there’s some long weeks. some long months … it’s tough. but we’re just trying to stack these days right now.”.

Zach Ertz Eagles New Heights Jason Kelce Julie Ertz Dallas Goedert 2021 training camp Atlanta Falcons Mercedes-Benz Stadium ACL tear Minnesota Vikings Arizona Cardinals Washington Commanders