Dallas Goedert and Avonte Maddox live together in a four-bedroom, 5,500-square-foot home in South Jersey. It has two big staircases and a few conjoining rooms, allowing for different ways to enter and exit the residence.
The second-year Eagles players noticed this when they moved in during the summer, and knew just what to do: They bought Nerf guns, set up boundaries, blasted the “Halloween” theme song over surround-sound speakers and played real-life “Fortnite.”
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“As roommates,” Goedert said, “we kind of go together pretty well.”
Goedert is 24. Maddox is 23. They are two of the best young players on the Eagles, burgeoning foundation pieces from whom the team expects to see spikes in development and production this season. Away from football, they’ve become close friends — driving to work together, spending their free time with each other and splitting the rent.
“It’s like big bro and little bro,” Rodney McLeod said. “I don’t see one without the other.”
“They don’t leave each other’s sight,” Lane Johnson said. “Fucking Timon and Pumbaa.”
It started last spring after the Eagles drafted Goedert in the second round (49th overall) and Maddox in the fourth round (No. 125). (The Eagles traded their 2018 first-round pick for a package that included the picks used to land both players.) When they arrived in Philadelphia, they discovered they shared a mutual friend. It served as an icebreaker, akin to finding something in common during freshman orientation in college. At rookie meetings, they always sat next to each other. When training camp started, they were assigned different roommates. They asked to switch, knowing they would both be with the team during the season and they had already bonded. It was one less thing to worry about.
When camp broke and they needed to find somewhere to live, they rented places in the same Philadelphia apartment building. Goedert was on the ninth floor. Maddox was on the 12th. But they spent so much time in each other’s apartments playing video games and watching television that they decided on a new arrangement for their second seasons.
“We figured, might as well just move in with each other, save money,” Goedert said. “We’re already together anyways, we could get a little nicer place.”
They hired a realtor, and visited one place after another. But they couldn’t find the right home. Late in the process, they were told of an off-market opportunity about 30 minutes away from the team facility.
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“From the point we pulled up, it looked pretty sick,” Goedert said. “Has everything we need … and probably more.”
“If we don’t want to see each other for a day, it probably could happen,” Maddox said of the spacious new digs.
“It’s got multiple living rooms,” Goedert said.
“A little ‘MTV Cribs’-feel to it,” said Johnson, who has visited.
Still, Goedert and Maddox said most of their time in the house is spent together. They’ll play video games or binge on television shows, just like many other early-20s friends who share a place. The default television show is “Wild ‘N Out,” but they also watched three seasons of “Game of Thrones” and finished “All American.”
“Both of us like everything,” Goedert said. “Other than country music, there’s really nothing that I wanted to watch or do that Avonte wouldn’t come along with it. It’s not like he hates anything.”
But they both have their pet peeves. For Maddox, it’s that Goedert can be disorganized and clumsy. Maddox has accepted the former; he realizes there will usually be shoes left under the coffee table. He doesn’t worry about Goedert’s room, where the laundry doesn’t always find the basket.
“I’ve kind of got used to it now,” Maddox said with a laugh. “It used to be him leaving something somewhere, and I’ve got to clean it up. But I’m over it now.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m dirty, but I don’t really pick up my stuff and Avonte kind of picks up after me,” Goedert said. “I’m just fine with leaving stuff out. If I don’t want a blanket, I just throw it on the floor. … My mom always did that for me.”
Goedert’s clumsiness is a different story. Sometimes it’s intentional — he likes to disassemble and reassemble items around the house. Other times, it’s just an occupational hazard of living in a tight end’s body.
“I’ll break stuff,” Goedert said. “I don’t mean to. But I’ll sit on a chair and you’ll just hear a crack.”
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“Anything you can think of, he’s spilled,” Maddox said.
“It’s not really my fault,” Goedert said. “Shit just kind of hits me and falls.” (Opposing defenders can often relate.)
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Dallas Goedert stiff-arms Washington’s Jon Bostic after making a catch in Week 1. (Rob Carr / Getty Images)
For Goedert, sleep is precious. His pet peeve is that Maddox doesn’t value sleep. The cornerback likes to stay up late and naturally wakes up at 6:30 a.m. Goedert needs an alarm clock. If they’re leaving the house at 7 a.m., Goedert will get up at 6:50 a.m., and then quickly shower and brush his teeth before getting in the car. Unlike his roommate, Goedert can fall asleep once he gets home.
