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Welcome aboard, F-d.

Beer is in the cooler in the back.

G Cobb kinda puts McNabb's comments in perspective:

Donovan has a habit of saying what he thinks he's supposed to say. I saw McNabb and the team having a bunch of laughs out on the field on the day Trot was released. The whole image that some have tried to paint of a team in mourning isn't true. ... All that nonsense about "it taking the team weeks to get over the Eagles cutting Trotter" is nothing but garbage."

"...Donovan surely wasn't going to be foolish enough to go in and start pointing out how the organization has been right nearly all the time when making decisions on older players. He wasn't going to go into the film room and point out the one-on-one drills where Trot failed to cover one receiver all training camp long. He wasn't going to show footage of Jeremiah laboring in the 2nd practices looking like an old man with arthritus. He said the right thing and amazingly I see it endearing hm to the local media. All this kind of political type stuff is phoney. I don't think you get to know people when they're up on the podium in front of the media.
Neither McNabb nor Westbrook were spending much of their time watching Jeremiah during the Eagles practices and meetings during the training camp. They were supporting a teammate because it's the right thing to do. Emotional ties will have peoople saying things that might not be the total truth.
I also don't buy all this leadership talk. It's somewhat a media creation. If leadership was so important then why with both Trotter and Dawkins on the field and in the huddle, has the defense failed to come up with a big play with the game on the line and stunk up the joint the last two years. Playmaking is a lot more important that leadership. For years I've heard guys yell and make noise in the huddle but fail to make plays. Dawk did a great job of leading last year because he made all those big plays down the stretch to win those games. Plus you can talk too much and the guys will tune you out. Bottomline, players listen to teammates who are making plays."

Good stuff.

G-cobb is part right, part wrong. He's correct that McNabb is trying to say the right things and correct that the team isn't revolting or mourning, but he's just so self-centered, half of his comments about Trotter are really about himself. I can't stand that part of it anymore.

Here's most of the interview and almost every answer is really a frustration or fear he has about the management. References to them asking him to lose weight, people saying they've lost a step due to injury, not getting answers from the front office...

On whether he has a feeling of loss with yesterday's release of LB Jeremiah Trotter: "You talk about a particular player who, week in and week out, continues to come with so much energy and play-making ability, a guy who the defense counted on being there to make that big tackle. For me, it was an exciting deal to see (LB Takeo) Spikes and Trot out there at the same time, and (the thought of) what teams would be faced with. Going up against them both in practice, they caused a lot of havoc in the run game. So, it's a tough loss for us, not only losing a guy that played with so much passion and determination. He and (FS Brian Dawkins) Dawk both were the faces of the defense. Now, (LB) Omar (Gaither), who we have full confidence in, will make big plays for us. We look forward, on the offensive side, being able to do our job and take some of that pressure off of them."

On how he got the news about Trotter's release and what his reaction was: "I received a phone call that told me that night, before yesterday, what was going to happen and I was shocked. I was truly shocked. A guy that was asked to slim down and he did that, a guy that came into camp in great shape, had a great training camp, and also played well in two preseason games. So, (it was) something that I did not expect, something that will probably take days for us to get over, days or weeks. I'm sure we'll all see him again and talk to him, and I look forward to, hopefully, seeing him play again. I don't think this is it for him. I think he has some more years left, and I hope nothing but the best (for him)."

On whether he saw Trotter slowing down in practice: "Again, the decision that was made was from the people upstairs. But as a player, I just didn't see it at all, and I don't think any of us have seen it. I think sometimes, when you get injured or whatever may happen, people may say you lost a step. Well, I think when you get older, you get even wiser and understand more about the game. You begin to understand a little bit more about your strengths and weaknesses, and you play to your strengths. He continued to do that. He played well, but it's unfortunate with what happened. I think this is a test, not only for the older guys, but for the younger guys, to take full advantage of your opportunities because you never know when your name is (going to be) called."

On whether he feels it was a mistake to let Trotter go: "Well, like I said, it's one thing to look on the side and know the defense is out and see '54' out there. You know that the defense is going to get a stop and get you the ball back. I'm not saying that that's not going to happen now; we're going to do all that we have to do in order for that to happen. The goal is to win the Super Bowl. Again, it's not my decision of which decisions are made, because there's probably going to be a decision when my name is called, and maybe I'll be sitting here talking to you all like he talked to you yesterday (the media). Then, you'll ask that same question to somebody else. I think, as a player and a guy on the offense that has the ball in his hands at all times, I want to do whatever we have to do to get to and win the Super Bowl in Arizona this year, and then we'll definitely have Trot in our minds of what it could've been, as well."

