Saying goodbye to the Eagles beat
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Saying goodbye to the Eagles beat
Jonathan Tamari
Jonathan Tamari wraps up a great run covering the Eagles for the Philadelpia Inquirer:
This is a strange time to walk away from the Eagles beat. Training camp has just opened, and with it comes a glimpse of what’s next and hints of the possibilities in what should be a pivotal Eagles season. It’s about beginning, not endings.
But my story today on Mychal Kendricks – another look at the near future for the Eagles – is my last on the beat. I’ll be moving to DC later this week and will soon start covering politics and our local congressional delegation as the Inquirer’s Washington correspondent.
I’m thrilled for the opportunity and the new possibilities of my own. This is something I’ve long wanted to do, though I’m sad to leave behind a beat that has been challenging and fun, and that I won’t be covering a season that should answer many big, critical questions about the Eagles.
I’ll still be writing in the Inquirer and on Philly.com, and hope to soon have a new blog established to help chronicle the news out of Washington. My Twitter handle stays the same -- @JonathanTamari – though if you’re looking for injury updates or post-game quotes, you’re going to be very disappointed.
I’ve tried to thank in person the people who have helped me while I was on this beat, and especially those who lent a hand when I arrived from covering Jersey politics, not even knowing how much I didn’t know. I’ve been lucky to work with great colleagues from Inquirer and other outlets in the area, and an Eagles press staff that is professional and hard-working.
What I’ll miss most is learning and telling the stories of the many individuals who make up the team, and how they reached the highest level of their profession. For some, like DeSean Jackson or LeSean McCoy, it’s straight forward: work hard, star in college, get drafted early and quickly rise to the top. For others, including guys like Evan Mathis or Cullen Jenkins, the road is much more twisted, and fraught with setbacks and challenges, but eventually opportunities that they grab and hold onto. We watch in awe of the stars, but I think many of us outside of professional sports can relate to that second, less steady path, the one taken by much of the 53-man roster.
My last thanks have to be to the people who have taken the time to read my work, here online, in the Inquirer and on Twitter. I love getting to write for a living, but it wouldn’t mean much if no one was reading. I quickly learned that Eagles fans’ exacting standards go beyond just the team. I’ll always remember the searing messages I got when I mistakenly listed Ellis Hobbs at left cornerback, not right, during my first preseason. The volume of attention for even that detail told me how much Eagles fans care, that quality was demanded and that there would always be someone reading, no matter how big or small the news or the name we were featuring.
I hope some of you will still follow along as I move back to politics, and I’m curious what it’ll be like to turn on an Eagles game this fall with nothing to do but watch. It should be a fascinating year.
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Good luck in your new endeavor, thanks for the coverage.— sore richard- You were my favorite writer here and you will be sorely missed. Good luck!— Commish
- Jon, please be objective in your political coverage, regardless of your personal political beliefs. By doing so you'd be the first one on the Inky staff. But there is first time for everything. Isn't it?— hollandpa
- ha so philly.com is a joke all there best writers are leaving. best of luck to you sir. im sure my comment will be deleted lol— defroe
- Maybe your comment will be deleted, but it will be because you didn't read the article. He's not leaving philly.com, he's just covering politics instead of sports. — commenter1111
- Really enjoyed your Eagles coverage. Please be a political analyst and not just another megaphone to repeat press announcements from various politicians. Ask the hard questions and demand answers that will enrich public knowledge about how the country works.— maximusud
- Congratulations on your move to DC. Like nizzles said, Rhino bar is the ONLY place in DC for Eagles fans, observers, to catch the game.— carmendmv
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- Good Luck Jon, it's been a pleasure reading your columns and hopefully as others have stated above, be objective and write the real story, their are too many political mouthpieces already who do nothing but puke the party line even if it's wrong !!! Again, Good Luck.— Delaware Doc
- Lots of Birds fans in the DC area. Rhino Bar has great cheap wings!— rickm
- Don't do it John - This town Blows! Not even a respectible JV city like Wilmington— eagle stuck in dc
- Good luck Jonathan...with all the dbags in DC (pols and sport fans) you'll miss Philly...trust me I live north of DC and dread when I have to go south.THe ahole meeters ratchets up as you get within the beltway.— glove69
- Congrats on making it to the big leagues.— richardecredico
- hopefully the bloggers in politics will be smarter than the bloggers for the Eagles— dwilly
