"I've seen them go the money route with so many players. I wouldn't know. You'd have to ask someone with the Eagles. With the players, winning is a priority. With the management, I would hope winning is the priority - but I don't know that."
4 months ago
Bob_Q
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Dear Brian
We love you, but please stop talking.
Sincerely,
700 Level
I'd rather be an Eagles fan till the day i die and go 0-16 every year than be a cockroach cowboys fan
by 700 Level on Mar 2, 2010 7:11 AM EST reply actions 2 recs
agreed, he needs to clam up.
It wasn’t only about money. They were unwilling to rework his deal because his health, and they feel they can upgrade there. If it were about money, they would have asked him to rework that deal. He is DONE.
That said, I still love him and respect him. He is like a guy who just got dumped by the love of his life. While they were together, he never says a bad word about her. But now that she dumped him, she is a hoe! He is just heart broken, I’ve been down that road before! Maybe a few of us have been there as well :(
In Kolb we trust
It's ridiculous to imply
a team isn’t trying to win. But even if I allow for the idea that some teams aren’t committed to winning (certainly in baseball this holds more weight than in the NFL), the Eagles — no matter how you slice it — don’t fit that mold.
They’re committed to something, allright — their formula for evaluating talent. And while their track record on draft picks and FAs is spotty like every team’s is, they almost never miss on letting a player walk when it’s time.
As noted, Westbrook — as much as we love him — is not ready to accept that it’s his time.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
He's off the team so he's lost the taboos
He’s not saying anything at least 5,000 fans haven’t already been thinking but no player or employee can say out loud.
He does sound incredibly bitter and vindictive…
by 92-74-99-96 on Mar 2, 2010 7:54 AM EST via mobile reply actions
However… I think his judgement is clouded because he truly believes he can still be the feature back that he was. He may be offended that he was released…
by 92-74-99-96 on Mar 2, 2010 8:10 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Not a big deal
Westbrook has earned the right to pretty much say what he wants. It’s not like he’s incorrect about anything. He’s not attempting to be inciteful. Apparently, he’s was answering a question in an honest manner. Big freak’n deal. We all know that the Eagles’ FO is suspect in their total commitment to get over that hump. Why is it so off putting when a guy who toiled in their system says the same?
Westbrook is a classy man. Accept what he says as honest, straight forward and truthful. There is no eyebrow raising to be done here.
You all give Lurie, Banner and Reid too much credit.
Please
Dude, come on. It is a total myth that the eagles are not willing to spend money! They do spend money and usually are accurate in their evaluations of players before their release. Most players they release are in fact done. Only a few have not been. Westbrook is just bitter. To say that the fo is not commited to winning is just wrong. Just because the team has not won a superbowl does not mean the commitment is not there to win one.
by PhilsForever on Mar 2, 2010 10:00 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
agreed. why would the front office not want to win it all. even if they were all about the money, any idiot could see that the financial benefits of winning a super bowl far outweight the 5-10 million dollars of cap space that they didn’t spend. even if they just had a few extra home playoff games, it would more than make up for that 5 or 10 million dollars. if i can see that, surely the billionaire businessmen can see it too
exactly bula
Winning is a business boon in the NFL. They go hand in hand.
I wish T.O. would have accepted such logic before trying to destroy the team en route to getting a new contract. If he’d played nice and won big, he’d have been an endorsement God … and would have made plenty of money. Remember he was on the cover of the ESPN football game that year?
Probably could’ve even gotten a new deal from the Birds, based on production alone.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
This is getting really old.
I am tired of people saying that the Eagles value money over championships. Has anyone noticed that there have only been two players that have had success after the Eagles released them one of them was Dawk and the other was Derrick Burgess. A lot of people were complaining that Tra and Runyan left but did either start a game this year or get significant playing time in one?
P.S. I am glad this board gets it unlike the ESPN board which is filled with a bunch of idiots and would be agreeing with Westbrook right now.
go over to the gcobb board. there are a bunch of morons over there that think that the fact that the eagles are worth 5 times what lurie bought them for means that (almost 2 decades ago) means that they are money grubbing bigots who don’t spend enough money
just read the entire article.
