SB Nation User Blog: eagleyosh

The all Decade Defense

eagleyosh — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:24:06 -0000

Recently, as we all saw in "The Linc", ESPN.com released its version of the All-decade defense. This list of players highlighted the best player at each defensive position during the current decade (they couldn't wait until the decade to pull the trigger on this idea, I guess). In case you missed it from the other day, you can find the story here. While I do feel like this is a pretty interesting idea, like most eagles fans, I was struck that Brian Dawkins was merely an honorable mention and did not make the list. Iggles Blog did a great job of making the case for Dawkins, but this apparent gaff got me thinking...if we were to make the list, who would be on it? I am by no means an expert on the NFL during the 2000's. I may be an obsessive eagles fan, but I won't pretend to know everything about every team over a ten...er...nine year stretch. Let's try this out...who would be on your all-decade defense? Not just eagles, but all of the NFL. Do you agree with what ESPN listed, or do you think they are about as knowledgable about this as they are about the eagles "WR woes"? If this turns out to be fun, we can make an all decade offense next and we could try and get some bloggers from fellow teams involved in both convos. If not, at least I'm not advertising my blog, eh?

Stallworth gets 30 days

eagleyosh — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:15:08 -0000

Stallworth gets 30 days

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth began serving a 30-day jail sentence Tuesday for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Florida, a punishment made possible by his cooperation with investigators and the fervent wish by the victim's family to put the matter behind them.

Does Vick deserve a second chance?

eagleyosh — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:42:43 -0000

First off, I realize this is not eagles related, but seeing as we are knee deep in the offseason, why not have something to talk about.

ESPN has been doing a special on vick for the past hour or so because he is elligible to leave prison for house arrest at midnight tonight. The special has posed such questions as can he still play, did the game pass him by, who would take him, and will he be reinstated. While all of these are good questions, one question they blew by as having an implicit answer was "does he deserve a second chance". Each commentator on the show claimed "of couse he deserves a second chance" as a preface to their further comments. My question...

Does he deserve it?

Taking a look at the history of Michael Vick, sans dog fighting, the answer to me in an unequivocal no. Here is a list of early incidents, taken from wikipedia.

Between his selection by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2001 NFL Draft and early 2007, Vick was allegedly involved several incidents or events:

In 2007, conflicting statements were made by his estranged parents about possible dogfighting activities in 2001. Michael Boddie, his father, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that around 2001, Michael Vick was staging dogfights in the garage of the family's home in Newport News and kept fighting dogs in the family's backyard, including injured ones which the father nursed back to health. Boddie said his son had been urged to not engage in the activity, but continued. He stated "This is Mike's thing. And he knows it."[43] Within days, Michael Vick's mother, Brenda Vick Boddie, told the Newport News Daily Press "There was no dogfighting [at our home]. There were no cages."[44]

In early 2004, two men were arrested in Virginia for distributing marijuana. The truck they were driving was registered to Michael Vick. Falcons coach Dan Reeves recalled that he lectured Vick at that time on the importance of reputation, on choosing the right friends, on staying out of trouble for the good of his team. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Reeves as having told Vick: "You are an Atlanta Falcon...Whatever you do is going to be a reflection on all of us, not just you."[45]

On October 10, 2004, Vick and the other members of his party including employee Quanis Phillips were at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport on their way to board an AirTran flight. While they were passing through a security checkpoint with Vick, a security camera caught Phillips and Todd Harris picking up an expensive-appearing watch (either a Rolex or a fake) which belonged to Alvin Spencer, a security screener.[46] After watching the theft on a video tape, Spencer filed a police report. However, he claimed that Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, known as the Falcons' "fixer", interfered with the investigation.[45] Although Vick representatives declined to make him available for an Atlanta police inquiry, six days later Spencer did get the watch back from them, according to the Washington Post.[46]

In March 2005, Sonya Elliott filed a civil lawsuit against Vick alleging she contracted genital herpes from him in the autumn of 2002, and that he failed to inform her that he had the disease.[47] Elliot further alleged that Vick had visited clinics under the alias "Ron Mexico" to get treatments and thus he knew of his condition. On April 24, 2006 Vick's attorney, Lawrence Woodward, revealed that the lawsuit had been settled out of court under undisclosed terms.[48] Many fans bought custom jerseys from NFL.com with Vick's number 7 and the name "MEXICO" on the back, as a reference to his lawsuit. The NFL has since banned customizing jerseys with the name Mexico.[49]

November 26, 2006 – After a Falcons loss to the New Orleans Saints in the Georgia Dome, in apparent reaction to fans booing, Vick made an obscene gesture at fans, holding up two middle fingers. He was fined $10,000 by the NFL and agreed to donate another $10,000 to charity.[50]

January 17, 2007 – Vick surrendered a water bottle which had a hidden compartment to security personnel at Miami International Airport. "The compartment was hidden by the bottle's label so that it appeared to be a full bottle of water when held upright," police said. Test results indicated there were no illegal substances in the water bottle and Vick was cleared of any wrongdoing.[51] Vick announced that the water bottle was a jewelry stash box, and that the substance in question had been jewelry.[52]

