A Special Eagle Scout
Posted: July 31st, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 43 Comments »The Eagles made an interesting move over the weekend.
#Eagles Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins has been added to the team's scouting department. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/YFbmOxtySo
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) July 30, 2016
Dawkins is the #Eagles' inaugural recipient of the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship, a program introducing former players to scouting.
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) July 30, 2016
Great news, right? Dawk is a Hall of Fame type of player. He is one of the greatest Eagles of all time. Smart. Tough. Dedicated. Great instincts and feel for the game. This is definitely a man you want as part of your organization.
But…
Dawk is a former player. And he was a star player. Those guys don’t always make a smooth transition to front office jobs. Let’s talk about two very extreme examples. John Elway is the vice president of football operations for the Broncos and just led his team to a Super Bowl win. Dan Marino was named the Dolphins vice president of football operations in January of 2004. He resigned 3 weeks later. You read that right. Three weeks. Why?
”I knew it would involve a significant lifestyle change, but after further reflection, it became clear that those adjustments were ones that my family and I are not prepared to make at this time,” Marino, who is married with six children, said in a statement released by the Dolphins.
Marino thought he had a 9 to 5 type of job. He had no idea what he was getting into.
Dawk is starting in a small role, but has already talked about bigger plans. Zach Berman has the details.
“It’s not just scouting,” Dawkins said. “I’m trying to grasp the whole gambit of football operations _ how a team is run. I’m learning about the scouting part and the terminology and all those things. … I want to learn everything about running a football team.”
Howie Roseman, the Eagles’ executive vice president of football operations, said Dawkins will make college visits, but the Eagles have not yet figured out the logistics. And though Dawkins is starting with a fellowship, he aspires for a much “bigger” job.
“I don’t know what `bigger’ is, but `bigger’ is not where I’m standing right now,” Dawkins said. “So whatever `bigger’ is, that’s what I’m pushing for.”
As long as Dawk is willing to grind away and do the hard work it takes to fully understand running a team, this can be a great thing. Let’s go back to Elway for a second. When he first left football, he became a very successful car dealer, eventually selling his dealerships for more than $80 million. Elway wasn’t just a figurehead. He worked hard to make those businesses successful. He then bought an Arena Football team and worked at that from 2002 to 2008.
When Elway got the Broncos job, he already had experience at running successful businesses and running a football team. The Arena league isn’t on the same level as the NFL obviously, but there is still grunt work to be done.
Dawk has done some work for ESPN. He has done some high school coaching. He has even done some consulting for the Eagles. That’s all good, but he’s got a long, long way to go before he’s ready for a management position with a team.
Matt Millen is a punchline today, but at one time he was an outstanding football player. He was a 2nd round pick of the Raiders and helped them to win a pair of Super Bowls. He later won Super Bowls with the Niners and Skins. He started 166 career games. He only made one Pro Bowl, but was 2nd team All Pro a couple of other times. He became a very good analyst with FOX. That helped him to get the job as GM of the Lions. I don’t have to tell you how disastrous that was. Millen ran the team like a tough guy LB. You can’t do that. You have to become an executive and combine football instincts with the mindset of a businessman.
I’m curious to see how Dawk does in his new role. I’m also curious to see how he likes it. Making first round picks and signing free agents is glamorous. Right now Dawk needs to be getting ready to watch potential roster cuts on other teams. The Eagles don’t need his thoughts on Dez Bryant or Odell Beckham. They need to know what Dawk thinks of WRs like Jarvis Turner or Tavarres King. If he can embrace that role and offer some good thoughts on fringe players around the league, Dawk will show he’s got the right mentality for this.
I’m sure the Eagles will use him to scout some college prospects as well, but I’m guessing his best insight will come when watching pro players.
Dawk is the kind of former player you take a chance on. He had to work incredibly hard to make himself into a great player. He wasn’t huge. He wasn’t a rare athlete. Dawk busted his butt to become the kind of player he was. That mentality and work ethic give him a shot to succeed off the field as well. It would be great if he were able to eventually join the front office and play a role in the Eagles becoming a top team again.
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[…] Tommy Lawlor The Eagles made an interesting move over the weekend. #Eagles Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins has been […]
Do whatever it takes & costs to keep Dawk in Phila Eagles premises for always
I wish Dawk the best of luck in his future endeavors.
I wonder why Dawkins wants to go this route rather than trying his hand at coaching. I hope he does well. I like that the Eagles seem pro-active in bringing in ex-players for jobs.
Dawk sounds like he has a grinder mentality.
