More Thoughts on the Big Kid
Shawn Andrews deserves our sympathy. But he also might need to grow up a little.
More Thoughts on the Big Kid
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, when I posted about Jere Longman's New York Times piece on Shawn Andrews, I excerpted the parts of the story where Jere did a really good job of getting Shawn to talk about something I know has been in the backs of teammates' minds -- whether Shawn really enjoys playing football. I think they've maybe even wondered whether he is willing to put in the film work, etc., to live up to his tremendous potential.
The story correctly noted that the subject of long-term disability seems to never be far from the thoughts of the Eagles' two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman. To be fair, there was lots of more reassuring stuff in there, as well, about how Shawn feels he's winning his battle against depression. And let's be clear -- Shawn Andrews, as far as I know, is a really good person. I remember early in his career, he did an appearance for the team around Christmas, where kids were given a certain amount of time in a toy store to gather up stuff, and they could keep whatever they could jam into a cart during that time. Turned out the kids jammed in way more than the Eagles employee assigned to run the promotion was authorized to spend. When Shawn found out, he pulled out his own cash and made up the difference. I think "The Big Kid" has a kind heart.
But I keep coming back to the "love of football" stuff. The story says Shawn has never watched an entire NFL game that he wasn't playing in. That's pretty amazing. Back earlier in the offseason, when the Eagles were considering moving Shawn to the critical left tackle spot, where he would protect the quarterback's blind side, I remember speaking with someone who noted how previous left tackle Tra Thomas became a student of the defensive ends he would line up against, scrutinizing the details of their moves and tendencies, agonizing whenever someone got around him and hit Donovan McNabb. There was an obvious question as to whether Shawn was that kind of guy. We might never know; he's being moved to right tackle, a change from right guard, but not as big a responsibility as the left side would've been.
Pondering all this got me thinking about another Shawn, singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin. (No relation to Shawn Andrews, as far as I know.) Quite a few years ago now, Frau Eagletarian and I went to a Shawn Colvin concert at the Tower Theater. Sometime during the show, Colvin was talking to the audience about what a crazy, difficult life it is, going around the country in a tour bus, playing concerts. As I remember it, she said she and her band had been discussing this on the bus, and they had taken to bucking themselves up by quoting Hyman Roth from Godfather II: "This is the business we've chosen."
Translation: Yeah, sometimes this life stinks. It's hard. But nobody's forcing us. We got into it with our eyes open.
I'm not trying to minimize Andrews' fear of what a lineman's life might be like, 15 or 20 or 30 years down the road. We've all read the stories about 50-something ex-NFL stars who can't walk, or even worse, the stories about damaged brains. You think Brian Dawkins hasn't pondered what happened to Andre Waters? Of course he has. The league needs to do everything it can, from rules changes to equipment upgrades, to make the sport less devastating to those who play it. This should be a huge priority.
But Brian Dawkins is still taking money to play pro football, and you don't get much hand-wringing from him about it. This is the business he's chosen. If Shawn Andrews would rather go try to sing for a living, nobody's stopping him. If he's going to cash checks made out by an NFL team, he owes it to himself and to his teammates to be in the moment, every moment, to become the unstoppable force he is capable of becoming. This is not the sort of game you can play reluctantly.
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Excellent post today, by the way, on Iggles.blog, about Kevin Curtis and DeSean Jackson and why it might not be a given that Jackson is going to explode into full-fledged stardom this season. Even has one of those nifty charts Derek Sarley does so well, that make my head hurt when I think about trying to put them together myself.
I'm sorry. I love the brother as a fellow man and aa a Philaedlphia Eagle and all, but that DOES look like a flame on his head. We all love ya Shawn. But that DOES look like a flame. You'll be cool.— XmarksTheSpot- How is this not a huge ?? and potentially not a huge issue for my birds....Then again maybe they plan on peeters, herremans, jackson, cole, stacy a. anyway......that doesn't sound so bad more I think about it.....Hopefully Stacy's knee isn't an issue......ILUVCHAMPIONS!— ILUVPHILLYCITYOFLOSERS
"What a crazy, difficult life it is, going around the country in a tour bus, playing concerts"?!!! Are you kidding me?!! Shawn Andrews, Shawn Colvin, Shawn Colvin Andrews - they all need Patton to slap them into reality. They're not saving children from burning building or tarring roofs. Quit if you don't want to do it.— Richard Saunders- You can gripe about your circumstance however you want, just don't expect people to care. There are downsides to any profession. As far as Andrews goes. It does worry me as a fan. In any off season he could decide he's done and not look back. If he's here I think he'll do a great job. He was a pro-bowl player at guard, and he'll be a pro bowl player at tackle. I think Reid probably worries about this more than us and wouldn't move Shawn out to tackle if he wasn't reasonably sure that Shawn was going to be there for the long haul. If Shawn winds up at guard again, could be that Reid is worried about his longevity.
Comment removed.- its clear from the article,several things,andrews doesnt play football for either the money or because he loves it,the question is why,its also clear..DONT LET HIM PROTECT MCNABBS BLIND SIDE!— soliteryman
- All of us that want to see the O-line healthy and productive this year send ALL OF THEM our best wishes as to their health and all around well-being.And needless to say, this extends to the entire roster.— TBear
- Bowe, have some class. You make it sound like Shawn Andrews is a slacker or something. He's had some injuries, and I think it's good for someone with depression, especially a public figure, to speak up. You think anybody in the NFL is playing for something other than money? Because the guy says he doesn't want to end up a cripple it means he's not committed? Pure BS. Another attempt to stir up some controversy. Unfortunately, you're playing upon the public's misunderstanding of depression in doing so.— p-diddy
- The "if he doesn't want to play he should quit" line of thought is simplistic and hypocritical. We scream for our guys to put their bodies on the line every game. Most of these players have little prospects outside football - they're faced with risking serious injury or quitting and working at Walmart. Obviously they choose the money, but what does this say about the society that supports such a warped choice for these athletes? We support pro sports drafting kids right out of high school for our entertainment, then we complain about people like Pac Man Jones. I suppose Andrews should apologize to the fans for having a brain.— p-diddy
- Notice that none of the local media could get this kind of information out of Andrews over the last 12 months. Good thing this guy from the NY Times was there to do your jobs for you. You're blogging nonsense about Shawn Colvin and he's putting together a well-researched story about one of our key players.— JimG
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- Yes Les, you are right. Either the big kid goes full throttle for the Eagles or get out of the way. Over the years the one thing that has stopped the Eagles from playing in Jan. has been the distractions.— bigphillydad
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- The singer tale was a stretch , Les. Will you quote FredEx next ? How does Bobby Rydell feel about the O-Line issues ?— mick314
- GET WELL AND COME BACK QUICKLY # 69..... PLEASE
