IS GETTING ITS DRAFT BOARD READY
Shawn Andrews says not to believe any of the salacious rumors about his absence from the Eagles. Don't even believe the more mundane "speculation that I just don't want to go to camp," Andrews said in a phone conversation with the Daily News from his home in Arkansas Monday afternoon.
"I'm willing to admit that I've been going through a very bad time with depression," the Eagles' two-time Pro Bowl right guard said. "I've finally decided to get professional help. It's not something that blossomed up overnight. I'm on medication, trying to get better."
Andrews didn't want to go into the origins of his depression, which he said began a little more than a year ago and steadily worsened. "I really was kind of at my end," he said. "I've really had a lot on my mind, really (been) contemplating a lot of things."
Anyone who has been through such struggles knows the symptoms he is dealing with -- a frantic, anxious feeling, inability to sleep or concentrate.
"In the state that I'm in, (had he reported), I would be at training camp physically, but mentally, I could have gotten myself hurt or gotten one of my teammates hurt," Andrews said. "But I have a meeting with my doc on Thursday, and hopefully, I'll be up that way on Friday."
Actually, if Andrews shows up on Friday there won't be anyone at camp to greet him -- the Eagles play their presesason opener that night in Pittsburgh. Saturday would probably be good for everyone.
Andrews confirmed that he is being fined more than $15,000 per day because his absence is unexcused. He praised the Eagles, though, for being understanding, despite Eagles coach Andy Reid's hints Monday that the longer Andrews stays out, the more danger there is of sub Max Jean-Gilles taking his job.
"Football is important, it's a means to an end, but my mental health, I feel like, is a lot more important," Andrews said. "That's a helluva lot of money ... Money's good, money's a necessity, but it's not everything. I can't put a price tag on my mental state."
Andrews and agent Rich Moran declined to speculate on whether they could make a case legally or through the players' association to have the fines rescinded. They said they just want to get Andrews squared away and back with the team, right now.
Andrews has been reading some of the comments fans have made online about his situation.
"I don't expect sympathy," he said. "I know there are harsh people in this world, but dang, that made me feel low. I do care what people think about me, to an extent."
Andrews, who said he has continued to work out and is in top shape, 335 pounds, said he has spoken with a few teammates. He said he hopes to speak with the team when he returns, "to stop some of the bleeding."
Andrews said he is "a fan of Max," and that "Max deserves what he works for."
Andrews said when he speaks to his teammates, "I just want to look 'em in the eye and let 'em all know -- this wasn't BS, this was for the mental health of me, I could have gone out there and gotten any one of you hurt" by not being focused.
Look for more on Andrews in Tuesday's Daily News.
Les Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
Paul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.
