Monday, March 9, 2009

More on Dawkins

It has now been a little more than a week since the Eagles rewrote the public relations rule book. And not in a good way.

Brian Dawkins will not come crawling out of the tunnel next season, except for possibly one very special Sunday when the Broncos pay a visit to Lincoln Financial Field.

As I stated before, I was never the biggest Dawkins’ fan. That has nothing to do with the way he played the game. I think he was a very good safety. But I tired of some of his antics. Yes, that includes his now famous entrance to the field during the pre-game warmups, as well as his sometimes over-the-top reaction to making routine plays during the game.

I looked at the numbers the Broncos threw at him. Bottom line? There was no way the Eagles were ever going to match that offer. If Dawkins deigned to take the money, he was gone. And that’s exactly what happened.

I was disappointed; I was not apoplectic.

None of which is to diminish the palpable anger coarsing through Eagles Nation these days. And none of which does anything to lessen a longtime belief of mine when it comes to Lurie, Banner, Reid et al.

They don’t get it. They don’t understand, and apparently don’t fully appreciate, the Philadelphia fan. Same goes for Donovan McNabb, who incredibly still manages to take every opportunity to remind people he got booed when he was selected by the Birds in the NFL Draft.

You can hear it in the little smirks Banner offered during his radio interview with Howard Eskin on WIP. I am not going to disagree with Banner on the Dawkins’ issue. The team last week signed Sean Jones from the Browns to compete for the job.

But Banner and Lurie don’t understand that the “gold standard” they are constantly crowing about is not handed out for mastering the cap. It’s for winning Super Bowls. At last glance, their total of Super Bowl trophies would be zero.

Until that changes, and until the Eagles brain trust shows their fans they have a heart, that’s unlikely to change.

By the way, they have not as yet set the date for that visit by the Broncos to the Linc.

Anyone else think it would make a great Monday night opener for the NFL?

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