Westbrook ran another one back to the house and Gonzo makes the call on it.
That was a great piece and one of the most poignant takes on this Philadelphia football franchise in years, IMO.
Bravo, Brian. Once again, #36 shows that he’s a Philly football fan’s football player.
doesn't anyone ever wonder why the Eagles are always short?
Three things could have been holding them back;
Themselves and their corner cutting with personnel
Ineptitude in managing the personnel they did commit to
or just tougher competition.
None of these are satisfactory excuses.
It’s not just about letting popular vets go, we all get that. Even Westbrook does. But he’s seen things from the inside, not too much differently that the more perceptive of the Eagles’ Nation does.
Between Banner’s public relations goofs and ridiculous statements, Lurie’s unavailability and Reid’s Ground Hog Day act, the brighter segment of the phanbase has just gotta be flumoxed.
And….they coulda picked the phone up to thank the greatest ground gainer in franchise history.
Just... just... stop.
Once again: Show me how the Eagles “value money over winning”. How many years have they signed one of the top 3 free agents available to huge contracts? Were they valuing $ over winning a couple of years ago when they gave Asante a huge FA deal? How about last year when they traded for Peters and gave him a huge deal? What am I missing here?
we're always short?
all but about 6 teams would love to trade the past decade of their franchise for the success of ours. Only one team wins a SB each year, and in the past decade, Pitt has done it twice and NE 3 times. That leaves 6 teams that have not “come up short”.
failed math did we?
2+3 = 5….5 – 10 = 5….
Pats, Pitt……Ravens, Colts, Bucs, Giants, Saints…
side note, we’ve been 2 (5) NFCCG, but no one says anything bout the NYG being to two SB’s in the past decade.
"Eagles fans are a passionate group who love their team," said McNabb, "if not the actual players. It's not like winning a Super Bowl before the first month of the season is the hardest thing they've ever asked of me. That'd be all those times they asked me to go kill myself."
by greenbean#twoOH on Mar 2, 2010 2:03 PM EST up reply actions
nope, actually I'm good at math
andy reid’s first season: 1999
Superbowl champions
1999-STL
2000-BAL
2001- NE
2002- TB
2003- NEx2
2004- NEx3
2005- Pitt
2006-Ind
2007-NY
2008- PITx2
2009- NO
therefore, between 1999 seasons and 2009 seasons there have been 11 super bowl winners. of course, my approximation was wrong (there have been 7 teams that won it all since reid took over), but I did say “all but about 6 teams”. what prompted you to reply like an ass?
alright...
so you don’t know the definition of a decade, 10 years…so is that like a bakers decade?
"Eagles fans are a passionate group who love their team," said McNabb, "if not the actual players. It's not like winning a Super Bowl before the first month of the season is the hardest thing they've ever asked of me. That'd be all those times they asked me to go kill myself."
by greenbean#twoOH on Mar 2, 2010 5:10 PM EST up reply actions
also...
there have been 8 TEAMS that have won since Andy took over….pitt (2)+ pats(3) + 6 others = 8….still wondering why i was a smart ass?
"Eagles fans are a passionate group who love their team," said McNabb, "if not the actual players. It's not like winning a Super Bowl before the first month of the season is the hardest thing they've ever asked of me. That'd be all those times they asked me to go kill myself."
by greenbean#twoOH on Mar 2, 2010 5:13 PM EST up reply actions
i didn't ask why you were a smart ass
i asked why you replied like an ass. now I can imply that you are an ass, thus answering why you responded in such a manner. I’m not going to waste my time trying to prove my intelligence to someone on a football blog.
dude...
i was busting your balls for a simple error…you said decade, but counted 11 years…then you didnt count the extra team that won a super bowl, obviously a small gaffe. i didnt call you a moron..you didnt say the germans bombed pearl harbor.
.i was “smart assing” you, obviously replying like an “ass”. I wasn’t really questioning your intelligence. Calm down brotha. just a lil sarcasm. an “oops my bad”, was the response i expected.