You can listen to his sideline chat with reporters here and you see Jimmy Bama vid-bombing into the shot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4lRmRVEVz4
If i allow myslef to indulge a bit, Dawkins, Brian f-ing Dawkins, along woth scouting, legit scouting like Tommy described, he continues in that consultant role, not steppping on Undlin, Hauck, heck even Shwartz’s toes, but he’s there for, as needed, Countess, Mills, Rowe, Reynolds, Sheppard, Rice, Grymes… etc… there more than likely will be times when those guys need someone with the ultimate credibility to show them the light. And well, i mean, Brian f-ing Dawkins… Wow
Very smart move by all sides… Dawk leaving a fairly prominent, cushy ESPN gig. Obviously he wants this. Y’all seen his dgunn interviews. What former player can make legitimate claim to bleed green. Roseman ups his credibility. Lurie saves face. All will be forgotten with the FA debacle when he left. Every employee coming in (players and staff) have a modern day ambassador of what Philly football is. Carmichael in a lot of ways was that, from a different era… Duce to a lesser degree… But Dawk is it in spades. He demands respect in every aspect. Whether he’s ends up a figurehead or not is inconsequential… This a Win.
How was it a FA debacle? Broncos offered him a huge deal and he took it. Basically gave them about half a good year and coasted on that & his rep to another Pro Bowl nod.
The issue was not adequately replacing him.
I hear ya…yeah, agreed they didn’t do well in replacing him… That’s part of it. The travesty also lies in that he wasn’t even offered a contract.
Surprised to hear that he has already been doing scouting work for us, providing write ups on players even tho we had no idea he was involved with the Eagles.. Also sounded like he helped out with the head coaching search
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going to be great to get Dawk back in the city of Philadelphia full time once his kids are all out of the house
Further proof that Elway is superior to Marino.
If you needed someone to rocket a 50/50 ball as hard as possible and keep his comp% below 60, Elway was your man.
And if you need somebody to repeatedly choke in playoff games and win less than Elway in general; go for Marino.
Elway won because Denver finally got an elite run game and a better defense. Miami never got the run game for Marino.
I’d take McNabb for that. Marino just seems like such a douche.
The first thing that came to mind is I’m surprised by the timing of it. I kind of assumed he would wait until Jr. was done playing at Clemson before starting anything serious.
The second thing was I get the impression he may take the route of another really good player who has become a GOAT as an executive…
Ozzie Newsome bounced back and forth from the scouting department to the coaching staff until he was ready to take the reigns as a GM.
All the team needs to do now is bring McNabb back as Vice President of “TAKE A FUCKING UBER” and the offseason of reestablishing the family mentality will be complete.
For that last part, PLEASE no…
amen. I’m not a believer in “re-doing” past success for future success. Also, slow times indeed when an article this large about a “blah” position being filled by a one time great….
Wait, you think the Dawkins addition is “blah” and minor?
For Dawks sake, I think it’s its great. Good for him. Me, I don’t care. The right person(for a position) will find a way. Hiring someone for the sake of hiring him because he played on a team — is blah to me. If the Yankees started naming Tino, Posada, Bernie etc as their staff, I’d feel the same way.
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If this isn’t minor — why is it major?
Well for me, it’s potentially major because Roseman threw in the Ozzie Newsome potential unprovoked, and Dawkins said he’s aiming to advance to bigger things beyond this initial internship. And he’s the most famous, accomplished, and beloved former player in modern team history. It’s at very least major for most fans.
Four major ways to make football a lifestyle (off the top of my head).
1. Be a football player
2. Be a coach
3. Be a journalizor
4. Be in the front office
Looks to me like Dawk is checking all the boxes… maybe this is a case of Dawk trying to figure out what (if anything) will fit him best moving forward.
Unfortunately, Dawk isn’t cut out for TV as an analyst. He is much more in the mold of Rod Woodson, who is out of TV for the same reason.
Neither guy talks in hyperbole, gets loud, makes inflammatory remarks, or acts as they know everything. The irony is that I would actually watch ESPN and NFL Network if these were the types of analysts they hired. Evidently that doesn’t bring in ratings for the networks.
I wish I didn’t know what you’re talking about… haha.
One of those networks could figure out how to put together a football show that would actually be about… football.
Most of the hosts on the NFL station on Sirius are good that way. Pat Kirwan especially.
<<h:t. ★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★:::::::!!bc484a:….,..
I’m worried about the clash of:
1. the grinding work that being a scout is, the time/energy you have to spend doing so, which you explain well
2. him already stating he wants more than that, not 1 day into his work
We’ll see how that goes, but I’m not convinced this will work out, and I say that as a big Dawk fan. I wish he was an assistant coach or something.
WTF is Peter King thinking claiming Rueban Randle may not make the 53 man roster? That’s absurd.. Not that Randle is a world beater, but we are light at WR and My understanding is Rueban has looked pretty good this offseason. he had like 8 TDs last year which was more productive than anything we had.
