Faith in Eagles Management

There has been much lamenting and gnashing of teeth in Eagles Nation over the past week or so as players like Lito Sheppard, Sean Considine, Correll Buckhalter, and most especially Brian Dawkins have either been traded away or left the team via free agency.

You also have the two twin towers of the offensive line for the past decade, Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan, very much in doubt as to their own returns for next season. Tight End L.J. Smith is shopping his services and is believed not wanted back by the Birds. These players make up a huge portion of the success that the Philadelphia Eagles football team has enjoyed over the past decade.

But as they leave it is important to note that this current Philadelphia Eagles management team of owner Jeffrey Lurie, team President Joe Banner, and GM/Coach Andy Reid almost always knows when to say 'when' with a player, no matter that player's reputation or popularity. From Duce Staley to Jeremiah Trotter to Hugh Douglas, the Eagles knew when it was time to say goodbye.

Probably the lone exception was Terrell Owens, and is there anyone out there as an Eagles fan who really wanted him to stay after all the histrionics and drama that he created?

The Philadelphia Eagles Need to Replace...

...Brian Westbrook.

What! What are you nuts, Veasey?

Well we already know the answer to that question. After all, you're the guy who picked George W. Bush as your website 'American of the Year' for 2008. You're the guy who has consistently supported Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb.

You think Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter are hot. You whole-heartedly believe in this Jesus fellow, and that he died on a cross specifically for your individual sins that would not even be committed for another two millenia.

But Brian Westbrook needs to be replaced? Well, now you are just simply over the top. If the old Byberry Hospital were still around, we might have you committed. Well gang, this is the response that I would expect, but let's talk about the facts that lead me to make this statement.

First let's dispense with the obvious. For right now Brian Westbrook is one of the most important players on the Eagles roster. Some would make a solid argument that he is the single most important player to the team. I concur with their assessment, for this particular playoff run. He does not need to be cut, does not need to be replaced right now.

But here is something to seriously consider, something the the Philadelphia Eagles management had better be seriously considering.

Donovan and Eagles at a Crossroads

Despite what the gloom and doom crowd at 610 WIP AM Sports Talk radio would tell you, the Philadelphia Eagles football team does not stink. Their coach does not need to be fired. Their quarterback is not washed up.

Eagles fans have become spoiled by the Andy Reid era. That is a fact. They must have forgotten the Ray Rhodes era that preceded it, when the team went 29-34-1 over a four year period. Or perhaps the Rich Kotite era before that, when the team went 36-28 over four years but only made the playoffs once.

Maybe they loved those brash Buddy Ryan years before that, every one a winning regular season. Of course there was that little matter of zero playoff wins. None. Marion Campbell, the 'Swamp Fox', and his 17-29-1 over three years and no playoffs? Forget those.

Fact is that since the end of Dick Vermeil's final full season in 1981 and the start of the Reid Era, the Eagles floundered, sputtered, and crashed after brief periods of soaring.

Who is This Marshawn Lynch Fella Anyway?

I used to play Fantasy Football regularly, and was usually pretty good at it too. With a bunch of guys that I knew from my former profession in banking, I kept playing into my early years with the police department.

But somewhere around the turn of the century, I dropped out. Part of the reasoning was that I just wanted to simplify things a bit, to get rid of some things that were taking up my time and effort.

You see, when I get involved in stuff like that, I get involved. It's fun, sure, but it's not all just fun, I have to win too. So that means that I have to know as much information as possible, which involves reading on the web and in magazines, watching TV shows, watching games, etc.

For the past decade without Fantasy Football, I have found that I enjoyed watching Eagles games so much more. Of course this may also have had something to do with the fact that during this period the Eagles got really good thanks to Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Brian Dawkins, et al.

I found that I didn't at all miss the Sunday ritual of checking the highlight shows to see if any of my guys had big games, scored touchdowns, and so on. I enjoyed football much more without the Fantasy element.

Big Red Opens Green Camp

The Philadelphia Eagles opened training camp for their upcoming 2008 season on Monday at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.

The camp will run from now through August 13th, when the Birds will pack up and head to Philly.

The Birds open their pre-season schedule at the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 8th, then open at home on August 14th against the Carolina Panthers.

The team will then close out its pre-season with games at New England and at home against the New York Jets.

Coming into camp, the Birds have been installed by the odds makers in Las Vegas as the third-best team in the NFC.

Unfortunately, they are also the 3rd best team in their own NFC East division. Vegas has the Dallas Cowboys as the NFC favorites, with the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants ranked just slightly ahead of our Birds at this point.

Over in the AFC, New England is the favorite, and is the overall favorite as well, followed by Indianapolis and San Diego tied for the second overall favorite to win it all. Jacksonville is the 4th highest rated club, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are tied with the Eagles for 7th overall.

The success or failure of the upcoming season is, as always, in the hands of Donovan McNabb. At age 31, McNabb will be starting his 10th NFL season at the helm of the Birds 'West Coast' offense, and will be trying to rally a club that started slow a year ago as he recovered from injury.