Eagles Six Pack for The Pro-Bowl.

First of all, congratulations to the six Eagle players selected to play in this years pro-bowl: Kicker-David Akers, Defensive End-Trent Cole, Fullback-Leonard Weaver, Wide Receiver/Kick Returner-Desean Jackson, Corner Back-Asante Samuel & Offensive Tackle-Jason Peters. The six-man contingent represents the most the team has sent to a Pro Bowl since 2004, when 10 Eagles earned trips to the pro-bowl.

Based on their respective performances this season, each of the aforementioned players are deserving of their selection and we’ll break down their efforts in just a moment, but first, I would like to talk about who didn’t get the nod. Corner Back Sheldon Brown given the cold shoulder once again which is a shame, because he certainly would have received my vote this year. 22 pass deflections, five interceptions-one returned for a touchdown to go along with a fumble return for score. Sheldon Brown, a player with pro-bowl credentials but zero pro-bowl selections.

For those of you wondering about Donovan McNabb; the three NFC Quarterbacks selected this year were Drew Brees, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Meanwhile Tight End Brent Celek taking a back seat to San Francisco’s Vernon Davis and Dallas’ Jason Witten. Heck, even perennial Pro-Bowler Tony Gonzalez got the snuff.

As for the six Eagles who did get selected.

David Akers leads the NFL with 139 points and 32 field goals this season, while connecting on a career-high 88.9% of his attempts. He tied his own team record by nailing 17 field goals in a row, en route to earning NFC special team’s player of the month honors in November. He has also made two game-winning kicks in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter this season (11/29 vs. Washington and 12/27 vs. Denver). With four career Pro Bowl selections, Akers is now tied for the 3rd in NFL history for Pro Bowl berths among kickers. Only Morten Andersen (7) and Jan Stenerud (6) have registered more.

Trent Cole earned his second Pro Bowl nomination. He is the first Eagles defensive end drafted in the 5th-round-or-later to garner multiple Pro Bowl honors since Clyde Simmons (9th round selection in 1986), who earned two Pro Bowl berths in, Philadelphia. Cole has registered a career-high 12.5 sacks this season, which ranks fifth in the NFL and third in the NFC. He leads the Eagles in sacks and hurries (26), and ranks second in total tackles (90). With 47 career sacks, Cole ranks 5th in franchise history and has registered the highest sack total ever for an Eagles draft pick in his first five seasons.

DeSean Jackson, one of the leagues most dynamic players sparkled as both a wide receiver and punt returner in just his 2nd NFL season. The 23-year old Jackson leads the NFL in yards per catch (18.7) and punt return average (16.0) and tied an NFL record by chalking up eight touchdowns of 50+ yards in a season, tying Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch (1951) and Devin Hester (2007). In fact, Jackson’s average touchdown has covered 52.8 yards, the highest ever in league annals among players with 10-or-more scores. A second round draft pick of the Eagles in 2008, Jackson became the second Eagles wide receiver to earn a Pro Bowl berth in the Andy Reid era, joining Terrell Owens in 2005*. The last Eagle draft pick to make the Pro Bowl as a wide receiver was Fred Barnett in 1993*. Jackson is also the first player in team history to be voted in as a return specialist. As a matter of fact, according to the NFL, Jackson is believed to be the first player in league history to be selected at both wide receiver and kick returner in the same season.

Jason Peters, regarded as one of the league’s finest offensive tackles earned his third consecutive Pro Bowl berth and his first as an Eagle. He was acquired in a blockbuster trade by the Eagles from the Buffalo Bills this past offseason. Peters has helped pave the way for the league’s 3rd highest scoring offense (28.6 points per game), and 10th ranked offense in terms of total yards (366.5 yards per game).

Asante Samuel earned his third consecutive Pro Bowl selection, the longest current streak among NFL cornerbacks. He became the first Eagles cornerback to post consecutive Pro Bowl berths since Troy Vincent earned five straight from 2000-04. Samuel leads the NFL with 9 interceptions (tied with safeties Darren Sharper and Jairus Byrd) in 2009 to go along with 42 tackles, nine passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He has a pair of two-interception performances this year (vs. Washington on 11/29/09 and vs. Tampa Bay on 10/11/09) and six during his career. No player in the NFL has more interceptions than Samuel’s 29 since the start of the 2006 season. Samuel was signed by the Eagles on the first day of the free agent signing period in 2008 after spending his first five NFL seasons with the New England Patriots.

