It's The Name on the Front That Counts
Mike Florio from Pro Football talk had an interesting column in the Sporting News the other day about how teams may want to consider the fans feelings when releasing or trading players. He cites Brian Dawkins, a lifelong Eagle who just signed with Denver as an example of a player who the Eagles should have handled better because he means so much to the fans.
While I do get sentimental over a couple of players, I have always been a fan of the team first and the players second. When you get old like me, you've seen a few generations of players coming through and as time goes on, you have less and less emotional attachments to the players and more to the team. The players I used to watch as a kid and a teenager are coaches and managers, some for many years. Many have passed away.
One thing I have learned from watching and covering sports (and perhaps my almost 30 years in radio): There's always someone else.
I've also learned as a Sox fan that guys like Kenny Williams are fairly good judges of horse flesh and even better poker players. Kenny has gone out time after time after time and come up with players like Jermaine Dye, who everyone thought was finished; Bobby Jenks, who was cut by the Angels because he didn't fulfill his potential; Carlos Quentin, Alexi Ramirez, Tad Iguchi. AJ Pierzynski and the list goes on and on. And it seems that when Kenny trades a player, that player either disappears quickly or winds up on the DL, making Kenny look like a genius.
In most cases a GM with good evaluation skills will always have talent in the cupboard. And their knowledge of these players, be it on or off the field is far superior to ours as fans. Maybe a player is a bad teammate, but no one has admitted it publicly. Maybe a player is unable to fulfill his anticipated role with the team. Maybe a player is soft in the head or drinks too much off the field or has some problems stemming from outside pressures or has an ass for an agent. Again, we may not know that. Maybe a player is starting to break down or has jumped the shark. Fans that think with their hearts will always get burned as opposed to the fans that support the name on the front of the jersey.
It's sad to see Brian Dawkins move on from Philly. But he's older, his cap number doesn't fit and he's on the downside. Sure fans will miss him, but the Eagles will probably field a decent team next year like they always do. And the Eagle fans, who will always have a warm spot for Dawkins, will go right on cheering for the Eagles. Because that's what's on the front of the uniforms.
While I do get sentimental over a couple of players, I have always been a fan of the team first and the players second. When you get old like me, you've seen a few generations of players coming through and as time goes on, you have less and less emotional attachments to the players and more to the team. The players I used to watch as a kid and a teenager are coaches and managers, some for many years. Many have passed away.
One thing I have learned from watching and covering sports (and perhaps my almost 30 years in radio): There's always someone else.
I've also learned as a Sox fan that guys like Kenny Williams are fairly good judges of horse flesh and even better poker players. Kenny has gone out time after time after time and come up with players like Jermaine Dye, who everyone thought was finished; Bobby Jenks, who was cut by the Angels because he didn't fulfill his potential; Carlos Quentin, Alexi Ramirez, Tad Iguchi. AJ Pierzynski and the list goes on and on. And it seems that when Kenny trades a player, that player either disappears quickly or winds up on the DL, making Kenny look like a genius.
In most cases a GM with good evaluation skills will always have talent in the cupboard. And their knowledge of these players, be it on or off the field is far superior to ours as fans. Maybe a player is a bad teammate, but no one has admitted it publicly. Maybe a player is unable to fulfill his anticipated role with the team. Maybe a player is soft in the head or drinks too much off the field or has some problems stemming from outside pressures or has an ass for an agent. Again, we may not know that. Maybe a player is starting to break down or has jumped the shark. Fans that think with their hearts will always get burned as opposed to the fans that support the name on the front of the jersey.
It's sad to see Brian Dawkins move on from Philly. But he's older, his cap number doesn't fit and he's on the downside. Sure fans will miss him, but the Eagles will probably field a decent team next year like they always do. And the Eagle fans, who will always have a warm spot for Dawkins, will go right on cheering for the Eagles. Because that's what's on the front of the uniforms.
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