Another hat tip to Enrico over at The700Level, for finding this little bit of fun. I had to share it, just in case you don't get over to Enrico's blog.
Brian Westbrook is always the gentleman and great all around nice guy. He can't even be mean to a moron!
Watched a nice video this afternoon of Donovan McNabb talking with Scott Hanson (who is also a Syracuse Alumni) about not just what to expect of the upcoming game between the Giants and the Patriots, but he did address some of the issues that arose during the season. The video itself is a pretty long one, but it's definitely worth the watch.
Donovan comes off very sincere when he speaks of his desire to retire as an Eagle. He also shows a little bit of "fire" (not in a mean way) about wanting to go out and get play makers for the 2008 season. He speaks honestly about how he's feeling physically and that everyone wants to see him running like he was 22 again, at 32 we all know that just doesn't happen!
Overall it's a really nice interview, Donovan always presents well in front of a camera, I think that that is in part due to his journalism degree from Syracuse. They do joke in the video about if he does too good of a job the NFL Network might throw some money his way to be an analyst. He definitely has the eloquence and knowledge to do it!
I just want D-Mac to stick around, the Eagles to get some play makers. Maybe that will finally make some of those boo-birds shut up and stop squawking, but we all know ..... it'll be a frozen day in hell before that happens!
Hat tip to Enrico over at The700Level for the link to the video. Just wish the NFL Network let you embed videos in blog posts.... grrr!
It has been a bit since I've been able to actually break free enough to write about my beloved Eagles. The season was a big disappointment. However, we all can take great joy that it isn't the Dallas Cowboys in the SuperBowl, right? Daaaaaaaayum right we can!
You know what else we can take delight in?
T.O. has to pay back his sign on bonus to the Eagles.
According to the Associated Press & the Philadelphia Inquirer, the overbearing, self inflated, ego maniacal idiot that wears #81 and now makes Jessica Simpson cry (warning - that site is hideous and plays a really annoying rap song 'I'm back"), has been ordered to repay the Philadelphia Eagles $769,120. That was the remaining amount left from him paying back $2.3 million from his signing bonus he received when he signed that infamous 7 year deal that brought him to Philly to begin with.
Funny, there's not a mention of that on his site anywhere *snort*.
And imagine this, his agent - Drew "I WANT YOUR MONEY" Rosenhaus - has yet to return calls for comment on T.O.'s arbitration loss.
I wonder - does that come out of Drew's stipend? I mean he cried and wined when he didn't get part of T.O.'s original deal when T.O. came to the Eagles, so much that he nudged T.O. into asking for more money. So does he help T.O. pay back the Eagles?
Yeah... I didn't think so either. Poor T.O.
*giggles insanely*
Fox Sports' Pam Oliver had some interesting feedback from Donovan. Basically it boils down to Donovan being disappointed with the Eagles front office distancing themselves from Donovan because of the negative fan reaction. She also alluded to Donovan saying it could be his last season with the Eagles.
*Giant Sigh*
Yes, that's a giant sigh.
Dear Eagle Front Office:
When was the last time you let the Eagles fans decide who your players were? If you did, Jeremiah Trotter would be in Eagles Green, not Tampa Bay Red & Black. For the love of great philly cheesesteaks - please get a clue, Eagles fans, as passionate as they are - THEY BOO SANTA. Eagles fans have packed snowballs with batteries and throw them at opposing players, and you even have a special "suite" in both the Vet and the Linc for a judge to hold hearings for overly rowdy fans. They booed the selection of Donovan McNabb at the draft, the only other QB to take the Eagles to the SuperBowl other than Ron Jawroski. Doesn't that tell you something?
A quarterback is only as good as his supporting cast. Right now, beyond Brian Westbrook, the Eagles really have no supporting cast. There are occasional glimpses of hope, Reggie Brown, Curtis and Avant shine occasionally, but nothing as spectacular as when we had T.O., or even as nice when we had Dante Stallworth.
Quit being cheap bastards and invest in a decent wide receiver or two. And stand behind your quarterback, the guy is one of the best in the business, and without the weapons on offense he needs, you - the front office, make it look like like he's a lousy quarterback.