On whether the release of Trotter is the most surprising move since he's been here: "Every year it's a surprise. In this game that we play, things happen. You always ask the question 'Why?,' and you never seem to get a correct answer. It's something I've kind of grown accustomed to in my nine years, now. You just hope that it never happens, but it does. Like I said, there will probably come a time – you never know – when my name will be called and they'll be saying the same thing."

On whether he ever gets answers from upper-management: "You get answers; you're going to get answers, but it's all on the answers you accept. I mean, what's really the true answer? You talk to players that go through it and they move on the given team. You ask questions to some people around the organization, but as a player, and knowing that a player has been released and you're still trying to find out why, you never really get a full answer of why."

On whether he knows why he never gets a full answer from upper-management: "I don't know why."

On whether Trotter's release will affect the morale of the team: "That's when the rest of the guys have to bring the guys together. I think it will be my job, Dawk's job, and all the rest of the guys on this team to make sure that we don't fall backwards; (to make sure we) continue to step forward and provide confidence in guys that will continue to play for us. I think it's important that we provide confidence for Omar to go out there and play his style of play; for (LB Chris) Gocong and other guys that will be rotating in there who get their first start, or second start, or whatever it may be, (to) make sure we provide that confidence and let them know that we're supporting and behind you, and you can get that job done."

On whether head coach Andy Reid's dual roles as head coach and executive vice president of football operations impacts how he feels about the Trotter situation: "Again, it comes to a decision that has to be made. We're not the decision-makers, but as a player, when something happens, you have to make sure that the other guys understand that it could happen at any time, and that you'll be faced with a lot of different things in your career if you're still here. You'll see a lot of different things, but to never lose confidence in what the task at hand is; to continue to work hard out at practice, push each other, and try to achieve that common goal together. I think we all know what that common goal is. If guys are still focused on this situation a little bit, then it's not going to go away just in a couple of hours or days. Still, we have a job to do to step out on the field and try to play well against Pittsburgh."

On whether he talked to Reid about Trotter's release: "I've talked to Andy about it. We keep our conversations indoors – or on the phone – whatever it may be, but I had questions about it. He gave me an answer – a couple answers about it – and you just kind of take it in and wish nothing but the best for Trot. (I'll) continue to pray for him. Like I said, I know he still has it in him. Hopefully he doesn't go anywhere where we'll have to see him twice a year so he won't be dropping that ax on us (laughing), but I just want nothing but the best."

On whether the release of Trotter is different for him now being that he is a couple months older than Trotter: "That's my point. If it's age, whatever it may be, you just don't get any younger in this game. But in my years, when it was (former Eagles CB) Troy Vincent, (former Eagles CB) Bobby Taylor, (former Eagles RB) Duce Staley, or whoever it may be – guys that were older at that time – when it happened then, it's really no different now. You have questions and you ask them. You want nothing but the best, and you just try to put everything on your shoulders and move on."

On whether he was satisfied with the answer he got from Reid: "Well you're a player first, and I think one way of trying to understand it and explain it for you guys (the media), when you're a player, questions that come up of 'Why?,' or 'When will this happen to me?' You get answers from the decision-makers which are Andy, (team president) Joe (Banner), and those guys, and that was something that they felt was the best thing to do. You have to go with it as a player. You can't second guess some of the decisions that coaches or people in the organization make, that's what they make. So, my job is to make sure that the other guys in the locker room have that confidence in each other that we can continue to achieve this goal, and just be ready to move on."

Ahhh, and now Taco Bill's boys chime in (wrong as usual)- for a bunch of lawyers, not so smart more times than not.

(By the way- anyone notice how Taco Bill himself has made himself scarce upon finding soon after his arrival that a) nobody here was impressed that he was "the VERY SAME TACO BILL FROM PROFOOTBALLTALK.COM!" or b) With Profootballtalk.com in general? Stories like this? Just 1 reason why:

TROTTER RELEASE SPARKING LOCKER ROOM REVOLT?

We're hearing rumblings that the release of linebacker Jeremiah Trotter has sparked a locker-room revolt against management.

Trotter was regarded as a T.O. guy -- an in-house supporter of the talented but troublemaking wideout who disrupted the team in 2005 as he tried to get more money. And, as we hear it, some of the guys on the team who are the most upset about Trotter's release are the other T.O. sympathizers.

But it's not just the remaining pro-T.O. crowd that is unhappy about Trotter being gone. Quarterback Donovan McNabb has expressed his own questions about the move.

"The decision that was made was from the ones upstairs," McNabb said at a press conference on Wednesday. "But as a player, I just didn't see it at all. And I don't think any of us saw it.

