Philadelphia–Saturday, the Eagles made a huge announcement concerning the franchise. Brian Dawkins was coming back into the nest. All of the City of Brotherly Love cheered when they heard the news that the man, known as Weapon X, is back after almost an eight year hiatus.
Since the mid 1990’s, Dawkins has been one of the most beloved figures in the team’s history for his passionate play that excited his teammates and fans. Those same fans were heartbroken when the team couldn’t match the offer that Denver made in 2009, where he wrapped up his career. During his first year in the Mile High City, he heard that a gate attendant at Lincoln Financial Field posted on social media how disappointed he was with the team for letting Dawkins leave; so in true Dawkins fashion, he gave his two allotted tickets to the attendant for the 2009 Eagles-Broncos game in appreciation.
While the Eagles did retire his number 20, one of 9 retired by the team, in 2012 against the Giants, he has had no official role with the organization since, he was a consultant to the current GM unofficially. Many of the sports writers had thought that he would make an excellent coach he was never afforded the opportunity.
After his playing days, he stayed close to the game coaching high school football and serving as an analyst for ESPN. Any true Eagles fan knew that he was itching to get back in the game in an officially.
That all changed last week when he was named the first recipient of the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship, a new program launched by the NFL aimed at introducing former players to player personnel and the duties of a scout. This might not sound like such a big deal to most but all you have to do is hear the passion in this man’s voice when he talks about football and the organization that he called home for most of his playing career. It would make anyone want to strap up the chin strap and go running out on to the field.
Weapon X just doesn’t want to be a scout he has ambitions to try out other roles in the organization. Maybe one day he could wind up being the GM of the team that drafted him out of Clemson in 1996. As he told Zack Berman of Philly.com, “It’s not just scouting, I’m trying to grasp the whole gambit of football operations _ how a team is run. I’m learning about the scouting part and the terminology and all those things. … I want to learn everything about running a football team.”
I, for one, say welcome back Mr. Dawkins and best of luck in your post playing career. Fly Eagles Fly
Check out some Brian Dawkins highlights below:
Video courtesy of (Youtube/Fath3rCar)
