LeSean McCoy ran for an Eagles-record 217 yards in the snow against Detroit on Dec. 8, 2013.
 The Eagles' Chip Kelly remains an embattled coach for trading running back LeSean McCoy, many questioning his reasoning and rationale for doing so, not to mention his ability to judge talent - since the return (linebacker Kiko Alonso) has been minimal thus far. The team hasn't capably replaced McCoy's offensive production, either, since DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, both free-agent pickups, have been A) a bust and B) out several weeks with a concussion. | Quick hitter today. Considering it revolves around a guy who can stop, start and cut on a dime, kinda seems appropriate. First things first, as a football player, always have liked LeSean McCoy. Talented and tough, he brought an All-Pro level of performance to the running back position for the Eagles during a large portion of his six-year career in Philly. He was clutch. He was sturdy. He was productive. Dangerous and durable. He was the quite the package. Maybe not the same kind of legendary, generational back that Wilbert Montgomery was for me and Steve Van Buren was for others, but, still, a very good, if not great, back - who actually surpassed the numbers produced in Eagles' green by the aforementioned. Frankly, he seemed almost the model athlete, at least in today's me-me-me world, for a while. Never heard much about his personal life until his last year or so here, and that’s always a good thing to me … because, really, when it comes to judging someone who gets paid handsomely for a living, it doesn’t really matter for the most part to me what they do as long as they’re not breaking the law or endangering lives. The clothes they wear, the cars they drive, the lousy personalities they unveil, the freaky-deaky parties they host or attempt to host, you know, whatever. Couldn’t give a rat’s ass one way or the other. Yep, far, FAR more interested right here in the tale about him sadly mistaken that he could take Michael Vick, even an aging Michael Vick, in a foot race and being proven wrong. But we digress … OK, so the racist claims against his former coach raised an eyebrow … but not much more than other comments McCoy made about Chip Kelly’s gotta-control-everything freakiness. Thing is, push comes to shove, it’s all blather and B.S. anyway. In this case, whining after the fact, too. Having been traded to the Buffalo Bills in the offseason, a deal Kelly handled with all the personal-touch aplomb one would expect from a half robot/half awkward individual, McCoy was hurt. Understandable. His “outbursts” against Kelly certainly were over the top and out of line, but, really, probably more silly and immature than anything else – with him making them, and others giving them so much credence and attention. Labeled by others as being seen as a “bad egg” in Kelly’s eyes, McCoy had been deemed expendable by the Eagles coach. No, it couldn’t possibly be that Kelly saw a significant dip in production from 2013 to 2014, when McCoy’s yards per carry dropped from 5.1 to 4.2 and his yards per reception from 10.4 to 5.5. No, not that. No way. Nor could it have been that Kelly just, plain and simple, preferred a different type of runner, or a had a different idea on how to run his offense aside from having McCoy being the high-usage feature back. Nope. Not a chance. Instead, a soap opera had to be created and promoted and continues to be endlessly drudged up every time there has been a chance to do so … all in order to justify a trade that many just couldn’t understand. Here’s the reality, though, folks. McCoy isn’t the player he was three, four years ago anymore, and your head coach isn’t the genius most of you believed him to be … because you hoped he would be. Many of you now grasp the latter, but the former is just as true. Still, McCoy, gotta like him as a player. Even now, he’s a quality back, and, really, that’s all that matters to me. Gonna take a pass on all the drama, though. - Jack Kerwin | ydkjack1@gmail.com |
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