Iggles Blog - Philadelphia Eagles Blog

Oh No -- Feeley and Mitts Split?

Just four days after a local Eagles beat writer proclaimed we'd all want to be A.J. Feeley comes word that the Eagles #2 quarterback has split from soccer uber-babe girlfriend Heather Mitts:

SOCCER PHENOM Heather Mitts finally revealed Friday that she and Eagles quarterback A.J. Feeley split up months ago.

But the U.S. Women's Soccer star says they may be in the process of reconciling.

"We broke up in March and have been free to do whatever," Mitts confirmed. In April, she laughed off rumors that the couple had parted.

Now I don't know about you, but this part makes it sound like maybe Feeley enjoyed the process of football free agency so much that perhaps it spilled over into other parts of his life:

"It's been hard for both of us with the long distance and other factors. Everybody makes mistakes and we love each other very much," Mitts e-mailed us Friday. They're getting together this week to "figure out what's best for us in the long run."

And no, this post isn't just an excuse to link to pictures of Heather during happier times.  We don't go for that kind of low brow stuff here.

Exclusive IgglesBlog Mini-Camp Photo

Exclusive IgglesBlog mini-camp snapshot of Donovan McNabb giving pointers to Kevin Kolb as Jeremy Bloom looks on:

Bartrum Retires

End of an era.

I just realized something interesting about Bartrum's career.  He played one year with the Chiefs before going to the Packers in 1995.  They didn't keep him around, so he moved on to the Patriots, where he played from the 1996 through 1999 seasons.  Then he came to Philly, where he's been ever since.

Here's the thing.  If he could have hung on in Green Bay for one more year, he would have been a member of a Super Bowl winning team.  Instead, he went to New England, which actually was the team Green Bay defeated.  He stayed there for four years before signing with Philly, which for most players would have been a great organization to sign on with -- except that New England then went on to win three Super Bowl titles of its own.

I guess what I'm saying is, we're due.   

Thinking About Coaches

Hiring the Big Name Coach to save the franchise doesn't always work out.  In fact, a lot of times it's an absolute failure, because the conditions that fostered success in the first go 'round just aren't there in the second (see Gibbs, Joe). 

In fact, it was just a few years ago that some people thought the Eagles might be in trouble, now that Reid was going to have to match wits with two coaching legends and a hot coach of the minute six times a year. 

Didn't exactly work out that way.

With all of that said, there are still some guys you'd rather not see in your division, conference or AFC schedule rotation any more than you'd have to.  One of those coaches is Bill Cowher, who according to PFT is already preparing for his comeback:

A league source tells us that there is already talk in league circles that former Steelers coach Bill Cowher is planning his potential return to the NFL. Per the source, Cowher already has spoken with multiple teams about filling a potential vacancy in 2008.

The source also says that one of Cowher's demands will be full control over the football operations.

The teams, the source says, are believed to be the Browns, Redskins, and Panthers. Another league source confirms that Cowher has had at least one private discussion with Redskins owner Daniel Snyder about the possibility of replacing Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, if Gibbs calls it quits after the 2007 season.

First of all, I think it would be GREAT if he went to the Redskins.  Braver men than he have already crumbled before the greedy meddler named Dan Snyder.  Hiring Cowher would also be a slap in the face to current Washington defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who is rumored to have a right of first refusal on the job negotiated into his contract.  Nothing like a little controversy to get things off on the right foot.

I'm sure Jerry Jones is sniffing around too, but the good news there is that he'd have trouble hiring Cowher unless first-year coach Wade Phillips completely stunk up the joint this year.  That alone might be worth it.

Which leads to the final team.  Which actually does worry me a bit.  The Giants are a talented bunch with a serious attitude problem and a coach no player respects.  Cowher could probably fix those latter two issues simply by walking into the locker room. 

I don't think he'd then be a lock to win the Super Bowl or anything -- although I'm sure that's how the New York media would cover his coronation -- but it's hard enough beating divisional opponents twice in one year, even when their coaches are martinets.  And could a long-time Steelers coach really go back and coach the Cleveland Browns?

