Brian Dawkins Says The Eagles Definitely Made A Mistake Letting Him Go - NO FUCKING SHIT
This is from a GREAT read on Phillyvoice.com by Matt Mullin, also where we got the phenomenal quotes from Dawkins about playing in Philly.
The Eagles didn’t even want to engage the veteran safety in contract negotiations, opting instead to let him walk and sign a five-year deal with the Denver Broncos. Fans, fellow teammates and even Eagles employees were shocked and upset by the decision, one that members of the Eagles front office have since admitted was a mistake.
Even Dawkins, the reasonable, mild-mannered half of a Jekyl-and-Hyde personality, was openly upset with how the team so callously cast aside of one of their all-time greats. Not because he felt he was owed anything as a player — and it would have been completely acceptable if he did — but because he felt, at the very least, they owed him that as man.
To this day, Dawkins still sounds hurt discussing the circumstances surrounding his exit.
“It was definitely a mistake,” he said of the team’s decision to part ways after 13 seasons. “You can say business is business, and sometimes things in business happen. But that, what happened, that wasn’t business. That wasn’t business. That team, my teammates, the city meant too much to me to do something crazy, to ask for crazy money.”
It was tough for Dawkins. Tough to feel slighted by an organization for which you literally sacrificed your body week in and week out. Tough to uproot his family and move to a new city. Tough to leave your friends and coworkers behind.
“But, ugh, the way it went down, it should not have gone down that way,” he continued. “And, you know, because of it, I had to leave a place that I called home. I had to leave a place that I loved being. It took me a bit, man, to get over it. And not completely over it, but over it enough to keep my emotions in check so that I could be everything that I could be for my teammates — my new teammates.
“They didn’t care about my feelings toward Philadelphia and that was I hurt, crying. They didn’t care about any of that. All they were hoping was that I would bring what I brought in Philadelphia to Denver. And I had to do it, because that’s the type of man I am. When I put my name on the dotted line and if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it to my fullest. I’m not going to take my work back because my word is my bond. I believe that.”
FUCK. Thanks a lot, Andy. I already have enough reasons to cry alone in the shower on a daily basis. This just adds tears to the drain. “Not because he felt he was owed anything as a player — and it would have been completely acceptable if he did — but because he felt, at the very least, they owed him that as man.” This man wears his heart on his sleeve in all aspects of life.
There is no greater slap in the face to a Philadelphia player and fanbase than the Eagles letting Brian Dawkins walk towards the end of his career. None. They should have locked him up for life and thrown away the key. The fact they even let him test the market as a free agent after 2008, a year Dawkins was the catalyst to leading them to the NFC Championship Game, is embarrassing. You can’t blame Dawk for jumping ship to Denver. The contract they gave him was BUHNANAHS and it was obvious the Eagles were dicking him around. And leadership/heart/balls notwithstanding, he was still the most talented option for the Birds. You know who was starting at the Safety position next year? Rookie Macho Harris. Macho. Fucking. Harris. Do you remember him? Me neither. That 5th round bum was benched a couple games into the season in favor of Sean Jones (Who?) and was cut at the begging of the 2010 season. Oh, and the “Washed Up” Dawkins went on to make 2 more Pro-Bowls with the Broncos. INFINITE FUCKS.
Never forget.