Eagles Notebook
Posted: May 3rd, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 29 Comments »Quick post tonight. I’m writing other columns and stuff for projects.
First up, hated to hear about the death of Junior Seau. So tragic. He was 43. I’m 42. He’s rich, famous, and had one of the great NFL careers of all time. I have an extensive collection of NFL games on video tape. Junior committed suicide. I sit here typing and grinding out another day of Iggles Blitz brilliance (mediocrity with honey mustard on it).
I have no idea if his situation was caused by concussions or just a rough life outside of football. Some guys cannot handle walking away. Barry Sanders retired while still an elite talent. I remember seeing Bob Golic do a feature for NBC where he walked on the field after retiring. He broke down in tears just from that walk. Being on the field brought back the emotions that go along with playing football. To some, that is a drug that there is no other match for.
As someone said on Twitter…Seau chose a permanent solution to what might have been a temporary problem. The one good thing that can come from this is for other players struggling with life to ask for help. Learn from Junior’s “mistake”, so to speak. I’m not trying to judge him. I just always think there is some other way to deal with things. Life is too precious to give it up.
If it is found that Seau’s brain is degenerative due to concussions, this could be a development that will rock the NFL world. I really don’t know what to think. This is the ugly side of football and I hate dealing with it.
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There is a great story from OL Eric Olsen about meeting Seau when he was a kid. Go to PFT to read it. Must read material.
Michael David Smith wrote about Seau’s death for PFT and did a brilliant job. You can tell that MDS was a real big fan of Seau.
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The Saints lost DE Will Smith for 4 games due to his BountyGate suspension. We’ll see how that holds up on appeal. If he is out, that will hurt an already weak pass rush. Several people asked whether the Saints could now be interested in DE Darryl Tapp. That sure makes sense. If Smith is out for a month, the Saints would be wise to call up Howie Roseman and ask about Tapp. We still aren’t getting much in return, but it could give us a trade partner.
As to the Saints players…it does seem funny to have all the protests and grandstanding now. Does anyone think these guys are victims? The suspensions seemed severe, but to hear these guys proclaim innocence seems a bit much to me.
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Lots of questions on LB Mychal Kendricks. I have some good stuff on him that will be in the new PE.com column. I’ll link to it when posted and we can explore Kendricks some more.
For now, watch this 2010 game vs Washington where Kendricks plays OLB. Good stuff.
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I think we’ve talked about the fact Kevin Turner has ALS. He does everything he can to raise money for research and to deal with the situation. There is a fundraiser in Philly on Thursday night. Here is the info.
Good player, great person. Follow him on Twitter.
Seems like he has some issues in shorter down and distances, or is he executing his assignment and the supporting cast around him just not doing their jobs? Hard to tell, but man can he fly to the ball. Love that sack when he makes the decision to rush after the play breaks down even though it appeared he was supposed to be in a shallow zone.
Summertime football can be a good thing.
http://egotastic.com/photos/nathalia-ramos-bikini-pictures-on-a-beach-in-los-angeles/nathalia-ramos-orange-bikini-beach-la-05/full-size/#imagetop
She got the technique all wrong, I think I need to show the right way. Four points of preasure…
High and tight. Time to charge through the hole…
lol…NSFW. I just got a big message on my work computer that my I/T has blocked that site for unapproved content.
Sorry. It is Egotastic. Picture of a chick in a bikini running on the beach with a football. I’ll never post links to anything totally inappropriate. Still, probably should have given a warning.
I know there’re a few football(soccer) fans on this site but for those who aren’t, one of the most amazing goals I’ve seen in a long time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzbQ0vYdI50
Nice one. However I have seen many great goals this year so far, especially from Raul in the German Bundesliga!
I tend not to watch Newcastle play. It pains me to think that our purchase of Andy Carroll bought that entire team.
Yeah £9mil for Cisse looks like nothing in contrast with £35mil for Carroll.
Seeing how Cisse(or Demba Ba for the matter) panned out, i would have gladly payed 35 mil. for either of them. Would anyone actually pay for Carroll?
I have no idea what was wrong with Seau, but from the outside he appeared to be loving life and having fun. There was obviously some deeply embedded problems and as Tommy said, if had to due with concussions, look for Goodell to invest a lot of $$$ and time into the research of it. I am in the camp that he did choose the cowards way out. Suicide does nothing but destroy everything around you. It is selfish…you take away a dad to your kids, and son to your mom and dad, a brother to your sisfamily, a husband to a wife, and a hero to some fans. Everyone has major lows in their life….but there other ways to deal….
