Think back to when you were ten years old. Now think about what your interests, hobbies and life were like. Was there someone besides a family member you looked up to? An actor or actress, an athlete, someone in the business world, a writer, etc? I’m sure almost everybody can remember someone they thought was their “hero.” Mine is easy, it was Eagles hall of fame safety Brian Dawkins.
I started rooting for the Eagles in 2000, when I was ten years old, after I saw my older brother and father watching games throughout that season. I was enamored with the team and the sport. But one player, Dawkins, always stood out to me. As I grew older and watched the Eagles compete and lose in NFC Championship games and the Super Bowl, I grew to respect Dawkins more and more. Here was a guy, who by all accounts, seemed like one of the calmest individuals I have ever seen off the football field. However, once Sunday rolled around and he strapped the pads on, he was something else, he was an animal, he was Weapon X as he came to be known. I ate it up, every minute of every game he played in. The intensity boomed off the screen more than any other player I watched or have watched since. To me, that was admirable. In a sport where guys take plays off left and right, Dawk was a guy who not only didn’t take plays off, but sacrificed his body time and time again for the good of the team. Not many players I’ve watched have ever given that type of endless intensity.
Not only did Dawk have that burning desire, but unlike many of his peers, he was exceptional off the field. As far as I know, he was class personified. Dawk never got into any legal trouble, never got in trouble with the league, showed a remarkable amount of respect when he was called upon for his press conferences and was a leader of the highest caliber. Usually, the quarterback is the leader of a team, especially the good ones. If the leader is a defensive player, it’s usually a middle linebacker. Not for the Eagles and not for Dawk. If you watched those successful Eagles team, there is no doubt who their leader was. It was the man who came crawling out of the tunnel every Sunday on all fours. The man in the middle of the pregame huddle giving a speech. All of this endeared him to myself, a diehard Eagles fan living in the heart of Patriots country, as well as to the city of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia sports fans, mainly Eagles fan, have a bad wrap in the national media. What most of those media members do not understand is that the city actually does not expect a lot out of it’s athletes. What the city expects is simple. Play your heart out, give everything you have every minute you are on the field and respect the fans. Dawkins embodied that, which is probably why he is the most beloved athlete in Philadelphia. When Dawkins got his jersey retired by the Eagles a few years ago, I knew I had to be there. I was in college in PA at the time, but grabbed one of my buddies, my trusty black Dawk jersey, and headed out to Lincoln Financial Field for that Sunday night game against the Giants.
A few of my friends declined to go because tickets were over $200 and we were college students after all. But for me, the decision was easy. There’s no amount of money on earth that isn’t worth spending on seeing your childhood hero run out of that tunnel one more time. Our seats were right above the tunnel and just as he always did when he played, he came out of the fog on all fours looking like he could knock somebody out that night. That may have been the best $200 dollars I’ve spent in my whole life.
Dawkins was just a special guy in my world. Before every high school and college game I ever played I had a Dawk pump speech play on my ipod. When the Eagles were in the Super Bowl this year, it wasn’t a Carson Wentz or Malcolm Jenkins jersey I was dawning, it was my black Dawk jersey.
Shortly after the Super Bowl, I found myself in Royersford, PA for my college roommate’s birthday. At the party, for some reason I opened my phone and checked my email. Dawk was doing an autograph signing along with about ten of the Super Bowl Champion Eagles. I had to go. So fighting an intense hangover, I got in the car, drove to the mall, paid 150 bucks for the autograph ticket and specialized football for him to sign and waited 3 hours in line to come up and meet him. Despite having key members of the Super Bowl champions at the signing, Dawkins line was easily the longest, a testament to how the Eagles fans view this man. He was awesome, down to earth, chatting it up with fans, singing whatever was brought to him and taking pictures, even though he was long past his allotted time slot. When it was my turn, I simply gave him a handshake and said “thank you,” snapped my picture with him and was on my way. My friends laughed at me, but again, 3 hours of my life well spent. A hall of famer on and off the field, no doubt.
Unfortunately, I could not go to Canton to see him receive his gold jacket due to work, but I watched his speech after the fact. Once again, just as the man always has and probably always will do, he delivered. The speech was remarkable and if you haven’t heard it, it will be the best thirty minutes of your week. His career is now sadly over. He stepped down from his role in the front office after the Super Bowl, the best ending he could probably have ever hoped for. I don’t know what he’s doing next, maybe just going to watch Brian Dawkins Jr play at his alma mater, Clemson. Whatever he does, he’s earned it. But, I hope he knows how many people, myself included, he inspired. From kids to adults, male or female, he inspired a city.
By: Peter Gumas
1204 Sports 