The Philadelphia region is crippled Monday morning as the biggest storm of the season continues blitzing with a package of high winds and snow.
Essentially it’s causing havoc.
As the storm continues to roll in, Philadelphians skip out on work and kids throw the pigskin around in the snow, giving us all an opportunity to sit back and reflect on the storm that has already passed.
The Brian Dawkins storm.
Yes, No. 20 has caused his own fair share of havoc in Philadelphia.
The aftermath? Five NFC championship appearances and a Super Bowl birth.
Damages we can live with.
So it seems only suitable that as one storm moves out, another moves in.
In case you’ve been in a storm cellar all weekend, you’ve heard the breaking news: Dawkins is heading for the Rocky Mountains of Denver.
Not even Old Man Winter could keep Dawkins from moving westward as the 35-year old beat the winter mix out of town…for good.
Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles are looking much like the city stands this snowy Monday morning--in shambles.
The release of Dawkins, after 13 years in a Birds uniform wasn’t on anyone’s radar and the Eagles will have a tough time plowing their way out of this one.
But the question on everyone’s lips is “Why?”
The team reportedly offered the 2009 Pro Bowl safety a two-year deal worth $5 million, a slap in the face to a Philly icon.
How could the Eagles kick a Canton bound player like B-Dawk to the curb after he anchored one of the most dominate Birds defenses in years to an NFC Championship?
Seriously, we want to know.
Yet even in his heart breaking departure, in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Dawkins leaves with the same class that he has carried throughout his unforgettable Hall of Fame career in a city that has and will always show him love.
"I've just got to thank them. For so many years, we obviously connected on a very deep basis. For so many years, they've allowed me to come into their living rooms, to laugh with them, to party with them, to celebrate with them, to cry with 'em through tough losses, to bleed with them. I just really appreciate the way they accepted me, a little safety from Clemson."
Sorry Brian Dawkins, the little Clemson that could.
Like they say one man’s trash is another’s treasure and Denver struck gold while offering the veteran the only thing he asked for, stability. The two parties came to agreement on a five-year deal worth more than $17 million, a move Eagles fans hope won’t haunt them in the future.
It’s ironic and disturbing how Joe Banner has been running things lately. After one of the most gut-wrenching seasons in recent memory, fans were calling for Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb’s heads, what the Eagles heard was ‘walk B-Dawk.’
"It's tough. This is not just business for me. I never thought that this would happen this way. I thought the only time I would shed tears in an interview would be because of my retirement from the Eagles, not like this."
Neither did we.
It just doesn’t seem right that he’ll be stepping into another locker room, breathing cleaner air and wearing a different jersey.
It doesn’t seem fair that it won’t end where it all started.
“In a couple of weeks or a month, I'll be excited about this team," Dawkins said. "I've got to get used to saying that, ‘I'm a Bronco.’"
"I'll tell you one thing , I'll always be an Eagle."
Add that one to the all-time quote book.
Eagles fans, as you continue to bleed green, here’s an alert: the date’s not set but there’s a familiar storm scheduled to blow into town in 2009 and it’s coming from the Rocky Mountain region.