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Randle had 800’yards and 8 TDs last year, 20TDs in his first 4 seasons, average of 14yards per reception and he had 940 yards the year before still keeping his average up to 13.0 yards per catch. The best thing about the Randle signing is he should have the easiest transition to Dougs offense coming from Whackadoo’s West Coast offense
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Think it’s pretty Obvious that Randle and Givens will make the 53 man roster. peter King is becoming more out of touch every year
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From everything I hear, Jordan Mathews has been on a mission this offseason catching everything thrown his way to make it a point to erase the stench of last years drops. T
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Frank Reicht was raving about Nelson Agholars natural ability to get off the line of scrimmage against press coverage which is extremely important at the pro level. Also praised his initial quickness, footwork…. Think this FANBASE is out of line being so down on Nelson because of his rookie year production.. the Kid has the tools to be a solid pro WR, and he seems like he has the work ethic to match even if it hasn’t happened overnight
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We probably don’t have that true #1 work horse WR, but as a whole our pass catching weapons may not be as weak as the media thinks.
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One of the most dissapointing aspects of chips offensive “genius” is he did a piss poor job of taking full advantage of what a potent weapon Sproles can be in the passing game…. Now we have an offense that has proven to know how to weaponize special pass catching RB’s like Brian westbrook and Jamaal Charles, and this should easily be the biggest year Sproles has in the passing game since becoming an Eagle
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We also know how great the KC offense was at creating opportunities for talentd yoûng TE, Travis KELCE,,, so more than any player, Ertz and SPROLES must be chomping at the bit to play in this offense after the last couple of seasons..
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It also sounds like Trey Burton may be ready to start contributing Consistently in the passing game, and we should see way more multiple TE sets than we saw under Chip.
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Ideally someone like jordan or Nelson make huge improvements and grow into a true #1 like Maclin, but even if that doesn’t happen, we have enough talent to make it work in terms of “pass catcher by committee”… Obviously everyone would prefer Star Power, but most of the golden age of Eagles andy Reid era our offense worked because we spread the ball around and did it “by committee” in the passing game, and It WOULDNT surprise me if we are able to pull off something similar this year where we see a passing attack that overachieves the current expectations
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It’s all up to the Offensive line. If our line plays at a higher level than last season, so will our entire offense… And im expecting that right side of our OL being as powerful as any in the NFL. should see some big explosive plays with Ryan running behind Lane, Brooks and Celek
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Peter King is an idiot
That phrase is a synonym for “obvious.”
You know Peter King is WRONG when NJ.com agrees with him.
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NJ claims that Givens has surpassed Rueban Randle, and I couldn’t care less which one of those two is better as long as at least one of them can prove to be an upgrade, but from everything I have heard, Rueban Randle has performed well at camp, at least well enough to where we shouldn’t be hearing crap like this.
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Speaking of NJ.com, im proud of worthless Elliot Shorr Parks. No one in their right mind would care about his opinion of the Eagles, but im proud of him for finding a Niche that he can actually handle. He may be the worst source for eagle evaluations, but he found a niche he can actually perform, charting the completions/attempts of the 3 QBs during the offseason, so at least he figured out a way that even he can make a positive contribute to Eagle fans… Kudos to him for understanding his limitation and finding a niche he can perform
I wonder who PK’s wr’s on the team would be if RR doesn’t make the team. I shutter at the depth at wr. But it’s a process and we’re at stage 1.
jason Kelce: “It seems like our most successful seasons come during the years when the media doesn’t expect us to be a good team, hopefully that trend will continue this year”..
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Pleased to hear that Kelce packed on 10lbs to his frame, and he hopes to add another 5lbs by the time the season starts. That extra strength should come in really
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Nice to hear that Rowe has responded with an INT in each of the last 3 practices
I believe that Kelce has added functional / permanent mass when I see him block well on a more functional / permanent basis. I don’t care to hear a guy who played as poorly as he did last year talking that much.
I know comparing us to any other team in our division may get derided, but I think our line as it stands could match the Giants line that won two superbowls. They had the edge at the DE, but I think we got the edge at DT. Our Safeties are better than what they had, and our CBs right now can’t be any worse than what they had. LBs, I have to see if we can stay healthy. Hicks & Kendricks have the speed to make our LBs really good, but not ready to say they are better than the Giants team yet (they have to stay healthy first). Frankly, the health of the LBs is what I worry about most with this team, because getting pressure on the QB takes a lot of pressure off the CBs and I think our line has that.
I’m really excited for our defense this year.
Great write-up, Tommy. I think a lot of people are going to think, “Eagles + Dawk = Sure Success.” But it ain’t necessarily so. I think few elite athletes have the temperament for the grinding types of jobs. No cheers from the crowd will follow any success. Hopefully, because of his solid work ethic and personal character, Brian will be the exception to the rule.
The most important question is if (when) the Eagles win the Superbowl and Dawk is on the scouting staff in this capacity, does he get a ring?
Yes.
Sigh…
“Gamut”, BDawk. Not “gambit.”
Thus endeth the first lesson.
Mr. Malaprop in the house!
Pretty sure he was just connecting the dots with the X-Men universe… Weapon X and Gambit together again.
I assume Pederson sees the writing on the wall. As before, he’s just a placeholder.
joking.