Respect is not given, it is earned.

Brian Dawkins coming down the tunnel as Weapon X.
Photo Courtesy of: www.gcobb.com

Footsteps. It is a term that is used by coaches, athletes, and sports analysts alike. But there have never been footsteps quite like the ones that belong to Brian Dawkins. They had a sound all to themselves. It was a sound that echoed through the roaring crowds that filled stadiums across the NFL for 16 years. It is likely a sound that many professional football players will never forget.

Alge Crumpler, former Atlanta Falcons tight end, probably still wakes up in the middle of the night with a cold sweat running down his forehead remembering the punishing blow that he received from Dawkins during the 2004 NFC championship game.

Watching the video of that hit you can see in Crumpler’s body language that he, along with the millions of people watching across the United States, knew what was about to happen.  There was a brief moment of time where the adrenaline of trying to make a play combined with the pure terror of the ferocious hit that was about to come. Dawkins closed in with the strength of a wrecking ball and the intensity of a jack hammer and set the tone for the rest of the game as Crumpler fell to the turf and Dawkins stood over him. The Eagles went on to win that game.

That was Dawkins as a professional football player. He set the tone. He led the way.

Brian Dawkins making a flying tackle against the New York Giants
Photo Courtesy of: www.broncotalk.net

“Just the intensity and the detail he brought to practice every single day, that's what's going to stand out in my mind. You know, it showed on gameday. That's why he's the best safety I've ever played with or seen play,” said former Eagle and now talk radio host in Houston N.D Kalu, “He was the epitome of leading by example.”

Dawkins was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles out of Clemson in 1996. It didn’t take long for Dawkins to crack the starting lineup for the Eagles. The rest was history as Dawkins went on to become the heart and soul of the Philadelphia defense for 13 seasons and one of the best safeties in NFL history.

When the Andy Reid era began in 1999, legendary defensive coordinator Jim Johnson took over. He went on to mold Dawkins into one of the most versatile and feared safeties in the NFL.

Quiet and soft spoken off the field, Dawkins was always well revered in the city of Philadelphia. He is a spiritual man. An intense man.  A man with morals. A man who many young people should aspire to be.

When he came down that tunnel on gameday though, it was an entirely different story. Dawkins went through a complete transformation the moment he donned that uniform each and every Sunday. In his 224 career games, Dawkins came down that tunnel not as himself, but as Wolverine. Weapon X. The passion and intensity of an entire city running through his veins projected itself on teammates and fans.

Still, with all of that emotion running through him, Dawkins never cursed. He never had to. His goosebump inducing pregame speeches were enough to lift the spirits and hopes of not only his teammates but the entire city of Philadelphia. He brought a type of leadership to the huddle that is completely irreplaceable.

After 16 seasons in the NFL Dawkins is finishing his career with 224 games played, 1131 tackles, 37 interceptions, 37 forced fumbles, 26 sacks, and eight Pro Bowl appearances. Is that Hall of Fame worthy?

I believe so. Dawkins was more than the bone jarring hits that he delivered each and every Sunday. He was a presence on the field. One felt by teammates. He was felt by opposing players and coaches. And his presence was definitely felt by the fans of the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. In a time where professional athletes are larger than life, Brian Dawkins was truly one of us. He played and spoke with all of the emotion his body possessed and on every single play he was on field; he gave everything he had for to achieve one goal. That is something Philadelphia fans could always appreciate.

The retirement of Brian Dawkins is the end of an era. It is a fact however that those footsteps will be remembered for a very long time not only in the city of Philadelphia, but across the NFL. Brian Dawkins was a true Philadelphian. He played with all of his heart and soul, leaving everything he had on the field with each and every play. That is one thing that will never be disputed.

Respect is not given, it is earned. 

Better Late Than Never

Well, I’m a little late, but baseball season is back and hopefully so is Heads or Tails. In my last post I mentioned that it was going to be an “interesting off season” for the Philadelphia Phillies. And boy was it. So let’s break it down.

Free Agency

As I had expected Jayson Werth, Jamie Moyer, and Mike Sweeney did not re-sign with the Phillies. Much to the dismay of Phillies fans, Werth signed a 7 year $127 MM deal with NL East rival Washington. Moyer sustained a serious injury while pitching during the winter and will miss all of the 2011 season. Sweeney has yet to find a team for the 2011 season but has expressed that he is interested in playing.