Sincerely,
The Eagles Chick
Every team has its ups and downs, it's just that this year, we're on a down after 5 years of GREAT football. Sure it's frustrating. Sure it sucks. Sure it's heartbreaking loosing the last three games by only 10 points. That doesn't mean we stink like the Dolphins. It just means that the other teams were better, and possibly wanted it a little more.
The Eagles are a good team, proof goes to the 7-3 lead in the first half of this game, and keeping Romo to a 8.9% QB rating in that half. Proof goes to the Eagles giving the NFL the blueprint to giving the Patriots a real headache.
More, after the game.
We here at EaglesChick.com (that'd be MarySue and I), have a passion for the Eagles, and we also have taken a shine to a few players. For myself, Akers, Buckhalter, Dawkins, and Baskett put a sparkle in my eye. MarySue tends to lean Westbrook and Dawkins. However, both of us like big Jon Runyan - even if he does need a haircut right now.
So we'd like to institute the "Are You Tough Enough - Jon Runyan Style" series, where, each edition we highlight 5 reasons Jon Runyan is tough enough.
Short but sweet, and not to mention entirely fun & silly. Are we "Chest Bump Worthy"? Maybe, stay tuned, next week will ad 5 more "Are You Tough Enough" reasons Jon Runyan is tough enough.
Let's ask ourselves where would the Eagles be if God forbid something were to happen to Brian Westbrook. Could they make it without him? I am honestly starting to think that they wouldn't. It is quite obvious that they are dependent on him, I believe I had read somewhere that they feel the need to keep him as "fresh" as possible if they want to have a chance to make it into the post season. Now if that is not showing dependency then i don't know what is!
Brian Westbrook had his career high game last night against Miami he rushed for 148 yards on 32 carries! With his previous high being 141 in the wild card round against the Giants last season. With this yet another awesome game for Westbrook he is well on his way in his march towards the greatest season for a running back in Eagles history. So far this season he has 849 rushing yards, 55 catches all adding up to his 518 yards on the season. I would say he is well on his way!
Not only is Westbrook a heck of a football player but I think we all have to agree that he is definitely a "team" player and does not take anything for granted. He might be having an awesome season but he is not afraid to give credit to his fellow teammates. He can be quoted as saying......
"It feels good," ... "The team fought. We didn't play a perfect football game, but we continued to fight. When the team plays together, even when they are playing a team that is 0-9, we played a great game. When you have an offensive line, fullback, tight ends and receivers blocking for you the way I did, you are going to have some success and we did that today."when the team fights like that and stays together, we will have an opportunity to win the game and we did."
Athough Correll Buckhalter, is a comparable back up with his good combination of size and speed, he jus
t doesn't have the patience or experience that Westbrook does, and Tony Hunt with his powerful running style is only really good on those short yardage gains.
With this said I guess we all need to hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed that nothing happens to Westbrook not only for his sake but for the sake of the team!
Please allow me a few moments to stop and savor that right now, we no longer have a loosing record and we're finally at 500. As optimistic as I tend to be, realism does set in, and I realize this moment will be shortly lived likely coming to an end after next Sunday night. This Thanksgiving, I'll be thankful that these "Birds" are 5-5 rather than 4-6 or 3-7, and look like they might have some feathers left to try and fly.
So - how about them Eagles Defensive Linemen?! Let me tell you, they rock! You guys and goal lines stands, just really impressed me yet again this week. You guys give the fans the hope that there still really is life in the football team in green. I actually jumped up and cheered after each stop, and I haven't done that much at all this year, so thank you!
Takeo Spikes and Brian Dawkins certainly have lead some kind of rallying cry for this part of the team. These guys have in two weeks managed to change the entire "feel" of a game. Last week's amazing 7 or 8 play stand against the Redskins was amazing, and to turn around and be able to do it for a 4 play stand this week again, was just awesome. When our defense "clicks" it really can be a force to be reckoned with.
And how about "B-West"? Brian Westbrook had a career high game, and looked just about damn near unstoppable. On the ground it was tough for the Dolphins to stop Westbrook once he got moving. He had 132 yards rushing on 32 carries - both are career highs. It was something amazing to watch, and likely not something we're going to see again this season. The Dolphins, lets just say, are a team in a bad situation (one worse than the Eagles, and even Ricky Williams can't help them with that!), and that just left it open for Westbrook to pick away and exploit everything that was wrong with the Dolphins' defense.