"Sometimes when you get injured people may say you lost a step. But as you get older you get wiser and you understand more about the game. You begin to understand more about your strengths and weaknesses and you play to your strengths and [Trotter] continued to do that. He played well.

"It's unfortunate what happened but I think this is a test for not only the older guys but a test for the younger guys."

It would be easy to assume that McNabb is speaking out because he knows that he could be the 2008 version of Trotter. Maybe there are multiple motivations at work here, with McNabb thinking about about his own interests down the road, and the team's interests right now.

There is some suspicion that the release of Trotter was driven by coach Andy Reid's desire to justify keeping linebacker Matt McCoy, a second-round pick in 2005 who has been unable to stay in the starting lineup. If Trotter had stayed, McCoy could have been the odd man out. McCoy currently is listed as a backup at the weakside linebacker position.

Regardless of the motivation, folks who wear the uniform apparently aren't pleased. Whether it affects the team's performance in any way is a different issue. We doubt that it will, but we think that Reid needs to do some in-house damage control in order to get past this one.

I guess I just don't get what is so wrong about anything McNabb has said.

But it is the offseason, so we need to complain about him.

McNabb hasn't been in a good position to say just about ANYTHING in the last year. I think the overall opinion is that every time McNabb speaks, he finds a way to either make it about himself or defend some other athlete who is in well-earned trouble.

He should probably stick with "I feel good. I think the team looks good in practice this year" and leave it at that.

I think the overall opinion is that every time McNabb speaks, he finds a way to either make it about himself or defend some other athlete who is in well-earned trouble.

Exactly. McNabb's comments over the past few months have been 100% about him. he chooses to comment on situations he's been through himself and makes it out like he's saying and doing the things people should have done for him.

Additionally, he belabors points no one cares about to beat things home. Such as mentioning over and over again that he doesn't get satisfactory explanations from the front office when they make decisions. Or using the nonsense "It's like I always say...if you can't trust family who can you trust?. Michael Vick is down there and his so-called friends are just trying to help themselves instead of standing up for him". It's just fucking stupid and transparent.

If he would have stopped after the first Trotter answer I wouldn't think anything of it, but he's got A LOT of stupid stuff to say and when they keep asking him questions, more and more of those dumb ideas spill out of his mouf.

That's my opinion.

Too

Stupid

To

Know

When

To

Shut

Up.

Wow, FD a convert to the darkside, never thought I'd see that happen. Sure his comments sound (and likely are) self-serving, but he's now questioning a front office that many wished he would have in the past. So why does the motivation matter?

Not a defense, just being a contrarian.

Donny needs to stop saying stupid sh*t. The Vick comment was dumb and I'm surprised it didn't get more play. Calling out the FO now, after tons of shady deals, is just self-serving.

He may be worried about being shown the door in the next couple years, but he's just one dumb comment away from another "black on black crime" blow up and every time he opens his trap he gets closer.

"As the physical, nasty guys like Trot, Duce, Dawk, Runyan, etc. (who propelled those under-talented, gritty teams to a lot of wins) give way to the younger crew they are bringing in now, I just don't see any obvious emotional leaders stepping up."

Poetry, f-d. I was trying to figure out why I liked the 2000-2001-2002 Eagles so much more than this bunch of prissy bitches, and you nailed it. The guys you named (especially at the time) were never given top-level respect, but they always brought it on game day. I think of Duce bowling over three Cardinals at the pylon to score in the game when McNabb played on the broken leg. I think of Runyan pancaking Strahan to give #5 time to beat the Giants. I think of Dawkins hitting Hilliard so hard that he separated that punk's shoulder, and they both lay stretched out on the field for a few minutes while everyone at the Vet prayed that #20 was alright, yelling, "Get up, Dawk!" It was a team that gutted out wins in the 4th quarter and overtime--a team that no one else wanted to play in those situations.

The grittiness is gone. Now we either score 40 points a game or we do nothing. It's not entertaining, it's not timeless, it's just flashy.

Oh, and on McNabb. I think of the bridge to "Bigshot." "It's no big sin to stick your two cents in if you know when to leave it alone...but you went over the line, you couldn't see it was time to go home." Talk about diarrhea of the mouth.

Just Stop Talking.

Wow, FD a convert to the darkside, never thought I'd see that happen. Sure his comments sound (and likely are) self-serving, but he's now questioning a front office that many wished he would have in the past. So why does the motivation matter?

Not converting to the Darkside, but I do need McNabb to shut up. The stuff that comes out of his mouth is just so dumb...

I rather enjoy the things he says.
At least, it gives you something to smile about.