To me, there are several red flags that show that he has already used his second, third, and maybe more chances. This man has been involved in more criminal activity and wrongdoing than I find acceptable. Between the connections to drug dealing, flicking off the fans, allegedly stealing the watch, and other criminal inquiries surrounding this man, I feel he has received more than his fair chance. Now, after serving a sentence for felony charges, the question is should he be allowed to return to the league. The Commish says if he shows true remorse, then he'll allow it. But what is true remorse? Is it the PR machine we're about to see in full throttle? The one where Vick volunteers to help fight underground dog fighting? Where he stands in front of a camera and reads a script written by one of his lawyers? Is that what constitutes true remorse if you're a talented athlete? For me, the answer is no. But I felt it would be interesting to see what the rest of eagle nation thought of this situation during a rather slow time in the football world.

Poll

Should Michael Vick be allowed to play in the NFL again?

Yes

134 votes

No

83 votes

217 votes | Poll has closed

NFL Draft

eagleyosh — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:37:45 -0000

This isn't really eagles related, but football related. I know over the past few weeks whenever I've heard about the draft, the question the analysts are asking is what should the Lions do with the number one overall pick. I think this would be a pretty good question to debate on here. It may have been discussed and I forgot, but why not do it again anyways a few days prior to the draft. We've all played GM for the eagles lately...what do you do if you're the lions?

The most likely things the Lions are to do is to draft a franchise QB, namely Stafford.

Other possibilities are to take a top flight OT to anchor the line for years to come and prevent any high price QB from being mauled from his blind side.

What would you do? Other options include trading down and getting more picks. God knows the lions have a hole at pretty much every position, so multiple high picks in this draft and next year seems like a logical move. Also, the chance of getting a bust in that number one spot is always looming...and is quite expensive.

Eagles vs. Philadlephia

eagleyosh — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:39:54 -0000

Eagles vs. Philadlephia

Former Mayor John Street denied claims yesterday by the Philadelphia Eagles that he quietly agreed to and then reneged on a deal to settle an $8 million dispute with the city for less than $1 million during his first term.

"I never agreed to a deal," Street said yesterday. "If I had agreed to a deal, I would have put it in writing. It's almost ludicrous to think a mayor would tell two private citizens, 'You go and make a deal that binds the city of Philadelphia and there's not going to be any writing of any kind.' And somehow the city is going to be bound by that? That doesn't make any sense."

Former Officer Powell

eagleyosh — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:10:38 -0000

Former Officer Powell

The police officer who pulled out his gun and threatened an NFL player with jail instead of allowing him inside a hospital where his mother-in-law was dying resigned Wednesday.

Jay Cutler likes to be difficult

eagleyosh — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:06:00 -0000

Jay Cutler likes to be difficult

so now that they're trading cutler, cutler is complaining that the team didn't call him like they said they did. I don't really understand the problem...he wants out, and now he has a way out...

Plaxico's legal update

eagleyosh — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:48:00 -0000

Plaxico's legal update

Asked whether Burress would play for the Giants next season, Brafman said: "It's not my decision. It's the Giants' decision and Plaxico's decision. It's not a legal decision, it's a sports decision.

"I assume a lot will depend on how, when and if this case is resolved, and June 15th is the next day we are back, unless there is a reason to come back earlier."

Do we have a number one wide receiver?

eagleyosh — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:31:07 -0000

In recent weeks, we've heard the cries of the need for a number one wide receiver. The argument is that it would cure our red zone woes, and that although Desean Jackson has been great, he isn't the true number one wide receiver we have been looking for. I am hear not to argue against acquiring one of these big, physical wide receivers. Rather, I am hear to question whether or not we should be saying we need a true number one...looking at the stats, it's possible to conclude we have one already. The most definite conclusion though is that we need more time to determine if our wonderboy rookie has what it takes to be a number one.

First, lets get some ground rule set. I took each players stats from their "breakout season" as I saw it. for some, it was their rookie year, for others it was second, and for housh, it was his 4th. here are the players and their respective breakout seasons

Jackson-rookie year

Smith- second year

Owens- second year

Boldin-rookie

Fitzgerald-rookie

Houshmandzahdeh-4th

Moss-rookie

Harrison-rookie

all of them started at least 11 games in their breakout season, except for jerry rice who apparently started four (according to pro-football-reference.com) but still had monstrous stats.

So lets check out their distribution in total yards...

As can be seen...Jackson's rookie campaign in terms of total yards is some pretty good company. Steve Smith, who is the same size receiver, had a few less yards, but a similar breakout campaign. Noteably, Jackson beat our boldin and harrison and was narrowly beat by owens, rice and housh. boldin and moss were clearly etter in their rookie campaigns, but jackson undoubtedly has nice breakout season company.