Donovan McNabb went out of the game with a sprained ankle in the first half. Prior to that, he had been picked off for two interceptions both in the red zones - both at points where it was almost certain the Eagles were going to score. I think it's really sad when Philadlephia fans were cheering when he went limping off the field and into the locker room. Some of Eagles fans are just so fickle, there's a reason why the fans have been nick named the "boo birds", and unfortunately that kind of display of "eagle fandemonium" is what makes the rest of America think there's no intelligent life in the stands of the Linc or in Philly.
AJ Feeley came in and replaced D-Mac, but he wasn't much better. Picked off again down in the red zone, just as they were about to score, Feeley made me through my hands up in disgust. Then they came back out after the half, and it seemed like a different team. However, they obviously decided to go with what works, their running game with Westbrook. Hand off after hand off from Feeley to Westbrook kept chipping away the yards and the time. Westbrook got the Eagles into the red zone, and Jason Avant topped off the drive with a 9 yard reception in the end zone.
I think the fact that Feeley seemed to have just as much difficulty getting a passing game going as DMac has, goes to show, the Eagles desperately need someone to step up and be "THE" receiver, you know like that overbearing, self inflated, ego maniacal idiot that use to play for the Eagles? The fact Feeley had to turn to Westbrook again and again, keeps going back to how one dimensional we are right now. Unfortunately that will just make it all the more tough to beat the Patriots and the Cowboys. So for this week, I'll savor the non-loosing record, and enjoy a 2 week winning streak.
Terrell Owens is one hell of a football player that I will give him. However LOVE? Now your pushing it! One could say that it has a lot to do with his attitude both on and off the field that has caused many Eagles fans to have grown to dislike him, even before he began playing for the Cowboys.
I must say that he is coming to Philly this Sunday with "very high expectations" as he had said, and that he expects nothing but affection from Philadelphia fans on Sunday night. He just figures it Will be DISGUISED as Boos! He was quoted as saying "They still love me, I don't care what they say, those boos, they ain't really boos man, Theres a lot of love in those boos." Well now my mamma didn't raise no fool, but correct me if i am wrong, if you like someone don't you usually clap or yell yeah don't you, instead of yelling BOOOOOOO!! Just checking.
Ok Birds lets get out there on Sunday night and show good ole T.O. just how much we "love" him!
The Eagles got trounced on Sunday night. There's not doubt about that. The Giant's defense took advantage of an unseasoned Winston Justice and delivered to D-Mac, sack after sack after sack. Even Lawrence "LT" Taylor couldn't help but be proud of that Giant defensive line.
Despite the loss though, there were some bright points, some periods of brilliance, some small rays of hope that the team who played against Detroit still lingered under all that football gear. Correll Buckhalter rose to the occasion and had his best game since 2005. In Sunday night's game he had 103 yards and touch the ball 17 times. Unfortunately that might go overlooked by the 12 sacks and 132 yards in penalties the the offensive line mostly contributed to.
Buckhalter was busting through tackles and as Al Michaels put it, "squirtting" through for the extra effort. He's not Westbrook, but he is his a good running back in his own right. Given a bit more time, he could possibly come up to the level of Westbrook. Sunday night's game, showed that although Westbrook is very crucial to the Philadelphia Eagles offensive, Buckhalter can be relied upon to get yards and carry the ball as well.
As I watched the Eagles Television Network's post Giants/Eagles game reporting, Dave Sparado interviewed Buckhalter (who, btw, was looking rather stylish, even with those sunglasses on). Asking Buckhalter about what happened with Sunday night's team performance, Buckhalter said "...as many penalties as we had, that's not Eagles football."
I think all of Philadelphia will agree with him on that statement. But I also think Buckhalter and the defensive should be given due "props". Both actually did amazingly well under the circumstances that they had to play. Eagles fans should be happy that the defensive held on they way they did, since there could have been at least 10 more points on that board that the Eagles defensive put a halt too. Along with Buckhalter's 100+ yard game, Omar Gaither had that nice interception.
