**There is an affable gentleman standing in his living room on February 9, 2025.** The prideful smile on his face is growing, widening into an almost permanent tattoo, as he stares at Jalyx Hunt through the television screen. Trent Cole sees the bow-and-arrow in real time. His face lights up. Cole invented that sack dance many years ago when he hunted quarterbacks like big game. This is the first time it's been mimicked in a Super Bowl.
"I was just proud and just smiling," Cole said after Eagles practice on August 5. "I was like, get it, get after it, that's what it's all about. I left a legacy for someone to take the torch. It's great to see someone out there having fun and enjoying it. When you're doing that, you're having fun."
Cole left a massive legacy when he retired from the Eagles in 2017. His 85.5 sacks rank second all time in franchise history. Today, the 42-year-old former pass rusher – he still looks like he could play at least one down, physically fit enough to record a sack and flash the bow-and-arrow one more time – is smiling on the sideline as Hunt fights through a double team at a practice in August. Cole sees the potential that runs deep in Hunt. Deeper than Aquaman.
"I like his game. I like the way he rushes and stuff," Cole said. "He's young right now, so he's got a lot to learn. When I came in I was young but I had lots of vets and other defensive linemen on other teams that I was watching. I listened. I watched and I listened. That was the biggest key. Try and take their games and use it in my game because this is a copycat league."
Cole rattles off names of former Eagles teammates like N.D. Kalu, Jevon Kearse, Jerome McDougle, Hugh Douglas, and Hollis Thomas. They showed him how to use leverage – "swipe, swipe, swipe – in the NFL, it's straight technique," Cole says – to beat beefy left tackles.
"The battle was always with myself," Cole said. "I'm battling myself, and that means just getting my body right, doing what I gotta do to go out there and do my part for my teammates. You don't want to be the weakest link."
Hunt isn't the weakest link and his jersey number backs it up. He wears 58. The same 58 that Cole once donned in Philadelphia. The young edge rusher wanted 13, but it wasn't available, so he did some quick math: 5 + 8 = 13. Problem solved.
"I learned about Trent Cole as soon as I got the number," Hunt said. "And as soon as I got 58 everyone was like, new Trent Cole, he's the new Trent Cole – and I was like, who is this Trent Cole guy? And then I did my research and I said, 'That's Trent Cole.' I've definitely seen him play football, just never made the connection."
As Cole watches Hunt race towards Jalen Hurts at practice, he just shakes his head and smiles.
"I wish I had some of his height," Cole says, as he stoops down to parent his four kiddos. "If someone can get after it and represent 58, 'Hey, no problem.' But they gotta represent it. Gotta live up to it."
Peering out over practice, the Eagles legend can see the "next Trent Cole" in vivid detail. His eyes swell, dancing to the sweet sounds of youthful promise.
"I see a lot of potential. He's got a great future ahead of him, you know, what I'm saying? There's levels to this," Cole said. "And he'll learn and sometimes it'll come quick and sometimes it'll come slow but he's got momentum and he's got confidence – and that's what you need to get better. If you don't got that, it's going to be a long, hard road to misery."
On the other side of the football field, Hunt is watching the guy with the second-most sacks in Eagles' franchise history chase after his youngest son. Swipe, swipe, swipe. Hunt got the message – subliminally whispered, yet crystal clear.
"I'm my biggest critic. I give myself the most pressure," Hunt tells me. "So I don't need any more extra pressure so I don't really care too much about anything that's going on outside of this building. It's all in my head and how I approach the game, and just how much I care about my job. So the pressure is enormous but it's mostly for me."