The script called for raw emotion, real energy and the kind of passion that would inspire a fan base and take words on paper and inject them into the hearts and souls of Eagles fans.
The script called for Brian Dawkins.
It's Time to Work is the name of the video released in the last week, a collaborative effort from the Eagles to help kick off the 2015 season. The Eagles have had great success with these videos in the previous two years -- John Doman from The Wire voiced What Brotherly Love Truly Means in 2013 and Bradley Cooper was the voice of 2014's Everything and More.
Dawkins was the choice this season, and he delivered.
"It was cool. A cool experience," Dawkins said after he read the script to a captive audience in a Denver recording studio in July. "The script was something that had emotion and that I could add to, and I felt good doing it. In my post-playing career here, I'm working with my voice, using it a lot more. This was a first, though. And to do this kind of project, it takes me back to being in the locker room with my guys, with my teammates. I always loved that, always loved that. It was all about emotion when I played and it was like that here."
Dawkins, of course, delivered epic speeches to his teammates. Sometimes they were impromptu, in the heat of a game, when he felt he had something his team needed to hear. Sometimes they were delivered more to push the right buttons during a work day. And other times he pulled a teammate to the side to speak the truth and guide.
In It's Time to Work, Dawkins followed the path of his own career. He worked past the limits, pushed himself to greatness. The read, then, came naturally.
"I wanted to be real. It was not fake at all. I read the lines and I took myself back into the locker room with Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor and Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard and those guys," Dawkins said. "I felt like I was talking to them, talking to them from a different place, but still from my heart. I tried to take the words to my heart and then use my heart and hopefully that comes through with the script.
"I'm excited to see how it looks when it's completed and how it is received by the fans and the team. The Eagles will always be my teammates. Anything I can do to help my teammates win, I'm happy to do it. Some guys don't need anything to get them pumped up. Some guys take those little things and get a boost. I know the fans are fired up about the season and I'm glad to be part of it. If my voice can help take things to another level, I'm all for it."
Mission accomplished. It's Time to Work has been received tremendously well by Eagles fans just in time to push the passion level to the greatest heights for the 2015 season ahead.