When Sparado asked him about not running it back for a touchdown, Gaither had a very logical and intelligent answer - one that should make any coach proud. Gaither said that he "saw two players in his rear view" and wanted to be able to hand that ball over to the offensive and not risk loosing it by attempting something that could have lost him that ball. That shows great football instinct, it's just too bad that the Eagles couldn't capitalize on that interception with a score, instead they capitalized on it with penalty after penalty after sack.
Eagles fans, players, coaches and the Philadelphia media have 2 weeks to chew on, digest and rehash this loss. The offensive coaches better figure out something else, because the way they were playing last night, will not get them a win against Dallas, in any way shape or form.
*pictures courtesy of PhiladelphiaEagles.com
Tonight, the only good news was that .... at least the Phillies won.
I sat in the All-Star bar out in Gilberstville, off of Ridge Pike to watch the game tonight. I thought this would be a pretty interesting game. But after the first first, I was thinking to myself, "should I just go home now?"
Donovan McNabb's game was just off. His accuracy wasn't there, more than a few times he over threw his wide receivers and it wasn't for their lack of trying either. Granted, there were parts of drives that showed guts and brilliance - but you need 4 quarters of guts and brilliance to win a football game, not just 2 minutes here and 3 minutes there.
Donovan's going to be roasted for this performance. The defense as well, will have to answer for their performance. Overall, it was just a general "total let down" feeling and the fact that our Birds are 0 and 2, and two of our division rivals are 2 and 0 doesn't make swallowing this loss any easier.
Not many bright spots to write home about tonight - Westbrook when given the opportunity performed brilliantly, Takeo Spikes came off with some great plays too, but it just wasn't enough and the Eagles came up short on thie Monday night outing.
When listening to Charles Barkley talking with Jaws and the crew, you know I couldn't have agreed with him more. He said that Donovan's performance over the years, should cut him some slack - however in Philly it doesn't work that way. I just really think a lot of people take the last 5 or so years for granted.
Sure our Eagles are 0 and 2, but the guys are probably really beating themselves up right about now, and who better than them knows the pain of this 2nd loss? There's really not one finger to point to and blame, it was a combination effort, The Eagles lost this game together as a team this time around.
What would you think if you stopped into your local Friendly's restaurant for one of those delectable sundaes they make and were greeted by a towering, 6' 1" Eagles linebacker who offered to show you to your seat? Well Eagles fans in New Jersey had just that "treat" a few weeks ago when Eagles Linebacker Omar Gaither volunteered his time to the American Cancer Society.
From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friendly's donated a portion of each customers' bill towards the Cancer Society while Omar played host, cook, server and waiter to the customers that came into Friendly's. Omar even got to test out his vocal "pipes" by singing the Friendly's Happy Birthday song to a customer.
Now, how did I know this? Well if you didn't know, the Eagles have a few "shows" out on their site created by the Eagles Television Network. The cool thing about these shows? You can watch from your computer, even at 7:30 a.m. in your p.j.'s. Both Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid have shows out on the Eagles Multimedia page. The information I have came from the Andy Reid Show: Week 2. The piece about Omar is about 3/4 of the way through but I felt it was a great touch, and highlighted that for a lot of NFL football players, it truly is about giving back to society.
Reno Mahe has just one job (o.k. technically two) - catch the ball, not only that but hold onto the darn thing.
After last Sunday's special teams debacle, the Eagles made a call to Ogden, Utah, to the man who handled punt returns for the Eagles from 2003 to 2006. Mahe, had just moved his entire family to Utah, and was starting his new life in venture capital, real estated and other ventures including a drug program for troubled kids when he got the call on Monday.
Last year, the Eagles felt they didn't need Mahe, I guess they had a lot of faith in the future of Jeremy Bloom (personally I think letting Bloom go is still a mistake). After Reid cut Bloom, they brought in J.R. Reed to sure up the lack of Punt Returner. What sucks, is that J.R. Reed, generally a good player, hadn't ever played the position before and now has the flubbed returned to thank for costing him his job.