The Phil’s offered a minor league deal to Sweeney, but he has insisted on signing a major league deal with a contender. The other free agent on the Phil’s squad was Chad Durbin. I had speculated that the Phil’s would bring him back to ensure the long role of the bullpen would be locked up. They unfortunately did not. Durbin signed just last week with the Cleveland Indians.

Philadelphia did however make the biggest splash in free agency. After much speculation of Cliff Lee signing with the Yankees and the Rangers, the Phillies came out of nowhere and scooped him up for a five-year $125 MM deal. The five years is unusually long for the Phillies to go with a pitcher (who normally stand solid on a three year contract limit for pitchers), but Ruben Amaro Jr. was intent on correcting his mistake of letting Lee go in the first place.

Spring Training

There has been a lot of news coming out of Clearwater this year. Here are some of the most prominent story lines of the spring.

Chase Utley – Chase Utley has been diagnosed with tendinitis in his right knee. At first, this didn’t seem like a big deal. Now, a month into spring training, Utley has yet to play in a game and has received a cortisone shot. It is looking more and more like this injury is a bit more serious than was originally anticipated. When talking about the injury, Utley went as far as talking about “the big picture” of his career.

The four aces – Without a doubt one of the most talked about topics in baseball is the four aces the Phillies have acquired. There has been talks of them being the best rotation of all time and countless nicknames (Phab Four, R2C2 and on and on). Time will tell just how good the rotation is and if they can live up to the hype.

Charlie Manuel’s Contract – This is no longer an issue. Manuel signed a two year extension with the Phil’s last week ensuring that he will be the skipper in Philadelphia until he is at least 69 years old. Manuel has had an amazing run with the Phil’s and will be looking to continue that this year as they are the favorites to win the National League.

In addition to that the Phil’s re-upped Ruben Amaro Jr.’s contract adding on four more years. RAJ has been extraordinarily aggressive since stepping into the General Manager position after Pat Gillick retired.

Huge Expectations

With the addition of Cliff Lee to an already powerful group of starting pitchers, the Phillies are the favorites to win the National league. The offense will have to do their part too. Especially if Chase Utley misses a prolonged period of time due to injury. They will also have to make up for the loss of a right handed bat in the middle of the lineup (Werth).

Prediction

I believe the Phil’s could win 100 games this year. They finished the 2010 season with the best record in baseball. They could potentially do that again this season. It should definitely be a fun season.

Phillies Recap

Well… It certainly has been a while since my last post. Just like my playoff beard, baseball season has come and gone. Football season is 8 weeks in. And the NHL and NBA seasons have already begun. Let’s start with an in depth look at the Phillies.

World F*ing Champions!

The Philadelphia Phillies and their amazing offense won the World Series! Oh wait... that isn’t right. The San Francisco Giants won the World Series. After taking out the Atlanta Braves and the Phil’s, the Giants and their seemingly unhittable pitching rotation took out the red hot Texas Rangers in 5 games.

The Phillies finished the regular season with the best record in baseball. That one actually is true. Through all the adversity and injuries the Phillies faces this season, they were able to win 97 games.

After acquiring Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros at the trade deadline, the Phillies went 41-19. Led by the H2O trio (Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt), the Phil’s starting rotation had the 2^nd lowest ERA in the majors at 3.23 (only beat out by the Giants).

So why didn’t the Phillies win the Series? Because, like many other times through the season, the Phillies offense was MIA. The hot and cold offense of the Phillies was on a cold spell that week.

With that being said, don’t take anything away from the pitching of the Giants in the NLCS. San Fran’s omnipotent trio of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez were spectacular throughout the entire month of October.

So what now?

Jayson Werth, Jamie Moyer, Chad Durbin, J.C. Romero, and Mike Sweeny are all free agents. With Romero already gone, let’s look at the others.

· Werth: Most likely gone. He will be looking in the 5 year 70MM range. The Phil’s already have such a substantial amount of money locked up with the rest of the starters that it seems like they will not be able to get a deal done with Werth’s new agent Scott Boras.

· Moyer: As sad as this is, Jamie’s time in Philadelphia is all but done. Moyer’s 2010 campaign was cut short by injury. With the new found strength in the starting rotation, Moyer will not sign a contract unless he is competing for a starting role.

