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Where Does the Allegiance Lie?

            As someone who watches as much college football as pro football, I often become torn with prior allegiances and rivalries to the point where I’ll root for or against specific players on NFL teams simply because of the college they attended.

            For Example, why the hell did I own a Kerry Collins Panthers jersey when I was young? Because he was a Nittany Lion- I could care less about Carolina. And also, why was I rooting for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL? Not out of dislike for the Steelers- I just wanted to see Bobby Engram get that championship he got cheated out of in ’94 (yet somehow, the Man kept it out of his hands again. Are Tom Osborne and the NFL Referees in some type of conspiracy against poor Bobby Engram? Stay tuned..) I sat and watched as the New York Giants, a team I normally loathe, turned the Meadowlands into happy valley east. Off the top of my head, this isn’t an exact list, Jay Alford, Kerry Collins, Joe Jurevicious, Kareem Mackenzie, Brandon Short, Lavar Arrington, and Brett Conway, to name a few, all suited up for big blue. And it is priceless to watch Tony Hunt go from ripping up defenses at Beaver Stadium to have him land on your favorite team.

            On the other side, people assume I dislike Tom Brady just because he’s a Patriot-no, I just DESPISE Michigan. Getting beaten by them about 45986 times in a row will do that to you. There are several players I will never forgive from their college days. People on this list, from my childhood and present, includes, but is not limited to: Brian Griese, Elvis Grbac, Ty Law, Charles Woodson, Orlando Pace, Eddie George, Mike Nugent, Troy Smith, Terry Glenn… and that’s just listing prominent Wolverines and Buckeyes. I could go on, but the internet may run out of bandwidth. Also, anyone who went to Notre Dame, is a scumbag pretty boy, who has never started an NFL game or won a bowl game (wait, that goes with the Notre Dame thing.. sorry) does NOT warrant several advertising deals when he has no talent outside of appealing to the female demographic. Maybe beat out the legendary Derek Anderson, win a game or two, and stop being in ridiculous protein shake/Disney/NFL Network/Subway ads, then maybe, just maybe, you can earn some respect. Oh wait, you went to Notre Dame- never mind, I’ll never like you.

            On a more positive note, I grew up watching players I saw firsthand at University Park play in the NFL, like Sam Gash, Arrington, Ki- Jana Carter and Curtis Enis (both were amazing at PSU, not so much in the pros), Jeff Hartings, and OJ McDuffie. As for the present?

            Being a Penn State lifer gives me an excuse to watch the 49ers (Mike Robinson, Bryant Johnson), Cardinals (Levi Brown), Rams (King just got drafted), Seahawks (Engram), Bears (Robbie Gould), Lions (Sean McHugh), Eagles (as if I needed another excuse, but Tony Hunt), Giants (Alford), Saints (Anwar Phillips), Bucs (John Gilmore), Panthers (D-Conn was just drafted), Jags (Issac Smolko! Jimmy Kennedy! My personal favorite group of Nits on an NFL team), Titans (Calvin Lowry), Colts (Ed Johnson), Bills (Byron Scott, the POZ), Bengals (Ethan Kilmer is somehow in the NFL. Pure effort player—walked on at State—great story), Browns (Jurevicius), Steelers (Scott Paxon), Chiefs (LJ, Tamba Hali), and Raiders (Matt Hahn, Tony Stewart).

Even the Cowboys, the team I hope gets rocketed on a spaceship to the far depths of the universe, never to return, have one redeeming factor going for them: Marco Rivera.

             Speaking of traitors, what do you do when a player you disliked in college is suddenly on your team, or even worse, a player you loved in school quickly becomes a rival? I can attest, the former is not very hard to overcome. I can forgive Jon Runyan’s Michigan days because of the way he steamrolls d-linemen weekly for the Eagles. How quickly I forget about Abiamiri, Avant, Booker, Buckhalter, Bradley, Ikegwnew, Tra Thomas,  Wilson, and Laws’s questionable college days (they all went to ND, Mich, OSU, Pitt, FSU and Wis) when they don the midnight green.

            However, watching a player you rooted for in college turn join an enemy team and compete against you is tantamount to buying a puppy from the pound, raising it and caring for it until it reaches adulthood, then witnessing it eat your first born. It’s heart wrenching. People want to question the superfluous emotional attachments of sports. You don’t personally know the people in the games, so why get that involved? Because we DO know the athletes, in our own way. Each person we watch on Saturdays and Sundays who plays for a team we love or hate means something to us. That’s why watching Joe Jurevicius make a spectacular touchdown catch against the Eagles in the playoffs, almost a decade ago, seems like yesterday. Yes, I watched him as a 7 year old, rooted for him, gave him and the Lions my heart and soul. Cheered ‘til I had no voice left to give. The amount of  energy and emotion gave me a feeling of trust with Joe. He was a Lion, forever. To turn around, years later, and watch the man I “trusted” so much just CRUSH the Eagle’s spirit, year after year, first with the Giants when they beat us about 10 straight times and eliminated us from the playoffs, then with the Bucs on the last game at the mighty Vet in the NFC Championship made it feel like a family member had burnt my house down.

            For those of you who don’t follow college and pro, and just choose one, imagine you’re a Patriots fan. You love Brady, you’ve been there since he was a kid out of college, he means so much to you, and then he leaves on good terms, saying he loves you and all New England fans. Then he joins the Jags and beats you down in the playoffs every year. For the college fans, imagine if someone you followed in college for years and had an emotional attachment to, i.e. Matt Lienart, graduated, then joined UCLA and whipped your Trojans for the next few years. It’s sort of like that. Not too fun, huh?