Mahe, is going to be under a lot of pressure. He signed a one year contract with the Eagles on Tuesday and his only job is to return the punts. He will have Correll Buckhalter backing him up, since the Eagles have seen fit to also remove Greg Lewis (again, another guy who was never meant to be a Punt Returner) from Punt Returner status. But all eyes are going to be on Mahe, Monday night against the Redskins.
I'm glad to see Mahe back, a veteran in the position will hopefully stop the messed up punt returns and perhaps return the special teams coach back to "favored" status among the "boo birds". However, the Eagles wouldn't be in this situation if Andy Reid wouldn't have cut Bloom. Bloom could hold onto the ball and knew what to do, he just didn't have anyone really blocking for him during pre-season.
Welcome back Reno, please, just catch the ball and hold onto it.
BTW, Reno's also sporting #25 according to the Eagles' roster this year.
The Patriots under suspicion for cheating, say it ain't so!
So now, all of us Eagles fans are sitting here wondering, could this have affected the outcome of Super Bowl XXIX? Even though my gut says "no", there's still this nagging bit of wonder and a ton of "What Ifs". I'm sure a lot of the teams that met up with the Patriots in their SuperBowl and Playoff match ups are wondering the same thing.
Everyone, no doubt is questioning the "greatness" of their dynasty now and just how tainted Tom Brady is, as the receiver of a lot of this information. There's no doubt that few will believe that Brady didn't know about how the method of how the signals were obtained. Perhaps someone should interview Drew Bledsoe, too?
At this point in time, the Patriots could become the more hated team above the Dallas Cowboys in Philadelphia. Eagles fans are rabid, and don't like to be cheated, and this scandal just wreaks of nothing but cheating to win. There is no doubt a lot of fans will now believe "our birds" were robbed. It makes you wonder what T.O. might even say about it - will he change his tune from blaming D-Mac to now blaming Belichick's cheating scheme?
Whatever the case, it really makes an Eagles fan wonder, did they have our defense calls too? If they did, they surely used them. If they used them, then weren't the Eagles robbed, just as the Steelers were? We only lost by 3 points in the Super Bowl, isn't it realistically possible that cheating won the Patriots that Vince Lombardi trophy that year?
What's your take? Got an opinion, I'd love to hear it!
I'm out here on the west coast for over a week, and even out here the news made its way to San Jose. Jeremiah Trotter released by the Eagles! WTF? No really WTF? Finally we get two decent linebackers that can work together and become leaders on the team and then the wonderkins release Trotter.
Wow.... that's all I can say is WOW.
I'll try and post a little more, but being at a tech conference all week, and no TV news on Eagles makes it tough.
This EaglesChick is pretty darn upset that they released Trotter - who's next Dawkins?
Eagles fan favorite, kicker, David Akers welcomed NASCAR driver Martin Truex, Jr. at training camp this past week. The Press of Altantic City, has a nice write up of Truex, Jr.'s visit to camp, complete with Trotter and Spikes trying to recruit Truex Jr. to the Eagles as a safety.
It seems that Akers has a passion NASCAR and even competes in an online league of racing, competing not only with Truex, Jr. but also Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Denny Hamlin and other NASCAR series drivers. Akers leaves his better skills to the football field claiming he's not so great at racing even though he loves the sport.
Truex, Jr. on the other hand is 11th in the Nextel Cup standings. He drives for the Dale Earnhardt Racing team aboard the #1 Bass Pro Shops car. One might think that its a stretch for a NASCAR driver to be an die-hard Eagles fan, but Martin Truex, Jr. is a Deleware Valley guy. Born and raised in Mayetta, NJ when Truex, Jr. wasn't winning junior racing championships at New Egypt Speedway - at New Egypt, NJ, he was watching Eagles football games.
Truex Jr., use to have his Sundays pretty free to watch the Eagles, however since winning back to back Bush Series championships when he raced on Saturdays, he's now come over to NASCAR full time and races on Sundays. I guess he's got the TIVO fired up till November when the NASCAR season ends.
As for Akers though, the Iggles blog is reporting on the discouraging progress reports (info also via Philly.com) from him on his hamstring injury. Even though Akers hit his first "pressure" field goal from 43 yards to give his teammates the night off on Friday, he's still struggling to adjust to the changes in holders between Dirk Johnson and Sav Rocca.