· Durbin: The only one in the group who might come back. He has said that he is willing to take a home-town discount to stay in Philly and has been extremely productive and reliable during his time in Philadelphia.

· Sweeny: Although he was a nice in season addition from the Seattle Mariners, Ryan Howard will be the everyday first baseman. It makes little sense to keep him on the roster.

The Final Verdict:

The Phillies are still a very good ball club. With the exception of Werth (Which remains to be seen but it is unlikely he will be re-signed), all of their every day starters will return next season. An entire season of that starting rotation should be fun to watch. Not to mention all of the Phillies that were decimated by injuries throughout 2010 should return at 100%.

The Phillies do however have on glaring weakness: Left-handed pitching. Without the power hitting right handed batter Werth in the middle of the lineup, the Phillies are loaded with left-handers and will lack production from the other side of the plate. That, along with the inconsistent bull pen, needs to be top priority for General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. this off season.

If the Phil’s can add pieces around the already strong core of players they have, they will be good for the next couple seasons. The trick will be adding quality players while spending as little as possible.

It should be an interesting off-season.

Spring training and Football

Well, it has been a while since the last post, but I figured now would be a good time to take a look at the Phillies preseason and the Eagles free-agency actions.

Phillies

Now that spring training is upon us, let’s take a look at the questionable spots for the Phillies.
The biggest question right now is who is going to be the fifth starter. Veteran pitcher Jamie Moyer underwent three surgeries over the course of the off season which included one that was a result of complications from previous medical procedures.

Moyer’s biggest competition for the fifth starter spot comes in the once hopeful Kyle Kendrick. A couple years back Kendrick came up from the minors due to injury in the major league rotation and he had a pretty successful run. Since then, he has been less than mediocre in his professional appearances.

So far this spring, both Moyer and Kendrick are looking good. Kendrick threw three scoreless innings against the Yankees yesterday afternoon while Moyer has made some rehab starts to polish his mechanics while he continues to recover from injury.

Honestly, the only way I see Kendrick getting the starting position out of the gate is if Moyer has a major setback, or if he can really stun the opposition throughout the entirety of spring training. Otherwise I believe this job will belong to Jamie.

The other major question facing the Phil’s is the bullpen. After a perfect 2008 campaign, Brad Lidge led the league in blown saves last season. After the season, multiple injuries to the Phil’s closer were uncovered and he had surgery to repair them.

J.C. Romero also spent most of last season suffering from injury, after serving his 50 game suspension for supposedly violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He was never able to return to top form in the 2009 season.

Both of those guys are making great progress in their recoveries and are expected to be ready by sometime in mid-April. That leaves 2 spots open for the first half of the month. This will likely just mean more work for guys like Chad Durbin and newly acquired Danys Baez and Jose Contreras.

From there, there are only about two spots left to fill. With the departure of Chan Ho Park, the Phillies are looking for a reliable lefty to eat up some innings. That spot is likely to be filled by either Sergio Escalona or Antonio Bastardo.

The final spot in the bullpen will most likely be filled by either Kendrick or Moyer, whoever does not win the starter job.

Most probable batting order:
Jimmy Rollins
Placido Polanco
Chase Utley
Ryan Howard
Jayson Werth
Raul Ibanez
Shane Victorino
Carlos Ruiz

Eagles

The free agency period has officially begun as of last week. The big winner early in this un-capped season is the Chicago Bears organization.

The Eagles have not made any moves to sign any free agent with the exception of re-signing full back Leonard Weaver. With the three year $11MM deal with $6.5MM guaranteed money, Weaver became the highest paid fullback in league history.

After cutting Brian Westbrook, the birds absolutely needed to complete this deal. Weaver can be used as a combo back and will be a great asset in short yardage situations. With Lesean McCoy becoming the number 1 running back on the team, the Eagles will need weaver to spell some relief should McCoy ware down through the season.

In addition to cutting Westbrook, the Eagles also let go linebacker Will Witherspoon. While Andy Reid did not deny a possible return to Philly for Witherspoon, it is unlikely. Sources have linked Spoon to the Panthers, the team who initially drafted him. It is clear that the Birds saw that Stewart Bradley’s return will be significant enough allow some flexibility at the linebacker position.

Other moves the Eagles have made:

Signed Jason Avant to a five year contract extension.

