I had the pleasure of attending the State of the Eagles last night at the Linc. It was a very nice event with some high profile Eagles figures in attendance including Jeffrey Lurie, Joe Banner, Howie Roseman, and the broadcasting duo of Merrill Reese and Mike Quick. The front office trio even took questions from the people in attendance. It was a nice way of putting personalities to the public figures.

Lurie was pretty charming during his speech and Q&A session. Banner came off a little better than I would have expected, but in the end he was still Joe Banner. He talked about making hard dollars and sense decisions. I like the guy a little bit more than I did, but that's not saying much. Howie Roseman came off as a really big football fan and someone who genuinely loves his job. He talked about the scouting process and how interesting it is to watch our draft picks develop. He also talked how quickly most of our draft picks were able to transition to their game from college to the NFL. Specifically Brandon Graham, Nate Allen, and Trevard Lindley. He seems like someone who loves his job immensely.

More after the jump.

Merrill Reese was an awesome addition to the evening. To hear the booming baritone coming from the diminutive man himself was akin to a religious experience. I was able to get a little video of him talking about how he thinks we're going to have a good season and how anything is possible, specifically bringing up our improbable playoff birth in the '08 season. A cool little speech that seemed to pump the fans up. And then Dave Spadaro chimed in and ruined the mood with a half-assed Eagles chant.

Right now I can't seem to pick my favorite part of the night. I'm torn between two different events that occurred while I was there. The first cool thing was during a Q&A with Jeffrey Lurie when a fan asked him what kind of reception he though McNabb would receive when he returned to the Linc. Lurie answered with some standard things about how he hoped he would receive a warm welcome and the fans would appreciate what he had accomplished for us over the course of his career in Philly. Then Lurie said something I didn't expect. "Donovan will go down as being one of the best Eagles QB's in history, but right now he wants to kick our ass, and we want to kick his ass. I hope we sack him 5 times." Of course this elicited an big response. It was really cool to see how competitive Lurie really is.

The second event that was really cool was when I won a signed DeSean Jackson jersey in a raffle. And it actually fits. Who am I kidding, that was the coolest part of the whole fucking night.

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