IS STOCKPILING DEFENSEMEN
Every week, I will be delivering various football links that mention the Eagles from around the Internet. While philly.com's Eagles section has your best local coverage, along with blogs Eagletarian and Birds' Eye View, these will be links you may have missed.
Eagles links are coming to you a day early since I need some extra time to complete my fantasy running back rankings. But normally, these links will be posted on Wednesday.
Anyway, Chris Mortensen reported on ESPN last night that Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin has renewed his request for a trade. Boldin is unhappy with his contract, and Mortensen mentioned the Eagles (along with the Cowboys) as a possible destination, saying it would take more than just Lito Sheppard to acquire the disgruntled wideout. However, Mortensen also said the Cardinals are unlikely to deal Boldin.
Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic (thanks to ProFootballTalk.com for the link) confirms that Boldin has requested a trade, but he also confirms that the Cardinals will not deal him:
The Cardinals' stance remains unchanged, according to a team spokesman. They have no intention of trading Boldin and are hopeful of signing him to a contract extension.
The article also cites comments by Boldin to NFL Network where he talked about coach Ken Whisenhunt getting too involved in contract negotiations:
"At this point we have no relationship, and I don't see that changing," Boldin told NFL Network on Monday. "It's just gotten to a point where I think lines were crossed. If you ask me, coaches should be coaches, management should be management, and I don't think those lines should be crossed. But when you cross those lines, you put yourself in position for things like this to happen."
In other links, Adam Schein of FoxSports.com is expecting big things from Donovan McNabb this season:
Donovan McNabb is healthy both physically and mentally, primed for a Pro Bowl-caliber year, and will lead the Eagles back to the playoffs after an 8-8 campaign a year ago. You can lock that in. I've never been so sure about anything. I fully anticipate McNabb being in the mix for league MVP.
Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com seems to agree with Schein:
This may be more of a wish than a belief, but Donovan McNabb is my pick for league MVP. He's been written off by most the experts. He's too injury prone. He's overrated without Terrell Owens. I love the way McNabb approaches the game. In the right situation -- had Owens supported McNabb the way Owens supports Tony Romo — McNabb could've been as good as Brady and Peyton Manning. McNabb is going to have a rebound season and make his critics choke on crow.
Meanwhile, ESPN.com asked readers to vote for the all-time best player for every NFL team. So who did readers pick for the Eagles? Reggie White earned 52 percent of the votes. Here's how the rest of the Eagles finished: Chuck Bednarik (12 percent); Randall Cunningham (11 percent); Donovan McNabb (8 percent); Brian Dawkins (4 percent); Brian Westbrook (4 percent); Ron Jaworski (4 percent); Steve Van Buren (3 percent); Wilbert Montgomery (1 percent); Tommy McDonald (1 percent).
ESPN.com blogger Matt Mosley said the voting results aren't too surprising:
I'm not surprised that Randall Cunningham finished ahead of Donovan McNabb, although I think McNabb is the better quarterback. This city fell in love with Cunningham, and old habits die hard. I did think that Ron Jaworski would finish higher than seventh place.
FoxSports.com ranks the top 10 fan bases in the NFL, and the Eagles' faithful are listed No. 1:
Some might call this biased, but the most passionate fans in all of sports are without question Philadelphia Eagles fans. They're cold-blooded and probably give KC a run for their money as being the loudest. They are by far the most knowledgeable fans in the league, and invented the perfect "boo." What cemented Philadelphia fans' reputation as the most amoral, loathsome collection in sports is famously called The Booing of Santa Claus. You would boo and throw snow balls too if Santa came out drunk in a half-done costume. Eagles' fans must deal with sports owners whose actions have not produced a champion in 25 years. The Eagles haven't hoisted a championship flag in 48 years, but the waiting list for season tickets is so long that you could sell out three stadiums full of Eagles fans for games.
SI.com's Dr. Z answers a question about Shawn Andrews in his mailbag:
Chris, of Philadelphia, asks for my thoughts on Shawn Andrews and his battles with depression. Will it cause other players who suffer from the same ailment to step forward and talk about it? Psychiatric problems are always very delicate things among professional athletes, especially when there's medication involved. Often the meds will stabilize him, but they'll take away other things, such as the edge in his fast twitch muscles. I don't know whether Andrews is trying to battle his depression without the use of meds. I'm not a doctor, but I'd like to know more about how he is being treated. Sorry if I didn't fully answer your question, but there's too much half knowledge going around about these kind of things.
ESPN.com's Stephen A. Smith compares what happened to Brett Favre to McNabb:
For any NFL quarterback not named Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, the entire scenario is uncomfortable. For McNabb, it's flat-out alarming. Remember, he doesn't play in a low-key, get-'em-next-time environment like Green Bay. He punches a clock in Philadelphia, a city of fans so annoyed with his plethora of injuries and/or his inability to lead the Eagles to the postseason two of the past three years that the calls for backup Kevin Kolb have already begun.
USA Today lists possible first-time Pro Bowlers in 2008, and Kevin Curtis makes the list.
