WATCH: Vic Fangio pleads the Fifth like Fauci during training camp press conference

The Fifth Amendment has officially made its way to NFL press conferences, and we have Vic Fangio to thank for it. One day after Anthony Fauci made headlines for invoking his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times during his hearing on Capitol Hill, the Eagles defensive coordinator stepped up to the mic on July 30 and decided to borrow the strategy for his own purposes.

When Fangio was asked about the plan at safety, he didn’t hesitate. “I’m gonna be like Fauci and just take the Fifth Amendment on questions,” he said. “Did you guys see that? Oh my god. What was the question?” The room cracked up, Fangio cracked up, and a legend was born.

Vic Fangio Pleads The Fifth

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If we can’t arrest Fauci then the kid who sang the Fauci Song will have to do >>

The Fauci Bit Had Legs

The best part is that Fangio didn’t let it go after one joke. He actually answered the safety question eventually, being a good sport about it, but then Fauci came back into the mix later in the session and it was even better the second time.

Fangio got asked whether there had been any conversations about bringing Brandon Graham back, given the injury to newly-acquired Jonathan Greenard. His response was pure veteran coordinator energy.

“You guys had Howie up here yesterday, you should’ve asked him that.” When the reporter pointed out that they had, in fact, asked Roseman that exact question, Fangio saw his opening and pounced. “And what did he say? He ducked you? He Fauci’d you?”

“He Fauci’d you.” Incredible.

We have a brand new verb, and it’s already the funniest thing to come out of an Eagles press conference in years. To Fauci someone is now officially to dodge their question entirely, and I fully expect this to enter the Philadelphia sports lexicon permanently.

This Is Why Vic Fangio Rules

Vic Fangio is one of the best defensive minds in football, the architect of a unit that helped win a Super Bowl, and the guy running a defense that’s about to be terrifying again this season. Moments like this are a reminder that he’s also just a funny, dry, no-nonsense football lifer who doesn’t take the media circus too seriously.

Coordinators handle press conferences a hundred different ways. Some are robotic, some are combative, some give you nothing but coach-speak.

Vic Fangio just decided to have a little fun with it, riffed on the biggest news story in the country, and turned a routine training camp presser into something genuinely entertaining. That’s the kind of personality you love from a guy whose actual job is to dream up ways to make quarterbacks miserable.

Keep It in the Toolbox

Vic Fangio made it through the rest of the presser without actually invoking the Fifth, but the door is open now. Next time a reporter asks something he doesn’t feel like answering, whether it’s an injury update, a depth chart question, or a scheme detail he’d rather keep in-house, he’s got the perfect out ready to go.

Just channel Fauci, take the Fifth, and move on.

Training camp is underway, the defense is loaded, and the defensive coordinator is out here doing tight five-minute comedy sets at the podium. Football is back, the Eagles are rolling, and Vic Fangio just gave us the quote of the summer.

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