We all know Akers only felt really comfortable with Koy Detmer holding that ball. Unfortunately for Akers, Koy's gone. Unfortunately for us, visions of Tony Romo flubbing the game loosing hold for the Cowboys last year keep coming back to mind. If a holder can't even hold the ball right, it can cost a team a lot more than just 3 points - just as Romo.
I remember watching Eagles Post Game Live last season, one of the games late in the season - I can't remember which one it was, but they had Ike Reese visiting in the studio. It had to be post season, because I remember thinking "what's up here, isn't Ike with the Falcons?" I'd hoped (as I'm sure many other Eagles fans did) maybe Ike was in preliminary talks to come back to the Eagles.
Not that I believe the Eagles had an inkling that Ron "Jaws" Jaworski would be tapped by ESPN to fill Theisman's slot on Monday Night Football, but I had a sneaking suspicion the Eagles wanted to bring back Ike in someway. Ike Reese is well liked in Philly, they man is a genuinely nice guy and helped to propel the Eagles game forward before he left for Altanta.
Ike Reese will is set to fill Ron Jaworski's slot on the Eagles Television Network (ETN) for their preseason and regular season game commentary.
"We are happy to bring Ike back to be part of the team," said Eagles president Joe Banner. "We know he will bring the same energy to the broadcast that he brought to the locker room."
If Ike's 5 minute banter with Michael Barkann after that show was any indication how he'll be on ETN, we'll be enjoying these games in a whole new way. Welcome back Ike!
The Philadelphia Eagles' Offensive Coordinator, Marty Mornhinweg, had a lot of comments at his first press conference of pre-season training camp. Most of the comments were pretty positive as far as the hopes for a great offense this season. Granted, it is only the 3rd day of training camp and we haven't even seen the veteran team players take the field, but overall Mornhinweg's comments seem pretty optimistic.
On the top of the list of topics was the the development of Jeremy Bloom. Bloom is the 2nd year wide receiver and return man out of Colorado who sat out all last year on injured reserved. Bloom's performance so far, is apparently impressing everyone watching him in mini camps and now training camp. Odds are this is the guy to watch this year, he could be the break out star, and he's definitely a player this EaglesChick doesn't mind watching! ;)
"Many players make a football team with their special teams play," Mornhinweg said. "But I can tell you he's done an excellent job at the wide receiver spot the last few minicamps and these first three days here. He's progressed at a real high pace. He hadn't played football in a long time and then he went through the injury problem."
Next up, Tony Hunt, Mornhinweg's comments on the rookie running back were that in the past three days of camp he was "excellent" and "sharp, smart, a hard-worker and he's got some physical ability." This is definitely something to keep your eye one since there's a lot of competition in the RB position this year. Westbrook is definitely the go to man, but with Buckhalter, Moats and now Hunt - the Eagles definitely have a full aresenal of talent in this position.
"There's a host of different ways that Tony could help us," Mornhinweg said. "The first is in special teams and the second is as some type of situational player and another way would be as a change-of-pace player, and so forth … He's got to earn it though. We have some pretty good backs here."
The competition that is seen at the RB position is mirrored throughout the rest of the offense. Mornhinweg gave praise to Bill Sampy, saying the 2nd year receiver "had already made an impression". The Eagles' offensive coach was equally impressed by the team's young trio of tight ends: Brent Celek, Lee Vickers and Kyle Hunt.
"They all have a chance to succeed in this league I think," Mornhinweg said. "All of them have different strengths, and it'll be interesting as camp progresses."
Wrapping up the conference he commented on McNabb's personal assessment of his rehabilitation being at 75%.
"We're going day by day," Mornhinweg said. "He sure has looked sharp. He's done an excellent job in rehabilitation and or medical staff and training staff have done a superior job."
Here's hoping Bloom really does "bloom" into a great receiver, Tony Hunt solidifies the RB aresenal and McNabb is back at 100% come September. So far, there's a lot of optimism!
"Yardbarker", that was the one word that McNabb called over his shoulder as he left his first 2007 pre-season press conference. So what did he mean by just saying Yardbarker? Well McNabb's stepping out of that "walled garden" the Eagles have so securely wrapped him up in for all his years as the Eagles quarterback. McNabb's got his own personal blog at Yardbarker.
