How many turns is this crazy year going to take? Doesn't matter to me, as long as the final one is down Broad Street onto Pattison Avenue and Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb are holding the Lombardi Trophy high on a cold day to remember forever. Certainly, I have never, ever, never been part of a series of moves so unpredictable for the Eagles. Jeremiah Trotter is an Eagle again??? Are you kidding me?
Then again, so many of the moves made since the start of the off-season came out of left field. Brian Dawkins left to join Denver in free agency. The Eagles traded cornerback Lito Sheppard and wide receiver Greg Lewis. They signed Stacy Andrews in free agency and then traded for left tackle Jason Peters prior to the draft.
And in the draft, the Eagles moved up in the first round and selected a wide receiver? Not sure I ever thought that would happen. Ever.
Not to be outdone, the team saved the whopper of a series of huge moves for the preseason when they came out of nowhere and signed quarterback Michael Vick to a two-year contract.
Stunning.
So maybe this out-of-the-box thinking is just the way it is around here. The Eagles weren't exactly conservative over the years, and they have made headlines and they have been aggressive and they have done things you really didn't expect -- see Terrell Owens trade, circa 2004 for proof -- but this year it has been one looping shot to the jaw after another.
You know, teams always say they will look under rocks for players. They will do anything to find a player who can help the roster and aid a team win a Super Bowl. The Eagles are living proof of that, folks. To add Trotter, the Eagles went to the broadcast booth, the one at Sportsradio WIP, to be exact, where Trotter was earning a paycheck biding his time and hoping for the phone call that eventually came.
Let me share a story with you: I hosted an "Eagles Kickoff Party" on the Thursday before the opener against Carolina at Lincoln Financial Field. It was a very nice outing for some of the premium Eagles clients, who were enthusiastically awaiting the start of the regular season. I had the honor of moving the night along as the emcee and Trotter was one of the guests of honor. To begin the night, Eagles Chairman/CEO Jeffrey Lurie and Team President Joe Banner said a few words to the fans to thank them for their support and to share in the excitement of another season starting. As Lurie and Banner arrived, they shook hands around the table at which I was seated.
Lurie leaned in to Trotter and said, "Stay in shape."
Trotter looked up and acknowledged what Lurie said.
"I mean it," said Lurie.
He did mean it, clearly.
The Eagles want more than they are getting from the middle linebacker position. That much is certain. When Stewart Bradley was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the Eagles lost a three-down linebacker who is physical enough to play downhill and bust up a running game and a player who is agile enough to cover from sideline to sideline. Bradley is a hard-to-find linebacker, and his loss was, obviously, devastating.
From the moment Bradley was injured, the Eagles have searched for help. The signed Matt Wilhelm in training camp, but Wilhelm didn't play the kind of physical football they wanted and he didn't make the 53-man roster. Joe Mays started in the preseason and is a promising player, but he is not, in the eyes of the coaching staff, ready to assume a major role in the middle of the defense. Omar Gaither had a tremendous game on Sunday in the win over Kansas City, but Gaither's game is more finesse than physical. He is only 238 pounds and the fear of wearing down little by little is very real. Gaither is going to play a lot of football and should continue to be the starter here.
What is Trotter's role? I don't know. Time will tell. My educated guess is that he will immediately be asked to play physical, emotional, intense football and help the run defense. He is still 262 pounds, has a fresh body after not playing since 2007's cup of coffee in Tampa Bay and is going to treat this last chance at football as the most important thing in his life. Talk about a player appreciating the privilege of playing in the league. Talk about a player having a "last shot" at playing the game that he loves.
It's almost surreal, isn't it? Trotter is back. What number he wears, well, he and Tracy White will have a conversation, I'm sure. Instantly, the tempo on the defense increases. The crowd at Lincoln Financial Field against Tampa Bay is going to have an extra charge of fuel with the Axeman back in town. Trotter is going to treat this moment in time as something special, I know that.
Will he help the team? If he is as healthy as the Eagles think he is after two workouts and a physical, he should help. I can't imagine that Trotter will play 60 snaps a game. I don't see him playing 40, even. He is going to be a situational linebacker who has to earn his time. Offensive coordinators are going to line up players to get Trotter in space and force him to cover in the passing game. A full season-plus out of the league has to have dulled some of Trotter's instincts, and nothing the Eagles can do in the next two weeks will bring those back. It will take time, if he ever gets them again.
This is another in a series of moves that have made this one of the most bizarre, enjoyable and, hopefully, fruitful times of player acquisition in, maybe, forever.
Trotter is here, again, and if anybody out there saw this coming a few months ago, well, you see the future much better than I. Welcome back, Trot. Come back and help the Eagles win the Super Bowl they should have won years ago with you as the starting middle linebacker.