C'mon guys. McNabb's comments about Trotter weren't self-serving. They WERE Trotter serving. McNabb knows Trotter still wants to play(not retire) and that he will be working out for other teams. I think McNabb did well by Trotter saying he did what was asked of him and came in fit and in shape and reaked havok on running plays.

sorry to chime in so late on this, but I just got back from the OBX vacation, and thankfully (or perhaps in this case, unthankfully) no computers were present in the beachhouse.

I haven't had the time to digest any of the multitude of articles that have been written about this at this point, but I'll get there eventually. All I can say is that FD nailed it a few pages ago when he mentioned that Trot was one of the few throwbacks to the days when the Birds weren't all that good, but a few players (him included of course) stood out as the type of guy that would give everything he had on the field for the team. For a while he was the quintissential archetype for the type of guy that we love to back. Naturally, his rep took a substantial hit when he knowingly butted heads with the front office and bolted for his payday with the 'Skins. For all practical purposes, all was forgiven when he came home to roost, but we knew then that he was a question mark. Hell, the very fact that he played three seasons here after that is something of an achievement. I'm not saying that I saw this coming or anything, as I was surprised as everyone here was at the news of his release, but I have to reluctantly nod to the front office's track record in knowing when the time is right to cut bait.

As much as I wish him success, I have to say that I hope that if his time is indeed up, I hope that he has the fortitude to let it pass without playing out the string as a hopless bench sitter/situational guy elsewhere. There's only one thing worse than seeing a favorite player set free. That is (of course) knowing that he's standing on the sidelines somewhere in some other team's laundry watching their guys make plays.

FWIW: I heard the news while I was in the pool at the beach house. Strangely enough, it was read by the DJ on a local low-wattage alternative station. This wasn't the kind of venue that I'd expect to hear something like that...five states and 350 miles removed from the team. I dunno, maybe the guy was a transplant that had a 54 in his closet (with a homemade "trader" tag from a bygone day).

"... it was read by the DJ on a local low-wattage alternative station." -Hooky

"Go onnnn
go onnnnnnn

Just walk away..."

Hey, and because this topic doesn't have the required amount of stupidity, here's Lucha Latte here with his bloated thoughts:

4. I think I'm not sure I buy Donovan McNabb's outrage over the waiving of Jeremiah Trotter. It seems a little convenient to me. For starters, McNabb has never been close to Trotter, who aligned himself with Terrell Owens during Owens' ill-fated tenure with Philadelphia. But more important, McNabb has always been viewed by some corners of the locker room as too much of a company man, so by publicly questioning Trotter's release, McNabb can say to his locker room: I'm beholden to no one here, and I call 'em as I see 'em.

In the end, Trotter had lost some speed, and the Eagles, who have been borderline ruthless with some personnel decisions in the Andy Reid Era, decided it was better to give Trotter a chance to find a job out there before the final cutdown -- because the team knew he wasn't a part of its future. From his Trotter outburst, McNabb also seems to be saying to Reid: I'm not going to be your blindly loyal guy anymore.

I don't care how many niceties come out of the mouths of either McNabb or Reid. Their relationship was affected by the drafting of Kevin Kolb in the second round on draft day. McNabb sent a message that he didn't appreciate that, and I think you'll see him become more distant from Reid as time goes by.

You gotta love the "national" angle. King might have been closer than most with his assessment (at least figuring out McNabb was probably making a statement rather than recall backing his boy), but there always has to be an element of complete fabrication.

Trotter still talks to T.O. and definitely wanted T.O. to remain with the team, but there was never a legit rift between he and McNabb.

Has Trott received any offers yet?

At least now they'll be able to play the defense straight up and not have to design around Trotter biting at the first thing he sees and over running every cut back. He was an engaging personality but an average player at best with bad wheels and poor instincts. No big loss, 1 year past time to move on.

At least now they'll be able to play the defense straight up and not have to design around Trotter biting at the first thing he sees and over running every cut back.

Now we just have to worry about every back running over the D.

Not that I disagree with the notion that Trot was a liability at this point.

Doesn't anyone remember what it was like when we had Mark Simoneau? A speed guy that the Eagles were really high on.

He got bumped by Trotter when we couldn't stop the running game.

Yeah, but he was white and straight.

The guy they have now is black and Gay




ther.

(boo)

Doesn't anyone remember what it was like when we had Mark Simoneau? A speed guy that the Eagles were really high on. He got bumped by Trotter when we couldn't stop the running game.
Uh yeah I remember that, before Simoneau couldn't stop the run, with Simoneau couldn't stop the run, after Simoneau couldn't stop the run. So what exactly is your point that they should have kept Trotter because he talked tougher.

Spuds, what do you think the prollem is?

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