A Sunday Pilgrimage - Sounds Very Good!

[PhillyPhreak54]

I am going to start reading "A Sunday Pilgrimage" by Gargano tonight... I'm posting it here instead of the book thread becuase of all the Eagle quotes that I found in that NBC review of the book. Make note of TO's interaction with burkholders daughter...he's not the icehole that everyone thinks he is.

Here's the review on it: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9311448/

"When TO was in San Francisco, I thought he was an icehole," former Eagle great Harold Carmichael told me in October. "Then you get to know him, he's not. He's just one of those guys you hate playing against. I did the same stuff he does when I played. Back then we only had one camera. Now I understand him, and I think it's good to have a swagger."

With Owens' status as a free agent apparently nil, the Eagles began trade discussions with San Francisco and thought they had come to terms on March 4, the day they introduced their other marquee signing, Jevon Kearse. "That was a complete fiasco," Heckert said. "They gave us a list of four players, including Brandon (Whiting), and wanted a fourth-rounder. Thought it was done. They gave us permission to talk to (Owens' agent) and we worked out a deal. There was apparently an understanding between (49ers GM Terry Donahue) and TO's agent that they would get to work out a contract before he was traded. So we go down for a press conference for Kearse and we find out they traded him to Baltimore. They tried to screw him. We called Baltimore right away but they didn't want to make a trade."

But Myerson knew what Burkholder was getting at. Under pressure from Owens' attorneys, fearing a malpractice claim, Myerson said there was no way he would clear him to play against the Falcons.

"He was actually ready to play in that game," Burkholder said.

Tuesday night, Andy Reid stopped in to see Burkholder.

"What's the deal with TO?" he asked.

"Myerson won't let him play," Burkholder said.

"Why not?"

"Doctor's being stubborn. The attorneys are getting to him."

"We'll be fine without him," Reid said resolutely. "We're gonna win this week. Try to get him ready for the Super Bowl."

"Well, I gotta work some magic. To me, Myerson is taking the emotional component out of it. Myerson doesn't understand the component. I want to take him to the game Sunday. Get him to see it first-hand."

"Go all out with him," Reid said.

"I got chills," Reese would say. "I felt like a little schoolgirl. It was the first time I had seen him run in six weeks. The whole time I'm thinking, 'He ain't playin'. This cat can't play. No way. He ain't gonna be able to run.' Then I saw him running those routes. I was like, 'This is crazy! He's playin'!"

"Our Dog's gonna play," another player shouted out.

"The more they hooted and hollered," Burkholder said, "the better he did."

More than six years later, on that Sunday night of the NFC Championship Game, smack in the middle of the Terrell Owens saga, Rick Burkholder cried. "Real tears," he said. "So much of it was the journey. That night, I can't describe the feeling. I had visions of my twelve seasons in football. I was all bundled up, Gatorade down the side of me because I was standing next to Andy when he got hit. I hugged and kissed everybody. I turned to my assistants, Sugs (Eric Sugarman) and Chris (Perduzzi), and said, 'We did it!'

"I cried and I laughed. I hugged every player. Guys like Trot and Ike. I thanked those guys for being there. The week before the Super Bowl, I called Troy and Carlos (Emmons), guys that helped build this thing. The emotion of getting to the Super Bowl was so much for me. But I  had to calm down and realize why we're down in Jacksonville now. To win it."

The bouncer immediately let his guard down. "Dude," he said, "you're the trainer for the Eagles. Come on in!"

"I can't believe this," Heckert joked. "This is absolute ---. I put this roster together and you're the damn trainer, and you're getting me into bars."

"Shut up and drink!" Burkholder said

Terrell Owens and Quinn Burkholder had it all prearranged. If Owens scored a touchdown, he would celebrate with the dance that the adorable little four-year-old girl taught him.

Rick Burkholder started taking his daughter with him to Terrell Owens' house because he was so busy during the intense rehab that he spent precious little time at home and thought at least he'd have the car ride through South Jersey with her.

He didn't know TO would fall in love with her. In fact, Owens and his girlfriend, Felecia, looked so forward to seeing Quinn that he requested Burkholder bring her over, even during days he hadn't planned to do so.

"They were big-time buddies," Burkholder said. "She idolizes him."

One day, Owens told Quinn, "Teach me a dance, sweetheart."

She taught him the Hoky Poky. So it was all set. If he scored, he was going to honor Quinn with his notable touchdown celebration by doing the Hoky Poky, putting his right ankle in first, of course. FOX, which broadcast the Super Bowl, was in on it. If Owens reached the end zone, it would show him doing the dance and have Quinn tell the story of it.

"Everybody was dying for him to score a touchdown," Burkholder said. "We wanted him to do the Hoky Poky."

