I was listening to the local sports talk station the other day and they had an "everyday topic" where they asked "Who's the face of your franchise?... the first person you think of when someone talks about your team."
You have easy ones like the Dolphins (Marino) and the Skins (Gibbs), but I had a tough time settling on one Eagle. McNabb? Vermeil? Buddy? Cunningham? Reggie? Bednarik? Reno? :paranoid
Who's the "face" of the Eagles?
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McNabb for present day...Cunningham & the Gang Green for the past. At least those are who I think of.
shoulder pad shawn, duh
his body of work may not be as extensive as some others but its gotta be....
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Here are some nominees:
Chuck Bednarik -- Sure, he's a bitter old man now, but he won two championships with the Eagles and was one of the toughest, meanest bastiches to ever play the game. He has to warrant consideration.
Buddy Ryan -- Most Philly fans still worship the man, despite his inability to put any kind of offense on the field or win playoff games.
Andy Reid -- Winningest coach in Eagle history. Still will likely have at least 2 more seasons at minimum to make his mark. Still, if the Eagles win the Super Bowl under his guidance, that would probably make the next guy on the list more likely to be the "face"... not Andy....
Donovan McNabb -- When all's said and done, even if he never wins the big one, the Eagles will be looking for a QB with only a fraction of McNabb's game-breaking skills for years to come.
Brian Dawkins -- This is my choice. He's a career Eagle, one of the best safeties of all time, a great individual and family man off the field, and an absolutely fierce and violent competitor on it. He embodies everything Philadelphia sports fans want to be about. He is embraced by all kinds of fans... dumb/smart, classy/trashy, WIP listeners... Brian Dawkins is the face of Philadelphia Eagles football.
(http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/uploads/photos/perm/main/FPAKFIHGLJGI/Dawkins_SF1_05-10-04.jpg)
Dick Vermeil and Reggie White are disqualified for winning Super Bowls with other teams after leaving the Eagles.
(http://images.nfl.com/images/nfleurope/week7/31052000stacy2.jpg) (http://www.nfleurope.com/news/archive/31052000_trail)
I think the "face" is definable only by era for just about any team. For this era, I'd be content to go with Dawkins.
The more I think about it the hardy it is to actually choose. I think there are different faces for different era's of the teams history. When I think Chuck Bednarik I dont think of the current eagles. When I think Buddy Ryan I dont think of the 1960 eagles.
If you were to ask the non-eagle message board population, the face of the Eagles is #5. As much as we'd like to say Dawkins or Koy, the general public sees it otherwise.
Quote from: FFatPatt on January 19, 2006, 09:14:54 AM
Here are some nominees:
Chuck Bednarik -- Sure, he's a bitter old man now, but he won two championships with the Eagles and was one of the toughest, meanest bastiches to ever play the game. He has to warrant consideration.
Buddy Ryan -- Most Philly fans still worship the man, despite his inability to put any kind of offense on the field or win playoff games.
Andy Reid -- Winningest coach in Eagle history. Still will likely have at least 2 more seasons at minimum to make his mark. Still, if the Eagles win the Super Bowl under his guidance, that would probably make the next guy on the list more likely to be the "face"... not Andy....
Donovan McNabb -- When all's said and done, even if he never wins the big one, the Eagles will be looking for a QB with only a fraction of McNabb's game-breaking skills for years to come.
Brian Dawkins -- This is my choice. He's a career Eagle, one of the best safeties of all time, a great individual and family man off the field, and an absolutely fierce and violent competitor on it. He embodies everything Philadelphia sports fans want to be about. He is embraced by all kinds of fans... dumb/smart, classy/trashy, WIP listeners... Brian Dawkins is the face of Philadelphia Eagles football.
(http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/uploads/photos/perm/main/FPAKFIHGLJGI/Dawkins_SF1_05-10-04.jpg)
Dick Vermeil and Reggie White are disqualified for winning Super Bowls with other teams after leaving the Eagles.
Dawkins is a good choice... especially for Eagles fans. But see... if I walked up to any guy on the street in anywhere, USA (considering he has some reasonable football knowledge) and said, "Who do you think of when I say, Philadelphia Eagles?", is he going to say Brian Dawkins? Maybe... maybe he says McNabb. That's what makes it hard to zone in on one guy. If I asked the same guy the same question about the Jets, I can damn near guarantee you that he'll say Joe Namath. Giants, he'd say Lawrence Taylor.
(http://www.jimsweeney.net/images/Eagles_Mitchell_hair.jpg)
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^^^^
wtf is that?
Defender of the Cap
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(http://www.nestofdeath.com/philadelphia/Photo/celebrity/andyHarmon.jpg)
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The cheerleaders.
Pfftt.. Noone looks at their faces. 'Cept maybe chuggie.
Quote from: Susquehanna Birder on January 19, 2006, 11:56:37 AM
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Now THAT'S a flattering picture.
Quote from: MadMarchHare on January 19, 2006, 03:39:21 PM
Quote from: Susquehanna Birder on January 19, 2006, 11:56:37 AM
(http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/nfl/2005/0830/photo/w_banner_195.jpg)
Now THAT'S a flattering picture.
I think he's Bud Selig's evil twin.
(http://montreal.cbc.ca/gfx/Montreal/photos/selig_bud20031109.jpg) (http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/uploads/photos/perm/main/ONOOKHGODOPO/banner_joe.jpg)
It's a no brainer as to who - the only question is before or after?
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Quote from: PhillyFan on January 19, 2006, 10:22:33 PM
It's a no brainer as to who - the only question is before or after?
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I second the first one!
Quote from: EagleFeva on January 19, 2006, 10:28:51 AMIf I asked the same guy the same question about the Jets, I can damn near guarantee you that he'll say Joe Namath.
People have short memories...I know the "face of the Jets" to me would be Testaverde, and I suspect it'd be the same for a lot of others. For the same reason I'd say the face of our franchise right now is McNabb (or, sadly, Eagles WR #81), at least as far as non-Birds fans are concerned.
(http://www.castefootball.us/images/temp/10bf93d510082124276ae185ec7d1c95.jpg)
40's - Steve Van Buren
50's - 'Concrete' Charlie Bednarik
60's -could've been Sonny Jurgensen (traded to the foreskins) and Tommy McDonald (another talent traded away), but only remembered for the waste of flesh known as Kuharich :boo
70's - although mediocre for most of the decade, dudes like Carmichael, Jaws, Montgomery, Bergey, and Vermeil were the toast of the town.
80's - also mediocre for the most part, the late eighties until the early nineties boasted Randall Cunningham (IMO the best talented QB ever to play for the Birds), Buddy Ryan, and the Gang Green Defense (Reggie, Jerome, Clyde, Golic, Joyner, Allen, Hopkins) The offense could've been had Quick not burned out so early and Cris Carter not been a crackhead at that time.
90's - unfortunately, the decade of KOTITE >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D
00's - in terms of popularity, McNabb; for experience, Dawkins; for the best, TO ;).
Chris Carter wasn't a crackhead. >:( >:( >:( >:(
He was a drunk. ;)
Cocaine.
It's Andy. No doubt about it.
I'd go with "For Who, For What" in the 90's.
(http://www.jgulinosports.com/images/Kotite,Rich1.jpg)