Wishing They Won

There isn’t much going on with the current Eagles so I thought this might be a good time to do some retrospective pieces. It is always a lot of fun to look back at previous players and teams.

When the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017, I was happy for myself and the rest of Eagles fandom. We had followed this team a long time and suffered through plenty of heartbreak. Winning made all of that worth it. I was also happy for the players who had worn midnight green, but not been able to win. Ike Reese talked about what a great feeling it was to see his former team as champs. He got to the Super Bowl as an Eagles player, but couldn’t win. Seeing the guys hoist the Lombardi Trophy was special to him, and plenty of other former Eagles.

With that in mind, I put together a team of former players from the last 35 years that I wish had been able to win a Super Bowl. I left off Reggie White and Seth Joyner because they won Super Bowls with other teams. This list is guys who never got to experience the joy of winning it all.

OFFENSE

QB Donovan McNabb
RB Brian Westbrook
FB Kevin Turner
WR Irving Fryar
WR Fred Barnett
TE Keith Byars
LT Tra Thomas
LG Evan Mathis
C David Alexander
RG Jermane Mayberry
RT Jon Runyan

Some of you might have chosen Randall Cunningham as your QB, but McNabb was huge for this organization. He brought stability and success to Philly. We sometimes forget just how good he was and that he had some bad luck in the playoffs. He was able to get the team to the big game, but couldn’t deliver a win. I wish he had gotten to know that feeling.

There wasn’t much of a question at RB. Shady McCoy was terrific, but I liked Westbrook better. The team won big games with him and he had some amazing moments in his career.

I went with a FB because that’s the kind of football I grew up watching and still love. Turner is one of my all-time favorite Eagles. He could run, catch, block and play STs. Such an overlooked player. Sadly, he is no longer with us.

Fryar is another player I loved. He might be the toughest, most physical receiver I’ve ever seen for the Eagles. He lived over the middle of the field and wasn’t scared of anyone or anything. Fryar was great in 1996 and 1997.

Arkansas Fred was the opposite. He wanted to go vertical. He used his speed to get open down the field. He then used his athleticism to make some crazy catches. Barnett came up big in the playoff win over the Saints in 1992, but he never got close to a SB.

I cheated a little here. Byars played TE in 1992. He was mainly a RB or FB prior to that. He did line up as a wing or flexed enough that I’m going with him for my list. Besides, Byars was a terrific Eagle. He had great hands as a receiver and I don’t think anyone will forget his legendary block of Pepper Johnson.

Now to the OL. Tra brought stability to the LT position. It was a revolving door for the 80’s and 90’s. That changed when he arrived in 1998. Tra was also an outstanding player. One of the reasons McNabb thrived is that he had a stud protecting his blind side.

You can’t have Tra without also adding his partner in crime. Runyan manned the RT spot from 2000-2008. He brought an aggressive, nasty mentality to the Eagles OL and helped the group become what it was.

Mathis was an afterthought when the team signed him in 2011, but he started 56 games for the Eagles and is the best LG I’ve seen in Philly. He was a perfect fit for Howard Mudd’s system and that brought out the best in Mathis. Beyond that, he was a fun guy to cheer for.

Mayberry never lived up to being the 1st round pick in 1996, but he had a good career with the Eagles. Just as importantly, he helped the team get going off the field. He was the reason the Eagles Eye Mobile got started, delivering glasses to kids who needed them.

Alexander wasn’t the biggest, strongest or most athletic player, but he was the key to the Eagles OL at a time when it was highly inconsistent. Alexander didn’t miss a game from 1989 to 1994. He had a lot of different guys playing around him as the team searched for answers. Alexander managed to keep things together and got the line to help the team win a lot of games in that time.

DEFENSE

DE Trent Cole
DT Jerome Brown
DT Andy Harmon
DE William Fuller
LB William Thomas
MLB Byron Evans
LB Takeo Spikes
SS Andre Waters
FS Brian Dawkins
CB Troy Vincent
CB Eric Allen

I fell in love with Cole when he was still in college. I was thrilled when the Eagles drafted him and he turned out to be a terrific player. Cole never had ideal size and he wasn’t special athletically, but he was tough and had a great motor. God, he was fun to watch. I would have loved seeing him win a title.

Jerome is a special part of Eagles history. So good. So special. And gone in his prime. SB aside, I just wish we got to see more of him in action.

Andy Harmon is one of my all-time favorite players. He was drafted as a DE, but moved to DT despite being 6-4, 275. Harmon was up and down as a run defender, but he stood out as a pass rusher. He racked up 38.5 sacks in four seasons (1992-1995). Harmon had 11 sacks twice in that span. Fletcher Cox has never had more than 10.5 in a season. Sadly, a knee injury in the summer of 1996 ruined his career.

Replacing Reggie White at LDE was an impossible task. Fuller did everything he could to pull that off. He had 35.5 sacks from 1994-1996. Fuller was also a good run defender. He had some epic battles with Dallas RT Erik Williams. It killed me when Fuller left in free agency, but it turned out Joe Banner made the right call. Age caught up with him in his final two seasons and he totaled just 6 sacks.

Willie T was a terrific LB. He was only about 220 pounds, but he was skilled. Thomas could rush the passer or cover. He could knife into the backfield to blow up a run. He had 7 INTs in 1995, showing just what a playmaker he could be. Thomas finished his career with 37 sacks and 27 INTs. Those are great numbers for a LB.

Evans was affectionately known as BE. Opponents weren’t so fond of him. BE could knock your lights out. He gave the Eagles a playmaker and big hitter in the middle of the defense. A severe leg injury in mid-1994 ruined his career. I really wish we had seen more of him. BE was peaking when he got hurt. He still had plenty of good football left in him.

Spikes played in the NFL for 15 years. He never made the playoffs. Think about that for a minute. He came to the Eagles in 2007 and I was ecstatic. He was one of my favorite non-Eagles and the team desperately needed LB help. He would make the team better and the Eagles would get him to the playoffs, a marriage made in heaven. Oops. Spikes wasn’t great and the team just missed the postseason. Ugh.

I loved Andre Waters. He was so fierce and so tough that he intimidated many opponents. Emmitt Smith was scared of him. Waters started 100 games for the Eagles and brought a real edge to the defense. Unfortunately his brutal style of play took a toll on his body and Waters killed himself in 2006. It is thought to be CTE related.

Dawk. That’s really all you have to say. He is one of the all-time great Eagles. A fierce hitter, but also skilled as a coverage safety. Dawk could do it all. The only way he came up short was not winning a Super Bowl. It would have been special to see him do that in midnight green.

Vincent is one of the best free agent signings in team history. He was worth every penny and helped the Eagles to win a lot of games in his time here. It killed me when he left in FA, but that proved to be smart as well. Age had caught up with Troy at that point.

Eric Allen had 4 pick-sixes in one season, 1993. Think how crazy that is. I don’t know if the Eagles have 4 pick-sixes in the past four years. Allen had great hands and instincts. He knew when to take chances. Allen made QBs pay a lot in his career, with 54 INTs. His pass breakup vs WAS in 1992 sealed a win and put the Eagles into the playoffs.

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