"Eagles fans are a passionate group who love their team," said McNabb, "if not the actual players. It's not like winning a Super Bowl before the first month of the season is the hardest thing they've ever asked of me. That'd be all those times they asked me to go kill myself."
by greenbean#twoOH on Mar 2, 2010 6:04 PM EST up reply actions
fair enough
but when i read “failed math, did we?” followed by an explanation of 10-5=5, I’m sure you could see where I didn’t read that as a joke and thought that you were making me out to be an idiot. some people on this board are actually asses, but my bad. should have caught onto the sarcasm. sorry! no hard feelings
All the teams that win
are known for their so-called penny-pinching ways too: NE, PIT and IND are model franchises, and BAL, NYG are in that second tier with PHI.
I’d be worried if the Eagles weren’t in this group and were behaving like the Redskins.
Bottom line, if they’d won one more game in 2004, everyone would be talking about how Joe Banner and Bill Polian are geniuses. But they didn’t, so now their thought process is not sound.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
Absolutely
I said “so-called” penny-pinching ways. In reference to how they play the free-agent market and build through the draft.
The Eagles for years were among the top 5 teams in the league in terms of money committed to players, because they were always using salary-cap exceptions (from unreached incentives, I think) to pay out more money than the total allowed under the salary cap.
This left them with more “cap space” than most teams, which in turn got translated to much of the fan base as “money unspent in pursuit of a championship.”
So by using these LTBE (likely-to-be-earned) exceptions, the Eagles were simultaneously spending more than almost every franchise in the league on players AND getting a reputation for being cheap.
I suppose I can document it if you’re eager to read about it, but this can’t be the first time it’s been mentioned on BGN.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
When the Giants won the Superbowl they were the lowest paid team in the league. They had to shell out money once they won it’s just what happens.
Jim Johnson 1941-2009
"The 0-2 pitch, swing and a miss! STRUCK HIM OUT! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 World Champions of baseball! And let the city celebrate! " - Harry Kalas 1936-2009
firstly, get a hold of yourself..
Quit acting like your a member of that FO with your defensive rhetoric…unless you actually are…in that case, you know what you did.
Westbrook didn’t say any kind of damning sentiment. He spoke for the players and said he couldn’t speak for Management. What is wrong with that?
You have no freak’n clue what goes on inside NovaCare…and even if you did, you wouldn’t have any idea what goes on in the Company office. The fact that Westbrook delivered these comments without a hint of malice or frustration in his voice should be enough to ring your bell as to the veracity of his words.
There was complete malice
He’s bitter because he got cut and thinks he can still produce. “I would hope winning is a priority” that is a personal shot and a stupid one. We’ve been winning just fine the past decade, and he stupid to say something like that. Wins generate fans, which generate money.
Shut up Westbrook.
The Eagles have not been winning just fine this past decade.
You are comfortable with being an almost.
I am not.
Therein lies the major differece.
You are also that guy that thinks it perfectlly acceptable and expected to “just have fun” when competing in intramural team sports instead having fun via “trying to win.”
No I am not fine with just winning
I’d give up all our winning seasons for a superbowl. I’m talking from the FO and monetary perspective. The past decades they have fielded very good teams, that have won games and brought money to the organization. For Westbrook to say that the organization is more worried about money then it is about winning is retarded. They go hand in hand. That’s like saying I’m more worried about getting 90% on my exam then I am about studying. If i study, I will get the 90%.
the Eagles are not the "other teams"
When you become a capable team, you are obligated to get even better. It’s the least you could do for the fans that support you. I guess too many forget that.
The Eagles should be perrenially knocking on the door…you’d think that every once in a while, they’d invite themselves in.
In 3 of their 4 NFCC losses, they were the FAVORED team. Now, that might be and probably is the result of sideline incompetence, but some of the blame falls even higher.
The freakin’ Saints won this year with a opportunistic, allbeit, pudding soft defense. I think it’s fair to say, that with all the opportunities they have had, they SHOULD have been able to do more.
Anyway, back to the original issue; Westbrook has earned the right to approach these questions in the manner that he did. Nothing more and nothing less. This is nothing new.
if we were favored to win in 3/4 games, doesn’t that suggest we had the talent to do so, and therefore the failure was on the part of the players/reid, not on the FO? I really don’t care about the FO or their money, but your argument doesn’t make that much sense.
also, I said before I won’t lose respect for what westbrook has done for the eagles regardless of what he says, but I don’t see why he feels compelled to continue to go on shows and answer questions about the eagles.