Next, let's take a look at receptions in their breakout seasons.

Jackson inches out smith, owens, fitz, and rice, and is in the same neighborhood as moss and harrison. boldin once again is high and above, but jackson isn't doing too bad in his company.

Now let's look at something Desean really needs to do better on if he is to be considered a number one receiver: TDS

Jackson is at the bottom of that list, but isn't out of range of smith, rice and housh. don't forget also this isn't always a rookie campaign as a breakout campaign. This is something that needs to be worked on if he wants to satisfy the role as a number one receiver, but looking at jerry rice, who is known as one of the best WRs of all time, improved to 15 TDs the next year. With this in mind, lets remember jackson has plenty of time to grow.

Finally, lets look at yards/reception

Once again, jackson is in the range of some good company. He beat boldin, fitz, housh, and harrison, and is in the range of owens and smith.

So all together, we have the makings of an excellent receiver on our hands...potentially. It goes without saying that jackson could and should improve from his rookie campaign, but players can also take a step back. Looking at the numbers, I think we can all say that we have an excellent young WR who is in the company of some of the greats in the league. If there is one thing he needs to work on it's definately his TD numbers, but hopefully that will come with time. Once again, the point of this post is not to suggest that we dont' need a big, physical wide receiver. It's to question whether or not we have a number one already. Number one doesn't always mean a big guy. I'm hoping he develops next year into the one of the best in the league. His small size will be a disadvantage to him, but obviously, he has all the tools required to be a force to reckon with.

Could our FO be any cheaper?

eagleyosh — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:32:19 -0000

Recently, we've had countless complaints about how cheap the eagles front office is, but this is simply not the case. Hold on! Don't go citing examples such as dawkins leaving, us "lowballing" players, and the recent firing of the gate worker for a "facebook offense" as evidence that our FO are just a bunch of greedy guys looking to increase their bottom line. The fact is, these were business decisions. The front office runs the team as though they are running a company, and in reality, that's what they are doing. People have been expressing dissatisfaction with how far we are under the cap, and how the front office is just being greedy, but this argument really makes little sense.

The eagles are an extremely philanthropic organization, and this starts at the top. The Eagles Youth Partnership is a non-for-profit organizaiton that provides over 50,000 low income children in the Greater Philadelphia region every year via two mobile units, the Eagles Eye Mobile, which gives eye examinations, and the Eagles Book Mobile, a literacy program (Wikipedia). And who is that greedy bastard heading this noble cause? You guessed it! Jeff Lurie. Now you may be saying..."but he isn't personally funding all of that stuff...it's through the eagles organization". Well, this would go directly agains the argument that they keep any and all money they can. Also, Lurie himself was the visionary of this noble program.

Outside of the EYP, guess what else that greedy dude is up to? I'll tell you! According to the eagles website, he is the director of the Autism Research Foundation and the NLM Family Foundation. But eagleyosh, what do these organizations do? Are they more ways for Lurie to stuff his pockets with money that he doesn't want to give to that poor ticket taker who called the eagles "retarded"?

NLM Family foundation

The primary mission of the NLM Family Foundation is to help people with autism lead fulfilling and rewarding lives. The NLM Family Foundation is committed to understanding autism from a scientific perspective, increasing opportunities available to the autism community, developing novel ways to ameliorate the difficulties of those with autism while enhancing their abilities, and educating the public about autism. In pursuit of these goals, the NLM Family Foundation has become one of the largest supporters of research and education for autism and has been actively engaged in autism-related projects for over 25 years.

Autism Research Foundation

The Autism Research Foundation (TARF), founded in 1990, was born out of the need to insure continued funding for this research as well as the need to educate the autistic community about the importance for brain donations for research purpose

Additionally, In 2000, the Lurie family donated $1 million to autism research.

So now we've seen this greedy greedy man not only create a NOT-FOR-PROFIT organization that helps over 50,000 disadvantaged children every year, but he also is very involved in autism research. He sure seems generous to me. In 2005, the eagles (under lurie) won the Steven Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy. He donated 1 million dollars to autism research, and during February, the team matched any donations to the American Red Cross helping the Coatesville arson victims.

Please, can we stop talking about how greedy the eagles FO is. This is the man at the top, and he seems to be the posterchild of generosity. The difference needs to seen betwen being greedy and doing what they feel is best for the benefit of the team. They clearly did not feel that Dawkins needed to be re-signed. They did not feel the need to spend up to the salary cap (yet...it is only march). They do not feel the need to keep someone on the payroll who publicly calls them retarded. Sorry, but those are business decisions. They are not greedy. They do cost the team less, but I assure you that they will spend that money elsewhere. They are going to hire someone to replace the guy they fired, they are going to sign other players to replace dawkins, and they will spend closer to the cap than they're at. They do, thankfully, feel the need to support the local community and the head of the organization feels the need to be extremely active in philanthropic activities. If this is what a greedy organization looks like, I can only hope that all organizations become this greedy.