“If I sleep too long, it’s like, ‘Wake the fuck up!’” Goedert said, imitating Maddox. “I could sleep 24-7.”
Johnson said their house has a “big kitchen,” but he doesn’t think there’s much cooking done. “Once in a blue moon,” Maddox said. Goedert makes taco salads and Maddox’s specialty is chicken wings. Usually, they’ll order in or eat out. They have their staples: Chick Fil-A, Pancheros Mexican Grill and Jersey Mike’s.
Goedert often follows Maddox’s lead with plans. Maddox considers Goedert like a defensive back because he spends so much time with Maddox’s position-mates. Goedert and Maddox play basketball with their neighbor’s school-aged children. They find other ways to fill their time outside of football, including an Escape the Room outing during the preseason.
“There was more people than us two!” Goedert quickly added.
Another part of living together that most people in their early 20s can understand: dividing the bills. Goedert, despite being the disorganized one in the house, is in charge.
“Had to force him!” Maddox said.
“Well, I called all the companies!” Goedert replied.
Then he needed to create online accounts. One problem: There was no computer, and Goedert didn’t want to register on his phone. So his parents brought his computer from college when they visited.
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“I was wondering where you got that from!” Maddox said. “All the sudden, a computer popped up on the table! It’s like old as heck.”
“It’s not an old computer,” Goedert responded. “It’s a real nice computer. …”
They could drive to the facility separately, but they mostly keep the same schedule, so it makes sense to go together. They alternate days at the wheel. Last season, Goedert drove Mondays and Tuesdays and Maddox took Wednesdays and Thursdays. The one constant: Maddox controls the radio. But there are times when it remains quiet in the car. Because of their friendship, they don’t need to force conversation.
“There are days I’ll just be laughing,” Maddox said. “And some mornings, when we get in the car, no music and we don’t say anything.”
“Any time you’re doing something like this, energy is contagious,” Goedert said. “You have someone … you can get away from football with but also have as a friend, it’s been good.”
It helps that their football careers have followed similar trajectories. Neither opened the 2018 season with a major role, but eventually both became more involved in the Eagles’ game plans. Goedert’s first start came in Week 3, Maddox in Week 5. Goedert started eight games, Maddox started nine. In a Week 8 win over Jacksonville in London, Maddox forced a fumble and Goedert scored a touchdown. This season, Maddox is the team’s slot cornerback, and Doug Pederson is finding different ways for Goedert to remain on the field even with a deep group of offensive skill-position players.
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Avonte Maddox celebrates during the Eagles’ win over Washington in the 2018 regular-season finale. (Geoff Burke / USA Today)
Teammates joke about their friendship, saying how often they’re around each other and that they’re hard to miss.
“One’s tall as hell, one’s short as hell,” Ronald Darby said.
Goedert, 6-foot-5 and 256 pounds, has a scruffy beard and comes from Britton, S.D. (population of around 1,250). Maddox, 5-foot-9 and 184 pounds, has long dreadlocks and hails from Detroit (population of nearly 700,000).
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“Opposite ends of the spectrum, but at the same time, I feel like both Avonte and I … can fit in anywhere,” Goedert said. “I can bring him to South Dakota and he can fit right in. He can bring me to Detroit and I’d be all right.”
“It’s not like he’s not seen a lot of people,” Maddox said. “He’s pretty cool. We’ve been good.”
“Someday I’ll probably take him out hunting,” Goedert said. “Teach him a little about God’s country.”
They don’t know what future seasons will bring, but the living arrangement is working out well enough that they’re not looking to change it now.
“As long as we don’t have a girl that’s taking us out of the house, we’ll be good,” Goedert said. “When that happens, it’s going to happen.”
Maddox hasn’t had a roommate since his freshman year of college at Pitt. Goedert’s had others over the years and joked that Maddox is in the top two, leaving all of his other roommates to try to figure out who is No. 1.
But in a way, they don’t even consider themselves housemates. They almost consider one another family.
“He’s like your brother,” Maddox said. “You live in the same house with your brother.”
(Top photo: Screenshot from a “friendship test” video, courtesy of PhiladelphiaEagles.com)