He is not scheduling these interviews
He is simply responding to these interviews.
What do you want him to do? Say everthing is all tea and krumpets in NovaCare?
The Birds have spent money, yeah. So has just about every other NFL franchise.
What Westbrook is touching on is that disconnect between the locker room and the FO. This also happens in every team but because of where the Eagles sit in reference to the total goal, it makes less sense to be such.
Well there's definitely a disconnect
between the FO and players. But that’s because players don’t like giving their all to a team until they’re 30ish, then being discarded with the trash.
But quite honestly, every well-managed team in the NFL does business this way. As fans, we’d hate the FO a lot more if they had tied up a lot of money for useless years from Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Hugh, Duce, etc., etc.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
You back patting the Eagles for FAs is like commending a guy for paying child support
Most NFL teams do this, BTW.
The difference is in the FO’s approach to the whole.
If you don’t understand, sadly, it’s tough to describe on a post board.
And if you think the NFL is just about whoever spends the most money wins, leave us and go start rooting for the Redskins.
You have summarily missed the point.
Not surprising.
If, "I don't know that..." is a scathing review in your minds,..
..then I wouldn’t want to be at any of your family gatherings or anywhere that you and BS social drama could propagate.
bigmyc
The Patriots and Steelers are just as bad if not worse than us about these things. So are the Colts, who may be the worst of all. They let Marvin Harrison and Edge go, the Pats have lost Vrabel and Seymour within the past year, the Steelers let Joey Porter, Larry Foote, and pretty much anybody in their secondary not named Polamalu.
by You don't have to be sweet, to be good on Mar 2, 2010 11:55 AM EST reply actions
Notice something about the teams you listed
All are very good, winning organizations.
You can’t run a FO on emotion. That will kill you. Do whats best for the team at all costs.
Not the issue...
why can’t people just pay attention?
It was the way it was done. I believe that Westbrook was referring to something much more…but I don’t expect many here to comprehend that. I really don’t.
Dependng on the age of people in this forum, and I’m guessing it’s relatively young, I don’t think the capacity is there to understand. Americans get dumber every year.
It’s funny to hear a guy who has tried to insult everyone he’s talked to whine about a lack of courtesy.
You talk about the “age” of people, yet you’ve been namecalling, insulting the country, cursing, calling people asinine… Might want to look yourself and the way you act before you go insulting everyone else.
Try talking about the issue with maturity and leave the personal insults behind.
i wonder if bob kraft called richard seymour and personally told him he’s been traded to the raiders? that would be an interesting call
And that's another thing...
Westbrook is what you’d refer to as a “special type of player.” Anyone who understands what it means to be a football can see that. Seymour; not so much, not like Brian. There was outright magic in what Westbrook accomplished. As great as Seymour was to that team, I would sternly disagree that it approached anything close to what Brian did for the Philadelphia Eagles in his time here.
So, yeah, in keeping with my opinion of the strenght of your arguments, that point of yours is not so strong.
yeah next time i have to show my grandmom how to turn her computer on, i’ll just tell her to figure it out herself. she’s old so she must be a frickin genius . she’ll figure it out
by bula412 on Mar 2, 2010 1:58 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Well, maybe that's why you never realized....
..cause there isn’t.
Thanx for attempting to put words into my mouth. However…
There is certainly a correlation between age and perception, though.
Dependng on the age of people in this forum, and I’m guessing it’s relatively young, I don’t think the capacity is there to understand.
i didn’t put any words into your mouth. you clearly implied that was the case.
Let me make it more clear...
which I should have done earlier. Age does not predicate IQ level, but it might be an indicator.
In other words, one isn’t less intelligent because they are young, but chances are that if they are young, they are less intelligent. It’s this current generation, you see. There is more knowledge and confoundingly, more vapidity than ever before in younger people. It is an amazing phenomenon.
Funny that you can use "vapidity" in a sentence
yet insist on being vapid.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
You keep using that word...
I do not think it means what you think it means.