He destroyed his mother, that was obvious after watching that press conference. I couldnt understand most of what she said, but I got the part loud and clear about “take me lord instead of my son!” tragic….
The fact that he took the time to text his family each individually shows that they were on his mind. It’s sad that that was not enough to convince him to keep living.
texting is a bad way to say goodbye for the last time…pick up the phone and tell your kids you love them.
I agree
I don’t mean to be morbid, and absolutely not going for humor, but will a brain examination be possible? The nature of most gun shot suicides might make that difficult.
Shot himself in the chest. There is a report that he left a note asking for his brain to be checked. I did not check into this enough to know if the report is accurate. He did shoot himself in the chest. We do know that.
wow… that is almost as brutal as seppuku. When in a state of depression a person is most definitely not in his right mind. It is nearly impossible for those who have never crossed the line to understand what it’s like. I definitely pray that this event will be a wake up call of some sort for young and retired players alike.
I agree with you about the depression. I have never suffered from it but I’ve witnessed some of the devastating effects. I also think that, many pro athletes are unprepared for life after their careers. There’s the loss of income and status, as well as having to deal with the daily responsibilites of being an adult. Most of these guys have never lived in what we know as the real world. If a former athelet does have some mental illness, regardless of cause, he is bound to find it hard to ask for help and, therefore, vulnerable to extreme consequences. R.I.P. Junior.
A couple friends at work told me a couple other former nfl players shot themselves in the chest also.
He looked like he was comfortable, not rich judging by his Oceanside residence. Reminds me of the former lead singer for 80’s band Warrant killing himself this past year at 43 too. A lot of these guys can’t handle the fame and glory days going away.
One ridiculous thing is he drove his car over a cliff two years ago and they had his pastor and other family members being interviewed about how he was not suicidal, and it wasn’t his nature. This incident didn’t come out of no where. Signs were there.
Polk doesnt look bad either in that Kendryks video!! Runs hard….
I know they can’t make every play, but that tape didn’t look especially impressive. He just looked like a regular LBer. He has good speed to get to the QB and did a nice job covering the RB in the flat, but he didn’t fly to the ball like you would expect stud LBers to do. Often got blocked by the Olineman pretty easily. I hope there is more to come than that
I’ve been thinking the same thing. Looking forward to Tommy’s extensive post. Hoping to be convinced that the kid is a baller who can get off blocks and cover bigger tight ends.
hey tommy
i’ve seen some iggles fan calling for wagner over kendricks?…ok i get the height thing people…but kendricks just seems like a much better player not just on combine numbers but on film as well.i think we stole him from the seahawks and they ended up settling for wagner.but like I always admit i’m a fan NOT a scout, so maybe tommy can shed some light on this.
side note: anybody knows what number boykin got assigned yet?
Boykin is 22.
Just on Saints and Tapp….reading just now that Terrell Suggs has hurt Achilles and could be out for a long time – at least half the year, possibly the whole season. Another potential destination for Tapp.
Was also thinking aloud the other day…if perhaps trading Jason Babin isn’t the better idea. His value would inflated at present, coming off a Pro Bowl, and he’d possibly get a better trade than he’s truly worth. Babin’s 32 this year. All depends how confident Eagles are in Graham, Curry, Tapp and Hunt I guess. But maybe the Eagles could openly shop Tapp, but kinda sneakily concede Babin might be available for a good price and see who bites. He may not be a good fit for many teams, but you never know…
I want a Super Bowl more than care about getting the best value for trading an extra DLman. If we have to trade a guy, let it be Tapp or Hunt. Keep the stars to help us get that Lombardi.
Our best DE’s are Cole and Babin. Let’s keep our best guys playing.
I think the idea of winning as well, but while it’s great in theory, I’m afraid the Eagles don’t share that view. Otherwise where was the trading up in the draft for ‘impact’ players? Why would we draft a developmental QB in round 3 if there was a sell out to win now? Why are we sitting on 20million of cap space? Those aren’t the actions of a desperate team. Holding onto Babin to squeeze an extra year or 2, DOES seem a tad desperate, depending of course on whether a good price could be gotten for him.
You mean besides trading up in the first round to get a supposed top 10 defensive prospect?