I'm pretty damn pissed off. I don't think I'm alone in the Philadelphia region today. Brian Dawkins is gone to the Denver Broncos. The Eagles, seriously have lost their heart today, cut out and sent packing by that greedy bastard Joe Banner in the front office. So, here's my rant.
There's been carnage around the NFL this week, especially in Tampa Bay where who would have thought they'd let Warrick Dunn go, or Baltimore putting Ray Lewis out there? Now with just 1.5 hours to go until Free Agency is upon us, Brian Dawkins is STILL not signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Can I just say - "WTF are Banner and Lurie thinking?"
This could all be for not, in a half an hour, the Eagles can put out an announcement that Dawkins has signed a 2-3 year deal, basically to secure him as an Eagle till her retires. This goes way beyond numbers on the field, seriously, this goes right down to the fans. That whole bit about wanting to win a superbowl for the fans.... doing things for the fans.... well for pete's sake, sign Dawkins and lock him in for the fans.
This guy is a leader, I even put it out there that he is "the" leader on the team, "the heart" of the Eagles.
It's bad enough they raised ticket prices during a recession, if they don't sign Dawkins, its like a knife through the heart for us die hards who have come to think of Dawkins as one of our own family. It makes the Eagles really seem like they don't care about the fans in anyway shape or form, just about the money.
And don't label me living in fantasy land, I know that football is a business. That was evident when they let Jeremiah Trotter go last year. But Dawkins? Really now, not signing Dawkins before free agency sets in, just really kicks us in the gut.
Sign Weapon X already..... the man is an Eagle, and deserves to retire as one!
*Update - Dawkins signed with the Broncos on 2/28/09, this post still holds true, every word, but the EaglesChick is not happy about Dawkins Leaving.
There's one thing I have in common with Brian Dawkins, the love of Wolverine (Weapon X). Probably the part I look forward to of the games the most is when Brian comes out of the tunnel at the Linc, scratching and clawing just like Wolverine. There's that force you see, that desire to not give up, to keep clawing and scratching until the very end.
I watched an interview with Brian Dawkins on the NFL network today. The man never ceases to impress me. On the field he's this amazing player (whom the Eagles would be wise to re-sign until he retires an Eagle), a leader, even a father figure. He's a force that offenses are forced to reckon with, plan for and above all, respect.
Off the field, he's a gentleman. A christian man who doesn't curse. Who prays, who mentors, who leads. A man that any parent would be glad that their kids idolized, looked up to and modeled their football careers after. The man is just that worthy.
Against the Cowboys this past Sunday, you could see the intensity in Brian Dawkins' mannerisms, the passion in his playing - two stripped balls, just wow! The man was on fire. Did he have something to prove? Was he playing like a man who on he last leg, hoping for a miracle? No, he was playing like Brian Dawkins always does - like Weapon X.
Was this his last game as an Eagle (if every fan in Philly had their way, definitely not!)? Was this his last season wearing the green and silver breath right strip? Was this the last time for him to come clawing out of the tunnel at the Linc? I surely hope not, as probably many of you reading this hope not as well.
There are a lot of players who's contracts are up at the end of this season. Dawkins, Thomas and Runyan are just the top three that come to my mind. While we know Joe Banner shows no mercy when cutting players even though they are fan favorites (look what happened to our beloved Jeremiah Trotter), I think there's a distinct hope among the Eagles fans that the Eagles realize the worth of Dawkins. His worth goes well beyond what he's done on the field. It extends beyond the stripped balls, sacks, tackles and interceptions. This man is a force that most teams would die for. He's respected, he's got character, he's a leader and he's a team player.
Let's hope he retires has an Eagle team player.
Last Monday night, Charles Barkley and Ron Jaworski both commented about being a franchise player in Philadlephia. Both of them spoke about how tough it can be and how fast the crowd can turn. The moment a Philly fans smells defeat in the air, they are ready to sound the alarm bells, in the form of the notorious booing known across all sports.
As I sat in the bar last Monday night, there was this rather obnoxious guy commenting rather loudly about both Reid and McNabb. The comments he was making were so far out of line, it really made me wonder if the guy even finished 6th grade. You know the type, these are the type of fans that, as Enrico over at the 700 Level put it, "make us intelligent fans look bad." Unfortunately after a few beers and cheese steaks, they are the loudest most obnoxious bunch of people, that manage to drown out the voices of reason.
Reid, has never crumbled, Reid has never deterred from his plan (he's made adjustments, but not deterred), Reid doesn't panic at a few losses. Reid believes in his players, Reid's plans tend to work themselves out and above all Reid's got a winning record that most coaches in the NFL envy. Yet you hear comments like "Fat A$$hole" come out of people's mouths, just because the Eagles lost. Sure we question, sure we might not agree (as I disagreed with them cutting Bloom), but at the end of the day, our job isn't the Coach of the Eagles.
Donovan had a serious knee injury. An injury that most of the time sidelines players for at least 1 year. Not Donovan McNabb, in less than 10 months he came back. Perhaps he did come back a little early, perhaps not - not really our decision to make. But he did come back, because he loves playing in Philadelphia and wanted to lead his team. Sure, he did look bad the first two games, last week it looked like he just couldn't get accuracy. A lot of pressure is put on McNabb, when it should also go to the receiving ranks and the coaches. Up until yesterday no one receiver really, truly stepped up and stood out.
Yesterday's performance, unfortunately, won't shut up the haters. They'll just attribute the performance to D-Mac afraid of loosing his job, or those gawd awful looking uniforms (which Keith Olberman said last night , the person who dressed the Eagles in those uniforms is the most hated person in the NFL this week). They won't ever look at things from an objective point of view, I'm guessing the beer and cheese steaks clouds the rationality and intelligence (really now, the Eagles don't have judge with his own chambers in their stadium for no reason).
The Eagles still have a bit of a way to go, and lord knows, next week's game is going to be a tough one. You know T.O. is just itchin' for a win against his old team (he's yet to get one), and the Plowboys, as much as I hate to admit this, look better than the Eagles, even after yesterday's performance. I'm just going to hope that our Birds have finally figured it what it was they were lacking and that the first two games were just anomalies.
I'm not a hater, perhaps a doubter/questioner from time to time, but I'm definitely one that doesn't cry for a new coach or quarterback at every loss. Unfortunately there's more haters out there right now, and for the rest of us, it's kind of sad. To the national press - honestly, I swear, there are intelligent, un-inebriated Eagles fans out here, you just gotta dig below all that noise to find us. :)
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