These arguments are getting old. I don’t think it really had to do with money other than the fact that he wasn’t performing, he was always hurt and his health was really in danger. You wanna pay a guy 7 million only to have a couple touches a season? C’mon! We have spent big bucks on players before like Asante, Peters, McNabb… Its more too it than that.
Yes with Dawk leaving… he was successful last year and we didn’t have anyone to really replace him but I trust our front office and there is a reason we stay competitive EVERY year. Hopefully we can make some big off season moves and get one step closer to finally winning a SB
In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard.
-Theodore Roosevelt
potato, po-tah-to.
Look, I originally came with a different veiw point and I got attacked..for lack of a better word for it.
I’m not thin skinned, but I know when someone is quick to push when they have a fundamental disagreement. I have extreme disdain for the “gang up” mentality on these boards and it shows through my retorts.
It is true about American pop culture, I’m sorry to break it to ya.
Yes, we realize that you’re special, and on a higher plane of existence than the rest of us.
In this case, though, I think many people (including myself) believe your perception is wrong. Instead of debating those who disagree with you, you repeat the same arguments you’ve already made, and follow it up with insults. It’s difficult to debate you when you’ve already made it clear you have no desire for debate.
by wildcatlh on Mar 2, 2010 3:43 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I have extreme disdain
for those who think anyone who disagree with them must not be understand what they’re trying to say. Your point is well taken, it’s not that complex.
It is ironic, however, that the gist of what you’re getting at is that the Eagles’ front office lacks couth when dealing with players, yet you exude none here and find it odd that you are treated that way in return.
Many of us here at BGN have been to all the Eagles sites and like it here best because we can disagree cordially. (See one of the 7,000 Kolb vs. McNabb threads for an example). Still, when your posts devolve into insults, you can’t expect you’re gonna get much better in return.
Oh, and by the way, I’m 12.
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
In my world, the sky is an azure blue
What color is it in yours?
Courtesy and respect are things that should be initially extended and then upon a deserving basis there after. That was the problem, which I’m not in the least bit surprised that you missed. Anyone that is going to equate the propriety of a sports talk forum to the very public ongoings of a large market NFL franchise needs to be treated to a refresher course in Relative Scale.
And, even for age 12, you still appear to have your head up yer ass.
Hmmm, so the NFL is a business first?
You don’t say!
Businesses like to make money? Really? Tell me more about this amazing concept of “making money”.
Well, that's not the case.
I don’t wish to engage at length with posters who are being ridiculous either for their amusement or out of ignorance.
It amuses me to debate these issues, but not if I have to debase my myself to hang with some kids stupidly thought out arguments. Those are easy to spot. They are the ones that follow the sensible opposing points with immediate garbage and “yeah, what he saids.”
I don’t think anybody even knows what you are arguing. You are claiming that the Eagles should have cut Westbrook, but that “they” should have made a phone call to him. Which is completely and utterly meaningless and ridiculous.
by You don't have to be sweet, to be good on Mar 2, 2010 7:45 PM EST up reply actions
But if they would call the players they cut
they’d have won a Super Bowl by now!!!!!! OMG!
Still waiting for the Eagles to Bring It Home For Jerome
Oy. Bigmyc is a repetitive douchebag who just drones on and on with his generalizations, and seemingly has no sense of humor.
And besides age is an indicator of life experience and droopy tits, not intelligence, you dope.
These B West comments are a non-story. You want love? Get a dog. Andy Reid called him, and Lurie eventually called him. He’ll retire as an Eagle. The End.
by ghostofandrewatters on Mar 3, 2010 1:18 AM EST reply actions
I guess you are the senior dope then...
Life experience is an indicator of age, you ass monkey.
Go Away
you’re really getting on my nerves.
In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard.
-Theodore Roosevelt
Tell ya what, Ms. Einstein, if you go away it'll fix your problem.
..and also increase the collective intelligence of this forum.
Sorry
But I’d much rather you go away. You contribute nothing to this board, and bring down the collective intellegence.
I suppose I should feed the troll though.
Reid- Best Coach in Eagles History
McNabb- Best QB in Eagles History
This is the year
How can you feed the troll when you eat everything in site?
Better hurry. Beach season is coming and you are most probably wayyyyy behind.
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