Leonard Weaver became the first Eagles fullback to garner Pro Bowl honors since Bill Barnes did so three times from 1958-60. He joined the Eagles as a free agent signing this past offseason and has gone on to register career highs and lead all NFL fullbacks in rushing attempts (69) and rushing yards (321). He also has a career high in rushing touchdowns (2), while adding 15 receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Originally signed as a rookie free agent by Seattle in 2005, Weaver is the only Carson-Newman College product ever to earn Pro Bowl honors.

The AFC-NFC Pro Bowl game will be played on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida, one week prior to Super Bowl 44. Needless to say these six players are hoping their trip to Miami will be for one game and one game only, and it’s not the Pro-Bowl.

Eagles Fans Being Taken for Another Ride

If you've ever ridden a roller coaster, then you can somewhat understand what it feels like to be an Eagles fan and trust me, this years team has taken it's fans on yet another ride.

It all started in the off season, when the front office decided to not overpay for 13 year veteran safety Brian Dawkins; not just the heart and soul of the team’s defense but also a huge fan favorite. Needless to say, this move did not sit well with the fan base, many of whom pledged to not renew their season tickets. More on that in just a moment.

Now imagine someone cutting the electricity on your roller coaster ride leaving you stuck upside down in the middle of the loop. It’s kind of how many Eagles fan felt the night of the August 13, when the announcement was made in the middle of the pre-season opener against New England, that the team had just signed former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick to a two year contract.

Gee, I’m going to guess there are at least one or two Eagle fans who are dog lovers. As it turned out, team owner Jeff Lurie had put his two dogs to sleep over the past two years and was extremely sickened by the brutal acts of abuse Vick and his partners performed on Vicks stable of fighting pit bulls. So why sign the former felon? Again, the team lets all around good guy Brian Dawkins walk but in turn signs a player who at the height of his federal trial, was public enemy number one. Talk about a publicity nightmare. Then came more pledges of fans not only willing to forgo next years season tickets but also wanting to boycott the team this season. Again, more on that in just a moment.

Then there was the 1-and-3 preseason record which quickly prompted regular season predictions of the team finishing 6-10, 7-9 or 8-8. The fact the eagles gave up 120 points in those four exhibition games, only added to the rage of those fans already upset over the loss of Dawkins.

Hold on to the bar and please keep your arms inside the confines of the coaster car because we are about to hit an incline. The Birds win their season opener by crushing Carolina in Charlotte 38-10 as the defense converted 7 Panther turnovers into 24 points. Unfortunately, in the win Donovan McNabb suffered a pair of broken ribs. So, here we go again, another injury for number 5 and another season of uncertainty.

During Donovan’s two game absence, third year quarterback Kevin Kolb stepped in and threw for over 700 yards, 4 touchdowns & 3 Interceptions. Unfortunately some of those numbers coming in 48-22 loss to the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints.

The season appeared headed for certain derailment on October 18th, when the 2-2 Birds jetted west for a show down with the 1-3 Oakland Raiders, a game that should have produced Philadelphia’s third win of the season. Instead a 13-9 loss to the silver and black had Eagle fans screaming for Donovan McNabb’s benching and the ouster of Andy Reid as head coach. Oh yeah and more fans wanting to opt out of their season tickets, more on that in just a, well you know.

Now, when it comes to fall in Philadelphia there are two things most Eagles fans can count on, plenty of leaves to rake and a late season run by their beloved birds. As a matter of fact during Andy Reid’s 11 year tenure as head coach, his teams are 73-39-1 in games played from November on, including an impressive 31-11 mark in the month of December. This season the Eagles went 7-2 through November and December, 8-2 if you count the Redskins win on the last weekend in October.

Bottom line, the Birds are now in sole possession of first place atop the NFC East with a record of 11-4. A win this Sunday in Dallas would give them the outright division title, the second seed overall in the Conference playoffs, a first round playoff bye and a chance to advance to the teams 6th Conference title game in 8 years. Yep, it’s been another typical football season in Philadelphia.

By the way, for all those Eagles fans who still want to vacate their season tickets, listen up. According to team president Joe Banner, the waiting list for season tickets is currently 60,000 names long. Recently 15 of those fans were given the chance to purchase tickets. At that rate, it would take 4,000 years for all 60,000 of those fans to get tickets.