The end for Andrews?
Could this be it for the Eagles' Shawn Andrews?
The end for Andrews?
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Nothing is certain when it comes to ballplayers and bad backs. Nothing is certain, either, with a football franchise that throws emotional haymakers on the hour, it seems. But you really have to wonder if this is it for Shawn Andrews.
The news that the Eagles have placed Andrews on injured reserve, ending his season, in order to make room on the roster for newly-arrived quarterback Jeff Garcia is nothing short of stunning. This is a team that is carrying seven wide receivers for some unknown reason, yet it gives up on Andrews for the 2009 season. It is just breathtaking.
When you think about the career Andrews should have had, you cannot help but shake your head at the misfortune, at the depression, at the back injury, at the rest of it. It is all tied together, this uniquely free-spirited player and this uniquely awful set of mishaps. But it leaves us here today, wondering.
Are the Eagles done with him? Has there been some new medical revelation? Has the fine play of Winston Justice in the first game of the season accelerated a move that was probably coming anyway? And what of the future?
No one knows. At the same time, none of us would be surprised, not now, if we never see Shawn Andrews in an Eagles jersey again. Football is the cruelest game that way. You have two choices in the NFL: get up or get out of the way, lest the whole gargantuan train run you over. Everybody who plays in the NFL learns very quickly that nobody stops the train -- and certainly not somebody with a bad back.
Again, his downfall has been stunning. And with the Eagles, in this season of tumult, we can only wonder what the news might be tomorrow.
Why does this article make it seem like this is a bad thing for S.A. Do you not realize this is exactly what he wanted? He has been doing just enough so that the Eagles can not demand he return part of his signing bonus. He gets hurt the first day of camp with an injury that can not show up and be proven true or false. Then comes back for a week, only to get "hurt" again the first day after he is guaranteed his full salary for the season. This is actually exactly what the POS wanted. The Eagles are making the right move for themselves also but it makes me sick that this nut job gets to keep his money. If he doesnt want to play football anymore fine, but then he should have to return his bonus and not get payed for playing when he is not.— psuhoffman- Why does this article make it seem like this is a bad thing for S.A. Do you not realize this is exactly what he wanted? He has been doing just enough so that the Eagles can not demand he return part of his signing bonus. He gets hurt the first day of camp with an injury that can not show up and be proven true or false. Then comes back for a week, only to get "hurt" again the first day after he is guaranteed his full salary for the season. This is actually exactly what the POS wanted. The Eagles are making the right move for themselves also but it makes me sick that this nut job gets to keep his money. If he doesnt want to play football anymore fine, but then he should have to return his bonus and not get payed for playing when he is not.— psuhoffman
- I'm looking at B Dawk on my Eagles calendar this month!— notch44
- Our strategy was to replace a RT who never missed a game as an Eagle with a guy that misses more games than he plays. That's some championship thinking there!
- Gary Cobb discussed the sitution on WIP yesterday. He stated clearly that the issue was money. He did not say that Andrews asked for it and there has been nothing nthe news. He did say that SA saw his brother and Peters get paid to come to the Eagles and that he wanted to get paid too. Take it for what its worth.— howard snyder
- More hype than help... glad he's gone...— M60tanker
- My sympathies go out to Shawn Andrews, but this is really a relief. They should have done this in the beginning of the season. The guy could not get through a warm-up jog. How can you rely on him to last a single snap, let alone an entire season? Takes me back to the 2008 draft when I was rooting for the Eagles to take Jeff Otah from Pittsburg(mainly because he is a local Delaware kid) but they traded that pick to Carolina and he proved to be a great pick for them. I think the problem is that they have too much money invested in him to give up on him. That is the reason, I think, they dragged him on the roster an entire year instead of putting him on IR a couple of years ago (or was it last year?).— cleansports
- this deuchebag represents the opposite of what Eagles fans appreciate: hard work, passion and commitment to excellence.— stigs
Comment removed.- Big red removed a potential large distraction. Back to business...— Grazman
- Fortunately for SA he is in a profession where you can go to college practically free, get drafted high by the entertainment industry, put in just about 2 good years of work, talk about how you want to work harder, sign a big contract and be overpaid for what you're really worth like all of the others who do what you do, then retire a multi-millionaire at a young age, and expect everyone to understand why you have so many problems. Sound bitter, you bet, that's what having a 32 year track record with Social Security gets you, bad back, injuries and sickness mixed with depression and WORKING to live gets you, Shawn, you poor misunderstood PROFESSIONAL athelete? grow up baby.........— buzzy
- Comment removed.
- Great move, this is football, players must be gamers or lose the respect of teammates and coaches...move on and chalk it up to a shameful waste of talent and $.— JBP
- that's a dumb question. if it were the end, the eagles would just have released andrews so they wouldn't have to pay him. why hold onto him, pay him, and get nothing from him if it were going to be "the end". stupid!— mosquito killer
- And that's the way the cookie crumbles.— truthfirst
