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Anonymous football player who wrote a book about how he hates the NFL likely plays for the Eagles

Interesting.

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Jeffrey G. Pittenger-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this month, an unidentified football player released a book titled 'NFL Confidential: True Confessions from the Gutter of Football' authored by "Johnny Anonymous." The book is basically about how an NFL players hates the league and the sport he plays. Here's a clip from the description:

A current pro player takes fans on a pseudonymous trip through one of the most infamous years of football—the very long, sometimes funny, often controversial 2013-2014 season—sharing raucous, behind-the-scenes, on-the-field, and in-the-locker-room truth about life in the National Football League.

"Well, to hell with being safe. I’m going to be honest."

Johnny Anonymous' life goal was to be nothing greater or less than the Best NFL Back-Up of All Time™. For two years, he was content earning hundreds of thousands of dollars to stand on the sidelines doing absolutely nothing. But early in his third year, a starting lineman is injured, and he suddenly finds himself on the field.

For most players, this moment is a dream come true. But not so for our author, one of the incredibly rare birds in football who reach the highest echelons, but who actually hate America’s favorite game. That’s right. Johnny Anonymous hates football. He hates what it does to his body, his brain, his life. Luckily, he can see the humor in his own situation, but also in the machinations of the NFL.

I haven't read the book yet, but I've received multiple tips that player just might be a Philadelphia Eagles player. More specifically ... backup center David Molk.

I'm certainly not the first one to realize this. There have been a couple of threads on Reddit pointing to Molk as the anonymous player. Check this one out:

I personally haven't read the book yet but clues from the book and epilogue are:
*He's a fourth year pro who became a starter in year 3 for an unspecified amount of time due to injury.
*He's 6'3", 279 lbs.
*He's a center, and he was cut in year two from his first team.
*He's White
*He plays on an NFL team where a diva WR (called Dante) got dropped for asking for too much money
*A starting offensive linesman got dropped too, because he was getting old. He decided to retire.
*Another starting offensive linesman wasn't dropped, is getting old and is still Pro Bowl-worthy.
*The NYTimes Review mentions he "was named one of the top linemen in the nation while in college, playing for a major football school."

At first I started going through all the starting NFL Centers in the league. I thought I had a good lead then I read another review that said the player was mostly a 3rd stringer. I stumbled upon this graph with Heights/Weights of NFL players. I noticed there aren't many offensive players between 270lbs-290lbs so I sifted through the few that were. Source

From this my top candidate became David Molk and here is why I think he is Johnny Anonymous:
*He's white and listed at 6'1", 290lbs
*He was drafted in 2012 by the San Diego Chargers.
*The Chargers cut him in the 2013 pre-season due to injury Source
*The Eagles sign him in 2014
*In Sept 2014 Eagles Starting Center Jason Kelce suffers a hernia and David Molk is named the starter (same source as above)
*Molk played at Michigan and won the Remington Trophy for being the nation's top Center in 2011 (From wiki article) *Former Eagles' WR Jeremy Maclin stalled in contract negotiations with them this off-season and bolted for the Chiefs Source
*Eagles OL Wade Smith retired on 4/14/2015 Source
*Former Eagles Pro-Bowl OL Evan Mathis was in a holdout and eventually released 2 months after Smith retired. Plausible that this book was finished between April and June 2015 where Mathis hadn't been released yet Source

As this redditor points out, the clues don't necessarily line up perfectly. But that could be an attempt by the author to throw people off track. There's even more evidence that points to Molk being the guy.

For example, "Johnny Anonymous" did an interview on Sirius radio. At one point one of the hosts allegedly called the player "David Anonymous" and had to be corrected. Another reddit commenter claims the host straight out called him David Molk.

The signs don't stop there. Molk is on record for talking about how NFL players are underpaid. He hasn't been afraid to let his strong opinions be known in the past. There's also the fact that Molk suffered a season-ending injury early during the 2015 NFL season. One would think he had more free time to write a book than he would have if he didn't get hurt. Another clue I got from a tipster is that the coach Molk describes in the book sounds a lot like Chip Kelly. Our friends over at Crossing Broad have even more clues that make it seem like the player is Molk.

If the player really is Molk, the book should be especially interesting for Eagles fans. It's not only a behind-the-scenes look at the NFL ... it could potentially be a behind-the-scenes look at the Eagles as well.

The 27-year-old Molk is set to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. It remains to be seen how the new regime feels about an undersized center like him.

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