Traded Reggie Brown to the Buccaneers for an undisclosed 2011 draft pick (sources have reported that it is a 6throunder).

Re-structured Stacey Andrews’ contract cutting his salary for next season almost in half after a disappointing first year in Midnight Green.

A look at the Phillies Off season

Well it is that time of year again. Pitchers and catchers officially reported today for the Phillies. Baseball season is coming and it makes one wonder, can the Phillies win the National League East for a fourth straight time? Can they really make it to the World Series for the third straight time?

Let’s take a look at the moves they have done this off-season.

Trade for Roy Halladay – The Phillies traded three top prospects to the Blue Jays to get the pitcher they wanted at the trade deadline last season. Two of those prospects were tops in the Philadelphia farm system. Those two were RHP Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor (Two players who were “untouchable” at the trade deadline in 2009).

It is clear that both Halladay and the Phillies organization wanted this trade to be completed. Halladay signed a three year $60MM contract extension in Philadelphia and seems genuinely excited to be playing for a contender. Halladay even said in a magazine article how excited he is to pitch with someone as good as Cole Hamels.

Dealt Lee - That’s right. He didn’t say Cliff Lee. Lee was traded in a completely unrelated deal that took place the same day. After his stellar performance in the Post-season last year, Lee was shipped to Seattle for three prospects including Phillippe Aumont who became the top pitching prospect in the organization. The other two are J.C. Ramirez, and Tyson Gillies

Lost bullpen help - Other pitchers that also are no longer with the organization are Scott Eyre who retired to tour the country in his RV, and Chan Ho Park, who is still a free agent at this point. The Phil’s have already expressed that they do not have the funds to re-sign Park. Both Park and Eyre made significant contributions to the Phillies Bullpen last season.

Brett Meyers and Clay Condrey are also no longer in Philadelphia. After eight seasons with the Phil’s, Brett Meyers was informed that he was no longer needed in Philadelphia. He signed with the Houston Astros with the GM who drafted him in Ed Wade. Condrey signed with the Minnesota Twins as a free agent.

Replenished the bullpen (Kind of) – The Phillies added two significant veteran pitchers to their bullpen in Jose Contreras (38) and Danys Baez as well as Oscar Villarreal (who signed a minor league deal).

Bolstered the bench – One of the glaring weaknesses of the Phillies last season was their weak bench which Charlie Manuel seemingly never used. After letting go of Eric Bruntlett, Miguel Cairo, 2009 mid-season acquisition Paul Bako, and fan favorite Matt Stairs, the Phil’s signed a number of bench players. The bench now looks like this: Ben Francisco, Brian Schneider, Greg Dobbs and Juan Castro.

Hot corner moves – The Phillies also did not pursue free agent Pedro Feliz after they failed to pick up his option for the 2010 season. Instead, they signed former Phillie and two-time gold glove second baseman Placido Polanco to fill in at third base. When Polanco played in Philadelphia the first time he played third base. Since, he has built quite a resume at 2nd playing for Detroit.

Securing the future –In addition to all the signings and losses, the Phil’s were able to lock up some of their core players. Jimmy Rollins had his 2011 option picked up. Shane Victorino ($22 MM), Joe Blanton ($24MM), and Carlos Ruiz ($9MM) were all signed to three year extensions within the same week.

Did I miss anything?

How did the Phillies do this offseason? Well needless to say it was a busy one. Going into spring training they have some questions to answer still.

One of which is who will be the 5th starter? Jamie Moyer had offseason surgery and then had complications afterwards. He will not be ready for the start of the season. After losing his starting job last season to Pedro Martinez, it has been rumored that the young Kyle Kendrick could replace Jamie in the rotation.

This is an exciting time of the year for baseball. Can the Phillies do it again? We will see.

Around Philadelphia

Phil’s tryout Gagne

The Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has downplayed the scheduled tryout that will take place today in Arizona for former MLB closer Eric Gagne. The Phil’s are on a list of about three teams scouting Gagne. Gagne had a couple spectacular seasons with the Dodgers and the Rangers.

In the middle of the 07 season Gagne was traded to Boston where he struggled. In 08 he pitched 102 very mediocre innings for the Brewers.

He did say that he would accept a non-guaranteed minor league contract. Signing Gagne could be a low-risk high reward if he could get back to form from the earlier part of the decade.

