Quit Crying

Look, I like TO. I just do.

For whatever reason, I am able to put his antics in a bucket labeled “antics”- and walk away from it. I don’t believe for a minute he is why the team is 4-4. In fact, he might be the big reason they ain’t 2-6. Now, of course, he isn’t challenging my manhood and competence in the newspapers- I might feel different then.

For the first time, I totally do not approve or really understand of the Eagles’ approach to this guy. I never had a problem with the “TO Gamble” from Day One. And I still don’t. If the gamble lays the regular season groundwork for a franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance in like forever, if the gamble plays the biggest game of his life while risking his entire career on a leg everyone, and I mean everyone, said shouldn’t be played on, if the gamble right now is arguably- even disgruntled- the teams’ best player, if the gamble was achieved with a well below market contract, if the gamble was a player acquired with no real cost… well, it might not be a success- but it is worth trying.

If I were the owner Lurie, I would sit the key players in the Eagles’ power structure. I would back them up on the initial suspension- but then coldly remind them of a few things:

1. First and foremost, it is hard to win. Get that- hard to win. Bore it into your skulls- Banner and Reid and McNabb. Every single snap, they are a Donovan McNabb injury away from having to start all over again. You gotta strike while it is there. Can the Eagles realistically win a Super Bowl right now? No. But they can win the NFC. They can win two games in a row against anyone in the NFC. Atlanta is not Indianapolis. The Eagles beat San Diego- a pretty classy AFC outfit. So they gotta try- give themselves a puncher’s chance in January just by showing up with #5 in the biggest games in sports. You don’t get this close often. Look at the division- three teams mired for years and years in awfulness. Just how far do you think you guys are from that wilderness?

2. The guy risked his career in the Super Bowl. Maybe they don’t owe TO. But they could.

3. The guy is great. Seriously, Hall of Fame good.

4. It isn’t like he killed anyone. Hurt anyone. Took drugs. I hate Drew Rosenhaus- but he’s dead right here. There are guys in the NFL who do things a lot worse to the community and teammates. Calling people names is boorish behavior- but it is ultimately no big deal. Seriously, just how bad do you really want to win guys? Bad enough to take some barbs from a guy no one believes has a clue.

5. Maybe guys you ought to consider six words of advice: Shut up & deal with it. The team, the fans, the organization- we all accepted this calculus. Now you want to beg out because your feelings are hurt. I thought the reason we invested all this time, effort and money in building a class organization was to deal with adversity? Did that change? Did I miss a memo? The key victims all make millions of dollars. Some make $5 million per year. Cope.

6. It is only eight more weeks.

7. Whatever problems TO has, they ain’t on-field ones- insofar as his actual playing goes. Even at his sulking worst, the guy is still an elite player. He tries even when they're getting hammered- he’s made big plays to spark rallies in games when the Eagles were getting smashed. Without him, the Eagles can’t score thirteen against the .500-level Redskins.

Accordingly, the Eagles ought to be looking for ways to put the guy on the field, rather than making excuses why they can't. Ultimately, it is in TO’s best interest to play- and the Eagles to let him play. C’mon, the guy is nuts, we all knew going in that extreme stickiness was the price of his services. But this is not a crisis- it is dealing with a jerk. It is only a crisis if you let it be.

So put your helmets and headsets on, use your millions of dollars to soothe your egos, and let’s get after Dallas. I promise, bring TO back, beat Dallas and the Giants- and 90% of this flack goes away. Again. Lose to Dallas & the Giants- then do whatever you want with TO. But the Eagles are still in this. They have an obligation to people like me, who pay hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars to watch the games, to put the team with the best chance of winning out there- not the team that feels the most jolly together.