Meanwhile, Owens spent every spare moment in the hyperbaric chamber, believing in the healing powers of oxygen. "He told me guys were coming up from Alabama to deliver it to his room at the hotel," Eagles security director Butch Buchanico said. "I told the people at the hotel, 'Let 'em up there.' I had to go in his room for something early in the morning one day. So I'm knocking, 'Yo, wake up! KNOCK. KNOCK. KOCK. Yo, get up! I walk in with the key, and he says in that way of his, 'Good morning, Anthony.' He's the only one on the team that calls me Anthony. Hell, only my mother called me Anthony. My mother and TO. Anyway, he pokes his head out of that thing. Like he's stuck in a suitcase. He was sleeping in that thing."

Around one in the morning the night of the game, with Quinn not feeling well, the day too long, the phone rang in the Burkholders' room. It was Owens, who was downstairs at a postgame reception.

"You coming to the party?" he asked.

Oh, no, Burkholder thought. The ankle swelled.

"What's up?" he said. "You hurting?"

"No," he said, "I just want to see Quinn. I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow with Felecia and we're not going to have a chance to see her."

Burkholder would say later, "Here, this guy just played in the biggest game in the world and he wants to see my daughter."

Months later, embroiled in his contract holdout, Terrell Owens would text message Rick Burkholder: "Tell Quinn, Don't worry, I'm an Eagle forever, until they cut me. Tell her I miss her."

I cannot wait to read this whole book!

[MDS]

Sounds awsome. I'll have to get that the Sports Guys new book, even though its all about the stupid Red Sox.

[SunMo]

that sounds awesome.  Gargano's such a good writer, he has such a talent for bringing the emotion of the situation through in his words. 

[shorebird]

Thats really someting about TO and the little girl Quinn. I says something about TO, the big brash hot dog athlete who has a soft spot for kids.

[Ploobus]

I don't care what that whore bag says.  Nobody will ever be able to convince me that T.O. is anything but a pathetic ingrate roughly on par with Randy Moss.  I hope he gets run over by a bus.

[shorebird]

TO is no were near Moss. he doesn't smoke dope, hasn't assaulted anyone with a motor vehicle, hasn't threatened to shake his snake at the crowd, hasn't pretended to moon anyone, and has never walked off the field before a game is over.

[Ploobus]

TO is no were near Moss. he doesn't smoke dope, hasn't assaulted anyone with a motor vehicle, hasn't threatened to shake his snake at the crowd, hasn't pretended to moon anyone, and has never walked off the field before a game is over.

So these are all fair points.  But the way he treated McNabb last winter was infuriating.   And from what I understand he did the exact same thing in SF with Garcia.  Let's face it...the guy has undeniable talent and drive but is all of that worth the distraction?

[shorebird]

Yes. I point to 14 td's in 14 games.

[Ploobus]

Yes. I point to 14 td's in 14 games.

So who do you want?  McNabb or T.O.?  Do you want a proven leader who is a quality person or a piece of shtein journeyman who spreads hate and discontent everywhere he goes?  You don't win championships with a guy like T.O...you win in spite of them.

What a bastich.

[shorebird]

Yes. I point to 14 td's in 14 games.

So who do you want? McNabb or T.O.? Do you want a proven leader who is a quality person or a piece of shtein journeyman who spreads hate and discontent everywhere he goes? You don't win championships with a guy like T.O...you win in spite of them.

What a bastich.

I want, and have, both, thanks to Andy Ried. Thats a non issue. You call a guy who re-wrote the Eagles record book a journeyman?   He's flat out the best receiver this team has ever had, ever.

Your right about McNabb though. He's leader and a professional. Thats why he's gonna' make it work with TO. And don't forget, when you ask the ridiculous question of which one do I want, which player was the biggest voice in wanting the Eagles to acquire TO. In case you forgot, it was McNabb.

[PhillyGirl]

I don't care what that whore bag says.  Nobody will ever be able to convince me that T.O. is anything but a pathetic ingrate roughly on par with Randy Moss.  I hope he gets run over by a bus.

Did you just call a little girl a whorebag?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Bitter 9ers fan? Or are you an Eagles fan who doesn't want him here?

If you're an Eagles fan who doesn't want him here, I'd say you're nuts. Everyone knew he was a powder-keg type personality. He brought a swagger to the team last year. they needed it. I'll deal with his antics.

[PhillyGirl]

http://www.49erswebzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/board.cgi?board=main&action=display&num=301660

[Geowhizzer]

I don't care what that whore bag says.  Nobody will ever be able to convince me that T.O. is anything but a pathetic ingrate roughly on par with Randy Moss.  I hope he gets run over by a bus.

Who's is a "whore bag?"  The four-year-old?  A bit crass, isn't it?

[PhillyGirl]

I don't care what that whore bag says. Nobody will ever be able to convince me that T.O. is anything but a pathetic ingrate roughly on par with Randy Moss. I hope he gets run over by a bus.

Did you just call a little girl a whorebag?

Let me repeat this question