           

 Sorry for the lack of postings in the past week or so, work’s sucked lately. I’ll try to get up more to date with everything. Thanks for reading

Lito missing from voluntary minicamps. Problem? or No?

   Lito Sheppard, two time Pro-Bowl corner for the Eagles, is unhappy. And rightfully so.
    For those of you living under a rock, in February the Eagles splurged in free agency on some guy named Asante Samuel, who's won a thing or two in the last few years and had a couple interceptions. By that, I mean he has two Super Bowl rings, and in 2007, he had more INTs (6) than the bird's starting CBs combined (5). He had a whopping 10 in 2006. The Eagle's biggest defensive flaw is their inability to create turnovers, and Samuel surely will help them in that category. He was added to a secondary that included future Hall-of-Famer Brian Dawkins and two solid corners: Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard. Samuel is clearly a star, and his presence would help compose the most fearsome secondary in the league. So what's the problem?
    The answer is complex, but here are two keys:

1) Asante Samuel's cap hit is a staggering $9,145,000 in 2008, almost three times what either Sheldon and Lito are on the hook for. While the luxury of three first string corners is nice, it's hard for a team to pay the salary of all three of them when they can possibly move one of them to help other, less fortunate areas on the team (see next point). And most likely, Brown or Sheppard would not be happy playing nickel, a spot usually occupied by the immortal Joselio Hanson. Also, while Sheldon may be content with his salary, Lito's Pro-Bowl status seems like it should beget more money. I'm sure Lito doesn't think Samuel is three times the player he is. Instead of having to deal with restructuring, the Eagles thought perhaps they could..

2) Trade Lito Sheppard. Reid, Heckert, Banner and co. were positive that a package of Lito, picks, and other spare parts would be enough to acquire a world class talent at wide receiver, namely Larry Fitzgerald or Roy Williams. They were wrong. The time to trade 2008 draft picks came and went, and Lito Sheppard still sits idly on the trading block with no takers.

So why is Lito unhappy? The team he was drafted by and played very well for over the years desperately tried to trade him. Now it looks like he's stuck in Philly, having to fight for playing time with not only a Super Bowl Champ, INT-happy, big money, Pro Bowl corner, but with a draft class mate, longtime teammate and much-less-injury prone Sheldon Brown.
The team wants him gone, he's going to have to split PT and he's not getting more money. That's why.
And he's skipping a minicamp this week.

Now that we're all up to speed with the situation..
What should the Eagles do? What should Lito do?
Do they continue trying to move him? That hasn't worked so far, and it's clear they're not getting a premier wideout for him. The perception of him from other GMs seems to be that he's injury prone, and not worth the money. Those who clamor for Chad Johnson think he may be a key ingredient in a trade package for him, but it's highly doubtful. And as for getting a second-tier receiver for him? Not the brightest idea. The Eagles have had plenty of second-tier receivers over the years, and here we are, still searching for that number one. And someone with Lito's talent shouldn't be shipped out for someone in the solid-number-two role. Besides, we have four solid-number-twos anyway.
{Aside: Actually, that's being too nice- we have one 2 (Curtis), three 3's (Brown, Avant, Baskett when they actually use him-don't get me started), and a big ol' question mark (DeSean Jackson). We don't need another two. Please.}
Or do what the Eagles seem intent on at the present- Work the three of them into a rotation. Although it seems like that's overkill- three starting corners- when one thinks about the possibilities, it sounds more and more attractive. A nickel package of the three of them renders 3 WR sets obsolete. Welker in the slot? No need to call on Hanson, James, a linebacker, Dawkins, or worse yet, CONSIDINE (!) to defend him. Throw a two-time Pro Bowler on him. Here's a nightmare-What if Dallas somehow (as unlikely as it is) gets Chad Johnson and what if Terry Glenn finds his groove again? No other team in the league would fare better than an allstar nickel package of Samuel, Sheppard and Brown. As far-fetched as that scenario is, the fact is the Eagles could cover them. The birds would fear no passing game. And if one of the top two gets injured, there's a stud backup waiting in the wings to claim the starting job, putting the Eagles one step ahead of the game.
    What they should do is similar to the last option. Keep all three. But instead of keeping one on the sidelines during normal packages, which is just dumb considering their talent level, start Asante and Lito. Keep Dawk at free. Bump Sheldon to strong safety. Although he is a quality corner, he is the least skilled in coverage of the trio and simultaneously the best in run support. He would be a great safety who could easily cover tight ends and running backs, and it would relieve the defense from having to switch into nickel packages. It would give Dawkins more time to mentor Quintin Mikell, who should be a strong replacement for Weapon X when he retires. Mikell can even spell Dawk on some passing downs, as even the great number 20 has lost a step. And most importantly... it keeps Sean f'ing Considine off the field.
    For some reason, Andy Reid is infatuated with the hapless safety from Iowa. Sure, Sean, puts in a good effort, and he's okay in run support. But for the love of God, he is absolutely hopeless in coverage. He can't cover ANYONE, unless maybe his grandmother lines up against him in a touch football game at a family reunion.. As far as I'm concerned, he's still in the Soldier Field endzone, trying to stop Mushin Muhammed from catching the game winning touchdown pass, flailing his arms wildly like an air-traffic controller.
    And that's pretty much what it comes down to. Why have Mikell, who has talent but a ways to go, or worse, Considine, on the field, when one of the three ultra-talented corners will sitting on the bench? It doesn't make sense to me. If no quality offers come for Lito, and all three are kept, the only move that makes sense is to install Sheldon as safety and put Lito and Asante at the corners.
    And trade Considine for a bag of maple bats.