Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert and cornerback Avonte Maddox were considered the modern-day version of “The Odd Couple” when they lived together near Philadelphia up until this summer.
But really, there was more of a “Three’s Company” vibe when the two Eagles lived with Delaware native Brian O’Neill in a house in California during the late winter while they worked out together.
“Dallas and Avonte Maddox are two of my closest friends,” said O’Neill, the starting right tackle for the Minnesota Vikings. “We’re all buddies. We hang out all the time. We had a house that we shared. They’re cool. They go everywhere together. They do everything together.
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“It’s cool to see their friendship has taken off the past couple of years because obviously I was friends with Avonte first (both attended the University of Pittsburgh), and then I met Dallas going into my rookie year. Since they were on the Eagles together, they’ve been really close.”
And if you can picture three multi-millionaires in their mid-20s sharing a large house in Newport Beach, California … “without driving each other crazy,” as the introduction to “The Odd Couple” TV show begins, then you can certainly imagine the hijinks that ensued with the three of them living together.
But first, here’s how the three became besties.
O’Neill went from Salesianum to Pitt and became close friends with Maddox, who grew up in Detroit. Then when O’Neill was preparing for the 2018 draft, he met Goedert who was part of the same agency. The two trained together for the draft, and quickly became close friends.
Of the three, Goedert was picked first when he was taken in the second round, No. 49 overall by the Eagles. O’Neill went 13 picks later to the Vikings, and Maddox was taken in the fourth round by the Eagles.
It was O’Neill who introduced the two when he saw they were both drafted by the Eagles.
That’s when Goedert and Maddox began their friendship, moving in together in South Philly, then moving to South Jersey where they lived in a large house. They shared that house up until this summer, often using their cavernous house for Nerf-gun battles.
Recently, Goedert revealed that he and Maddox are each moving into new houses during this six-week break that the Eagles are on until training camp starts in late July.
“It’s going to be a little bit of a change,” Goedert said. “The toughest part is probably going to be that each of us is going to have to drive to work. It’s not going to be where one of us is going to be able to sleep on the way.
“We got places that are pretty close together, so hopefully we see each other from time to time.”
With gas prices soaring, why not a carpool to the NovaCare Complex once training camp starts in late July?
Either way, this hasn’t changed their friendship, as Maddox put it.
“We’re starting to get older now, time to settle down with loved ones, things like that,” Maddox said with a laugh last season. “So I’ll let Dallas free, finally.”
Of course, they also have the financial means to afford their own places. That holds true for O’Neill as well.
Both Goedert and Maddox signed contract extensions during the 2021 season. Goedert’s is worth as much as $57 million over four years with $35 million guaranteed. Maddox’s is worth as much as $22.5 million over three years.
It’s also likely that the three upgraded their living arrangements when they were in California after O’Neill, who was selected to the Pro Bowl last season, signed a five-year extension worth as much as $92.5 million last fall.
O’Neill said he’ll have opportunities to see his best friends before training camp. That’s because he said he’ll be with his family in Delaware for a few weeks before heading to Minneapolis to get ready for camp.
“Whenever I’m (in Delaware), I get to see the both of them, which is really cool,” O’Neill said. “But I live full time in Minneapolis now, so I’ll be going there. The best time to be in Minneapolis is the summer, so I’ve got to make it count.”
But they’ll keep in touch while they’re apart.
That was apparent in early May when the schedule came out, and O’Neill saw the Week 2 matchup between the Vikings and Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, scheduled for Sept. 19, a Monday night.
“We’ve been talking smack ever since,” O’Neill said. “I think we have a ton of talent and a great new coaching staff that has been unbelievable. And being from Wilmington, I’m excited to come to Philly Week 2.”
For now, O’Neill has the bragging rights. When the three were rookies in 2018, the Vikings beat the Eagles, who were coming off their Super Bowl season, 23-21 at the Linc. The next season, in Minnesota, the Vikings won again, 38-20.
No doubt, Goedert and Maddox mentioned the NFC Championship game in Jan. 2018, three months before they were all drafted, when the Eagles beat the Vikings 38-7. The Eagles then went on to win the first Super Bowl in team history.
But O’Neill was quick with a retort: “That was before I was there.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