Typical Peter King Stupidity

Here we go again.  SI writer Peter King ranks all the starting quarterbacks in the NFL.  I'm pasting his top 12 below.  Why top 12, you ask?  Let's see:

1 – P. Manning
2 – T. Brady
3 – D. Brees
4 – C. Palmer
5 – M. Bulger
6 – M. Hasselbeck
7 – V. Young*
8 – P. Rivers*
9 – J. Kitna *
10 – J. Cutler*
11 – T. Romo*
12 – D. McNabb

And of course, here's the obligatory lame-ass reasoning:

It's not that I don't like Donovan McNabb. I do. I just don't trust him to stay healthy. I rank the Eagles' QB 12th because I have no confidence that McNabb, at 30 and having missed a combined 13 games over the last two years, will be upright in December.

So that's why he's got him ranked below five guys who haven't even been starters for two years (that's what the stars mean).  Look, quarterbacks get hurt.  It's why the league has changed so many rules over the past few years to try to keep them healthy.  Palmer had a worse knee injury than McNabb, but I guess that wasn't enough to keep him out of the #4 spot.  Brees had an awful shoulder injury, and even dislocated his non-throwing elbow in last year's Pro Bowl, but he's not injury-prone either?

I'll give you Brady and Manning, however.

Oh, and he gives McNabb a "7" for intangibles.  He gave Favre an "8." 

Guess intangibles doesn't equate to not throwing stupid passes into triple coverage just when your team looked like might have a chance to come back and win.  And clearly it doesn't equate to veteran savvy, since Philip Rivers, AKA the Human Handoff Machine, also rates a 7.

King's a greater writer and I like his stuff, but he's got his head up his ass on this one.

Pardon the language.

A Wide Open Conference

The more you look around the NFC these days, the more it seems like there's almost no excuse for the Eagles not to be in the Super Bowl. 

Other than McNabb's health -- and we'll just make that it's own abbreviation, since it underlines every single point one could make about the Eagles this summer -- OTMH, the Eagles are the only team in the division without serious question marks at the two most important positions on the team. 

Quarterback: How will Tony Romo do in his second tour around the league, when teams have a chance to learn a QB's tendencies and exploit them?  Do the Redskins have an NFL-caliber starting quarterback on the roster?  Does Eli start to put it together this year or will things continue the way they have in New York?

Head coach: How can the Cowboys possibly be in better shape one year after losing a Hall of Fame coach?  Is this the year Gibbs finally realizes he's never going to catch back up to the league (although I put a lot more blame for that situation on the business side of the team)?  Can the Giants possibly find a reason to keep Coughlin around for another season after this one, just because it's so much fun watching him lose control of the locker room?

Even the schedule isn't that bad for the Eagles, as we saw last week. 

The rest of the conference really shouldn't be very threatening either.  I think there's a very good chance that the Seahawks have a bounce-back season and you can't count out teams like the Rams, Panthers or even the 49ers.  But right now you wouldn't look at any of those teams and say, wow, I just don't see how we can match up with them.

Of course, last year's two best NFC teams are still around, but these were flawed teams even a year ago.  The Bears then went on to have a horrible offseason.  It may not have equaled the T.O. drama we saw in the post-Super Bowl hangover time, but it was close.  And the team did nothing to improve it's number one problem, believing instead that what they have is good enough to get the job done.  As everyone seems to realize, this probably isn't the case.  (Note: probably not a good idea to suggest you'd like to see your QB replaced, Tommie.)

As for the Saints, by all accounts most people expect them to be just as good, if not better, this season.  Reggie Bush has a year of experience under his belt and ... well, what else do you need? 

Personally, I'm not seeing it though.  The Saints filled out their roster last year with a whole bunch of castoffs and undrafted free agents.  It's a credit to Payton that he got those guys to play as well as they did -- and to Drew Brees for making the whole thing work -- but they're simply not as talented as some of the other high-profile teams.  Look at this article discussing a few position battles and tell me you'd rather be in the Saints' situation:

Secondary

This is the most obvious spot as the duel between Fred Thomas and Jason David began as soon as David came to New Orleans from Indianapolis. Thomas will go to camp as the starter, but look for David to get increasingly more time with the first team.

Fred Thomas is simply no longer an NFL-caliber player.