McNabb started the blog to connect better with Eagles Fans. I think this is actually a great move by McNabb. No longer will he have to be totally muzzled by the well-oiled press machine of the Eagles' communication department. If he keeps up with the blog, it should keep those rumors about where he's at "mentally" when those storms like Jeff Garcia, Kevin Kolb being drafted and not being allowed to go to the New Orleans divisional game blow in, and hopefully will keep those Mama McNabb tirades to a minimum.
McNabb's been making a lot of great strategic moves lately. He hired his own public relations specialist, a former team employee that previously handled all of McNabb's
appearances, and he began to have his own media events outside the Eagle's "walled garden". This just goes to show, that although he's been the loyal soldier, McNabb is becoming wise to the fact that sometimes the management in the Eagles front office can be too damn fickle.
The blog's only got three posts so far, but it's pretty savvy in that Donovan's including some of his own videos, hosted on YouTube through the YardBarker Channel. Take a look at his first video posted, featuring his work out in Arizona last month.
Philadelphia Eagles' training camp distractions have been averted. The last thing anyone wants to see is some circus going on about whether players sign or don't sign, retire or don't retire (ala Michael Strahan of the Giants). Thankfully, the Eagles finally secured the deal for the last of the draft picks that they needed to sign, that being quarterback Kevin Kolb.
On Wednesday July 25, the Eagles and Kolb agreed to a 4 year deal which essentially secured that all of their 8 draft picks were at the start of training camp with started this past Friday. Kolb was the most scrutinized of the Eagles' picks since picking him meant the Eagles now have 4 quarterback in their ranks. Kolb was the 36th pick overall and the third quarterback taken in the draft behind Oakland's JaMarcus Russell and Cleveland's Brady Quinn.
"I'm pumped," Kolb said in a press conference
outside the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday. "It was getting down to the
wire a little bit here and I think everyone was getting a little bit
antsy.
"I was getting a little bit nervous and I
definitely wanted to be there (at training camp) with the rest of the
guys, and especially not miss anything and get behind. That's my biggest fear."
Kolb will learn the ropes from veterans
Donovan McNabb, A.J. Feeley and Kelly Holcomb at this years training camp. Some are wondering though, is this four-year deal enough to further convince Kolb that he will one day get his chance
to carve out his own Eagles legacy?
minor eagles chick postscript - by this picture, it looks like Donovan's finally trimmed that beard!
A sight for all Eagles Fans' eyes was the Number 5, quarterback Donovan McNabb, participating in training camp practice. No matter the questions that surround his return, having McNabb back is definitely a great morale booster for the Philadelphia Eagles.
McNabb dawned his "red" #5 training jersey while snapping on a knee brace to protect his knee that's still healing from his season ending ACL injury that occurred last season. He spoke to the media saying that he felt his knee was at about 75%. No one is taking bets yet on him playing in the pre-season game against Baltimore though. This chick has doubts we'll see him playing much if at all during that game.
It doesn't look like the Philadelphia Eagles' head coach, Andy Reid is going to push the issue either. "I'm not in any hurry to push him into the first pre-season game," coach Reid said.
When McNabb was questioned about wearing a knee brace during training camp in Bethlehem but not wearing it in Arizona, McNabb explained, "you have to continue to stay protective, and if I can continue to wear it and it doesn't bother me, I'll continue to wear it through the whole season."
"Mentally you have to know
that the knee is fine. That's kind of the whole process you go through
-- not just strengthening it through the weight room and continuing to
stay flexible. You have to continue to prepare yourself mentally for
what you'll be faced with." McNabb said.
Relating Reggie Bush to a cardboard box, doesn't seem quite right, does it? Well that's how Sheldon Brown, the Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, described how it felt to level the rookie in last year's playoff game. I remember watching that game and just being in awe of that utter raw force that came from Brown's body, crumpling Bush's body to the turf of the Superdome like a paper doll, and how the crowd at the Superdome fell utterly silent for a few minutes.
