Carson Confirms He’s Human

Posted: February 4th, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Carson Confirms He’s Human

We finally got to hear Carson Wentz’s side of the story.

A few weeks back we heard the unnamed sources side of things. You remember, Carson was selfish. He was demanding. He bullied coaches. Some teammates weren’t all that keen on his personality and way of doing things.

Carson went on the record to offer his thoughts on the hit piece.

“It’s never obviously fun to read your name being thrown around like that, but at the end of the day, try not to stress about it too much and let the media or the perception of others dictate who I am,” Wentz said last week. “I know who I am, first of all. I know how I carry myself, I know I’m not perfect, I know I have flaws. So I’m not going to sit here and say it was inaccurate and completely made up. I’m not going to do that. But at the end of the day, I will say our locker room is really close. If there were guys that had issues, in hindsight, I wish we could have just talked about them.”

Some people took this as Carson agreeing with the piece. That is wrong. Read all of Carson’s comments and you can tell he has serious issues with plenty of it. Sheil Kapadia wrote an excellent piece that had Carson’s comments and offered his own insight.

Rather than come out and just dismiss the whole thing, Carson was smart. He admitted that he is demanding, can be selfish and has a type-A personality. He knows he’s not perfect and isn’t trying to act like he is. Carson talked about his relationship with Coach Groh and shot down the idea that he bullied the young offensive coordinator.

“The fact of bullying Mike Groh … Groh and I talked to each other that day when it came out, and I think we all know that never took place,” Wentz said. “I even go back to the year before with Frank (Reich), I know Frank has gone and said that he and I used to have these competitive arguments, but they’re healthy. That stuff happens. That’s, I think, what good football teams have, the ability to respectfully do that and be stubborn and those things. It was the same way with Groh. In my opinion, he is a very good football mind and in my opinion I feel like I have something to contribute too, so I thought we had some really healthy dialogue. To say, quote ‘bullied him’ I’d say that’s kind of disrespectful to Groh. I don’t think anyone bullies coach Groh. And then B, I think we have a great relationship and it’s just going to keep getting better. That line, I was kind of blown away with what that would have meant.”

One of the reasons the Eagles drafted Carson is that they loved his personality and mindset. They wanted someone who would speak up. They wanted a strong leader. QB is not a position where someone can be deferential and succeed.

While Carson is going to reflect on the things that were said about him, he isn’t looking to change who he is.

“I think for one, I’m 26 years old. My personality, to some extent, ain’t going to change,” Wentz said. “What’s gotten me here, what’s gotten me successful, I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, now I’m going to have this free-spirited, Cali-guy vibe.’ That’s just not going to change. So to answer your question, I think you’re to some extent correct. The Type-A mindset — there’s things to learn, there’s a fine line. Any time you’re a Type-A guy, there’s a fine line being pushy and ‘shovey’ and humble and humility and walking that line. Definitely learning to navigate that always and never trying to look down on anybody or make it seem like I’m better than anybody. But at the same time, as a Type-A, so to speak, confident person that’s confident in off-the-field things and then on the field with what we like, that’s not going to change. That’s not going to go anywhere. I think that’s something that is a positive if used correctly, yes.”

The most important thing is for Carson to be Carson. If he changes too much, that could affect his play. Tom Brady has a strong, forceful personality. If he turned into Mr. Sunshine, that would change who he is on the field. Brett Favre was a fun-loving, over-the-top personality. That’s also how he played. If he was more prim and proper off the field, he would have been a different player.

I think Carson handled this situation wisely. He addressed this in a timely fashion. He wasn’t defensive. He didn’t come off as holier than thou.

The next year is going to be really interesting for Carson Wentz. He’s going to have a lot of pressure on him to play well and carry the team. He needs to show he can stay healthy and actually make it to the postseason. Carson also will be under a microscope when it comes to incidents. If he is seen looking frustrated at a teammate, that will lead to speculation. If he gives a coach a funny look, some will question that.

If Carson and the Eagles have a terrific season in 2019, all of this nonsense will go away.

*****

We have a coaching update.

Kinne was a Training Camp legend as a player with the Eagles. He was Brandon Lee Gowton’s favorite player (better than Reggie + Dawk combined).

Unfortunately Kinne lacked talent. He knew his future lay in coaching. Kinne has been working in college to develop his coaching skills. Now he’ll be back with the Eagles.

We don’t know exactly what his role will be. The Eagles need a WRs coach. They could fill that internally, which would lead to a shuffling of some roles. Kinne is obviously a young coach the Eagles feel is worth developing.

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