The race between third-year starter Josh Bullocks and newly-signed Kevin Kaesviharn will be one to watch.  While Thomas became the scapegoat for many of the deep passing plays, Bullocks did his part to make Thomas look lost and toasted. Kaesviharn is a proven playmaker and could be shifted into the first team about the same time as David.

I like Kaesviharn, if only because he played in the AFL and the XFL, but "proven playmaker" is the NFL equivalent of MLB's "proven veteran."  Which means David Bell could be starting at safety for the Saints this year.

Wide Receiver

The names may not bowl you over, but the Saints have a slew of solid receivers going into camp.

Marques Colston is the undisputed No. 1 receiver, and an improved Devery Henderson seems well on his way to grabbing the No. 2 role. Veteran David Patten saw tons of action as the Saints' third wideout, and if his health holds up, Patten should fit in nicely at the slot.

Colston was a revelation last year as an unheralded rookie, but if I were the Saints I'd be worried about his steep dropoff in production after he hit the two-thirds point of the season last year.  He had some injury issues and he may just have hit the rookie wall, but it's also possible that teams started taking him more seriously once he proved he wasn't a flash-in-the-pan.  Henderson had 32 catches last season and Patten is an 11-year vet who was an enormous bust for the Redskins the last two seasons.  He had one reception last year.  There's a reason the Saints spent a first-round draft pick on a receiver...

That leaves Jamal Jones, Terrance Copper, Lance Moore, Rhema McKnight, Dante Ridgeway and first-round pick Robert Meachem to compete for probably two slots. Copper and Jones were the winners last season, but Moore's chances increased when Lewis got booted.

There's no doubt about Meachem making the team, so it realistically means only one of the bunch could be safe. Meachem has been an obvious disappointment thus far, but those troubles may decrease when he hits Jackson completely healthy.

Beware first-round draft choices who show up overweight. 

Defensive Tackle

No one is really safe in this group. Hollis Thomas signed a four-year deal a couple of months ago, but the team isn't thrilled with Hollis' weight issues. Brian Young had glimpses of solid play, but hasn't blown anyone away.

Hollis Thomas signed a big contract and then had weight issues?  No way!

Kendrick Clancy started 26 games the last two seasons with the New York Giants and in Arizona. Acquiring Clancy should be a wake-up call to both Thomas and Young.

Acquiring perennial underachievers generally does that?

Other Races

Brian Simmons and Mark Simoneau will battle for the starting middle linebacker gig. Simoneau proved to be solid, but bringing in Simmons from Cincinnati as the Saints' first free agent during the offseason shows the team is searching for an upgrade...

No comment.

Jamie Martin looks old and neither Jason Fife nor Tyler Palko will do. Drew Bledsoe is a definite possibility considering his ties to Sean Payton.

See what I mean?

College World Series Update

Phillies first-round draft pick Joe Savery pitched the Rice Owls to an easy 14-4 win yesterday over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second-round of the College World Series.  The Owls now just need to win one of their next two games to make it out of their side of the bracket to the championship series.

Savery hadn't pitched since June 3rd and wasn't particularly sharp.  But with the Owls clubbing around eight pitchers on the UNC staff, he didn't have to be.  Savery also went 2-4 at the plate, acting as his own DH, driving in one run and scoring another.  In fact, every Rice starter had at least one hit, one RBI and one run scored. 

Because We Don't Have Enough Quarterback Controversies

We're going to go ahead and import one more:

"I think there was a lot of anger within myself," the 37-year-old Garcia said, describing his feeling when the Eagles waived him goodbye after he led them into the playoffs last season as the very capable fill-in for the injured McNabb. "Here was finally a situation where I felt so comfortable and I felt like I had a good home and a good place, and I wanted to be able to experience more of that and, hopefully, not have to relocate all over again. That opportunity wasn't presented to me."

A few minutes later, Garcia gave a more abbreviated version: "I felt personally snubbed."

Given that the Bucs gave him $5 million this year, I think he ended up doing ok.

Halfway There

Jerry Rice used to run all the way to the end zone.

So did Marky Mark, if I recall the movie correctly.

You're Reading the Wrong Blog

If you're single, I have to tell you that you're reading the wrong blog.  He's even equal opportunity.

I'm guessing he goes to much better parties than I do.  Although I'm pretty sure that isn't a Jason Avant jersey...