That hit will now grace Sports Illustrated's cover. The article/piece that drives the photo is entitled "Big Hits: The Glory, Danger and Repercussions" written by Tim Layden. In it, Mr. Layden goes on to describe the hit in amazing detail. This chick particularly loves this excerpt from the article:
"A swing pass floated into the right flat, a flash of green helmet and white jersey, and now Bush was on his hands and knees on the turf of the Louisiana Superdome, crawling in his black New Orleans Saints uniform like a small child, sent back to his infancy after getting blown up by Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown. "
Brown goes on to relate to Layden about how the Eagles had been working on that particular play the whole week that led up to the game. It was the one play that the Saints had use to exploit holes in the Eagles defense in their first meeting earlier in 2006. The Saints kept blowing by Sheldon Brown and matching Reggie Bush up with a linebacker, this time around Sheldon Brown was having none of that. Obviously from the leveling Bush received, it's likely not something he's going to forget anytime soon.
The hit even received allocates from other players around the league. Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears is quoted as saying, "those are the ones you dream about," after watching the game on TV. Even though it's a hit to remember, Bush did bounce back pretty well, well enough as all of us Eagles fans know to help end the Eagles season.
Congrats Sheldon - that hit was a great one!
The Philadelphia Eagles signed on 2 of the 3 remaining draft picks yesterday to 4 year deals. Running back Nate "Nasti Nate" Ilaoa and defensive end Victor Abiamiri agreed to terms on their four-year deals on Sunday. The only remaining draft pick the Eagles haven't signed is the first draft pick - quarterback Kevin Kolb.
Abiamiri, who hails from Notre Dame, was the second of the Eagles' two second-round picks in April's draft. Standing 6-foot-4, and 267-pound he racked up 10.5 sacks last season, the second-highest single-season total in the Notre Dame's history.
The Eagles are hoping to have a strong rotation at defensive end this season, since Jevon (The Freak) Kearse is returning after missing most of last season with his knee injury (this Eagles Chick is VERY happy to see Kearse back in the lineup). Also in the lineup is, third-year man Trent Cole who will battle Darren Howard, for the starting right end spot. The Eagles re-signed Juqua Thomas who had a career high six sacks last season and also have former first-round pick Jerome McDougle.
Ilaoa, who the Eagles chose in the seventh-round of the 2007 draft come from Hawaii, He's one of two running backs selected along with Tony Hunt from Penn State was drafted in the third round.
Ilaoa stands 5-foot-9, 245-pound and earned All-WAC honors as a senior rushing for 990 yards and scoring 18 total touchdowns (13 rushing, 5 receiving). This guy is seen as important to the Eagles offense because of his great ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and since the Eagles often uses the running back in the passing game, you can get the feeling how this guy is going to fit in with Westbrook Hunt, Moats and Buckhalter. While at Hawaii, Ilaoa set a single-season school record for a running back with 67 receptions and 837 receiving yards.
This does leave the Eagles with a similar situation with the quarterbacks, only now the Eagles have five running backs on the roster - Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter, Ryan Moats, Hunt and Ilaoa. At 245 pounds, Ilaoa is the biggest running back on the team's roster. Four running backs were kept on the original 53-man roster last season at the end of training camp, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out for all the players.
Ilaoa got the nickname "Nasti" for his style of running. He also put up impressive numbers while at Hawaii:
Fox Sports came out with its rankings for Quarterbacks for the 2007-2008 season, yesterday. Great news for Donovan McNabb since he's ranked 3rd behind Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. This is in spite of his ACL injury suffered at the end of last year.
Mike Tanier of Footballoutsiders.com rank McNabb 3rd over all for the following reasons:
"When healthy, McNabb is an elite quarterback. He's great at launching deep passes, but he's even better when the Eagles offense is balanced and he has the chance to throw underneath. McNabb underthrows some passes and is starting to lose his scrambling ability, but he's a great decision maker in the pocket and one of the hardest quarterbacks in NFL history for players not named Ronde Barber to intercept."
If there's one thing that Eagles fans love to see, it's our team's players ranked highly in polls. Especially when they are ranked much higher than the Dallas Cowboys. It just makes this Eagles fan giggle with delight to see Tony Romo ranked below Donovan McNabb at #11.