IS TALKIN' SOUL WITH DONOVAN MORGAN
As the countdown continues to this year's training camp at Lehigh, the Daily News and Eagletarian have gone back to look at some of our favorite or most interesting events and storylines of training camps and the preseason during the Andy Reid Era. Each weekday for the next two weeks, we will count them down, leading to No. 1.
NO. 10: TWO BIRDS HAVE SOME FIGHT IN 'EM
Published on Aug. 12, 2000
By Junji Noda, Daily News Sports Writer
For a moment, the humid, tropical-like conditions turned into pure chills.
During a non-contact drill at yesterday's Eagles practice, linebacker Jeremiah Trotter and right tackle Jon Runyan tangled and took to the grass field at Lehigh as if it were a wrestling mat.
Quarterback Donovan McNabb looped a pass, barely dodging a defensive lineman, and the coaches blew the whistle, indicating the end of the play.
But the 261-pound Trotter and 330-pound Runyan ignited. Runyan got on top of Trotter, throwing several body blows, and from there, it got chaotic. Most players and coaches immediately tried to separate the duo. Pushing, shoving, screaming and shouting ensued.
The scene was dandy, yet, frightening.
"It's something that all teams go through," McNabb said. "We're all smiling again. "
Said Birds coach Andy Reid: "It's a violent sport and it's late in training camp. You get hot, tired guys and things happen. "
Trotter, along with his teammates, seemed to take light of what occurred.
"Why not get into a fight? Get it on? " Trotter said as left guard Lonnie Palelei approached from behind with a cloth, covered Trotter's head, and jokingly screamed, "Oh, no," pretending to start another fight.
Runyan, seemingly upset and irritated after the morning practice, declined to comment on the scuffle.
Backup quarterback Koy Detmer, one of the closest observers, said it's bread and butter in the world of football.
But when you see two guys who weigh in at almost 600 pounds combined, that's a different story.
"From high school to college to pro ball, we've all seen that a million times," said Detmer, a 195-pounder. "But today's was two huge guys going at it. Crazy. "
Added McNabb: "Well, you know, you want to get into it and maybe come to a clothesline on somebody, or work on your DDTs - do some of your WWF and NWO moves. But in that case, you just relax and wait until it stops, I guess. "
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.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with 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 started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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