Eagles off season
Now that Eagles fans have had a chance to cool down from the back-to-back losses to division rival Dallas, it is time to take a logical look at the Eagles and what they need to do during the offseason.

First- The revolving door at linebacker will not work next season. With the return of Stewart Bradley inevitable, he will fill the hole in the middle of the defense. The question is who will play the other two linebacker positions. Will Witherspoon will definitely be a starter. So that fills one position. The other could be filled by either Akeem Jordan, Joe Mays who really came into his own down the stretch of this season, Omar Gaither, or fellow veteran Chris Gocong.

The Eagles are pretty high on Akeem Jordan. If he has a solid pre-season, he will most likely earn the starting spot opposite of Witherspoon.

Second- The biggest concern for the Birds during the draft needs to be safety. Obviously, the Eagles will attempt to go after Eric Berry out of Tennessee. The problem with that is Berry will most likely go in the top 10. So what can the Eagles get for trading Michael Vick? Probably not a top 10 pick (especially when his contract for next season is more than $5MM).

Third- The Eagles will most likely have to begin looking for a replacement for Jamaal Jackson. Jackson, who started 71 straight games for the Eagles before tearing a ligament in his knee on the last day of the season against the Cowboys, most likely will not be ready for the start of next season. The likelihood of the Birds drafting a center however is pretty slim. They will probably try to fill the void with someone in house.

After a pretty up and down season where Philadelphia went 0-5 against playoff teams and lost to the lowly Oakland Raiders, but still had the opportunity to clinch the number 2 seed in the playoffs giving them home field advantage and a first round bye (which they clearly didn’t want considering how poorly they played the last week of the season), there are many questions going into the 2010 season.

Will Brian Westbrook be back in Philadelphia? How will the young offense react to the lack of productivity to close out the 2009 season? Who will be the starting quarterback? Can/will this combo of Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid ever get it done? Can this explosive offense learn how to sustain a drive to keep the defense off the field? Will the Eagles ever learn how to stay committed to the running game?
While these answers are all unknown, it is pretty clear though that Andy Reid would like to stick with McNabb at least through this upcoming season. McNabb is an Eagle through 2011. Will he get his championship? Who knows?

Side Note
While the Allen Iverson experiment hasn’t panned out as well as the Sixers had hoped, it has clearly worked out for AI. Iverson could be a starter for this year’s All-Star team. Ray Allen however isn’t so happy about the outcome of the fan voting.

Catching Up

Well I took some time away from writing for the holidays, but now I am back and there is a lot to talk about.

Happy Halladays!

Since the last time I posted an entry, The Phillies acquired Roy Halladay from Toronto and for Michael Taylor and Kyle Drabek. In addition to that the Phil’s shipped Cliff Lee to Seattle for three prospects in return.

At first, this trade looked to be very bad for the Phillies. Cliff Lee was money in Philadelphia and the Phil’s gave up two of the best prospects in the farm system. After thinking about it however, this trade made sense for the Phil’s in a couple different ways.

First, the Phillies have the best pitcher in baseball for the next four years after signing Halladay to a three year extension.

Second, essentially the Phillies re-gained the three prospects they gave up for Cliff Lee in the first place and they were able to hold on to J.A. Happ and Dominick Brown.

Rumor Has It


Rumor has it that Tracy McGrady is on the trading block. It is also clear that Philadelphia has inquired on what it would take to acquire T-Mac.

The Sixers would like to get rid of the contracts due to Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert. It is very unlikely however that Houston would go for that trade. In order for Philadelphia to drop those players they might have to get a third team involved. But it is highly unlikely that the Sixers will be able to dump off either of those players.

It has been noted that Houston would be interested in a trade containing Sixers wing man Andre Igoudala. That trade however would also have to include some young talent such as Thaddeus Young and Marreese Speights.

That trade would be counter-productive. The odds of T-Mac coming to Philly are very slim.


Third time's a charm

After blowing the Cowboys out on the last day of the regular season last year, the Eagles were blown out by Dallas on the last day of the regular season this year. Now the Eagles will have to turn around and play the Cowboys again in the first round of the playoffs.

The Eagles were terrible against the Cowboys last Sunday on all sides of the ball and now they will have to take on the Cowboys a third time this season on Saturday. It should definitely be interesting.