If Fitzgerald was an Eagle

by Sheil Kapadia

Published Jan. 14, 2009, 8:40 a.m. ET

In our

, someone asked why the city doesn't seem as amped for the Eagles-Cardinals game as it was for previous NFC championships, or even last week's Eagles-Giants game.

While I don't know if I completely agree with that statement, I responded that one reason could be that it's the Cardinals. Do you know any Cardinals fans? Probably not. Everyone knows an obnoxious Giants fan so that raised the stakes a little last week.

Then this morning, I just listened to

on 610 WIP. And I realized Fitzgerald is just too likable. He didn't say anything controversial the whole time. He didn't say he was unstoppable. Every response was humble. He even asked to give a shoutout at the end to his coach at Valley Forge Military Academy. Philadelphia likes a villain. Against the Giants, we had our pick. Against the Cardinals? We got nothing.

But anyway, one interesting part of the Fitzgerald interview was when Eskin told Fitzgerald he tried to get the Cardinals receiver in Philadelphia last year.

"I don't know. We can always play the what-if game," Fitzgerald said. "I don't know. I might not have beat out some of those receivers over there. You never know. I mean, there's a lot of things that can happen. Obviously, that'd have been a great place to play. It's one of the best sports towns in all the country. They're about winning. That's the one thing you can always respect about Eagles fans and the Eagles' organization. They're all about winning."

Larry, without disparaging the current receiving corps, I'm pretty sure

could have found a way for you to get on the field here.

Fitzgerald, who is only 25, ended up signing a four-year, $40 million deal in the offseason.

Meanwhile, Kent Somers of the

takes a look at

» READ MORE: the trade that was never made

, and not much else, for

. Somers recounts that the Eagles were one of the teams that called when Boldin said he wanted out of Arizona. A deal was never even remotely close between the two teams. Boldin, 28-years-old, had 89 catches for 1,038 yards and 11 touchdowns, despite missing four regular-season games. His status for Sunday's game is still uncertain.

And finally, I know most people who are local have probably seen this on TV, but for any out-of-towners, here's the short video of Reid's post-game speech after the win over the Giants. I love seeing Reid like this. It's only 24 seconds, but I could watch this on repeat all day.