Philly Phile | Yo, knock it off, not everyone said the same thing

by Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]

Well, everyone else said the same thing.

Wanted the same thing.

Felt the same thing.

Take your pick. They all fall under the “inability to own it” in life, especially when it comes to sports.

It never fails. Once predictions, hopes and/or vibes previously shared implode for all to see, rationales such as those above come out sans hesitation. Unfiltered and unfettered. From fans, print media, TV people and, holy cow, self-absorbed radio yakkers.

Hey, when the 76ers acquired renowned “dog” Andrew Bynum back in 2012, YOU were all on board. A year later, same thing when the Eagles got robotic oddball Chip Kelly to be their coach, YOU were all in. Oh, and when the Phillies put all their chips in the pitching basket, YOU definitely were down with that.

Remember?

Yeah, me neither.

Not for nothing, but that encasing yourself in a blanket of mass brain fart as a means of psychological protection or self-preservation in the “athletic realm expert” world is old, tired and flat-out lame. It’s also annoying as hell to those who never were part of the “everyone” group, but got lumped in just the same.

But we digress …

It’s time to let go of the silly Super Bowl chatter that blossomed last preseason and settled in the “still got hope” recesses of Eagles fans’ minds. The reality is, the team didn’t have the talent or coaching wherewithal to pull off such a successful run then and, considering the total reconstruction throughout the organization since, it doesn’t now, either.

So, as the calls for Carson Wentz begin to fade in the face of a “he’ll sit” mandate and the focus shifts to incumbent quarterback Sam Bradford, a word to the wise: Just mentally AND emotionally check out from references to his 10-for-10, 121-yard, two-touchdown effort in Game 3 of last year’s exhibition season, and please avoid feeling “comfort” in the concept that everyone saw the same brilliance.

They didn’t, and the sooner you come to realize that, the better off you and others like you forever beholden to building up championship fantasies will be.

Truth is, the hype and hyperbole that exploded off that outing wasn’t just ridiculous because it occurred in meaningless circumstance against an opponent that had no intention of putting up a fight. It was ridiculous because there wasn’t anything special, or Super, about it.

Go back and watch. Bradford, if anything, was exquisitely Bradford. Good, not great. Decent, not dominating.

He was, as usual, accurate and able to hit wide-open receivers. Oddly enough, on one play he did deviate from the norm, his norm, and took a chance … and it paid off, as he fired a ball toward the end zone while getting hit and connected with Trey Burton for a score. Here’s the rub: He wasn’t throwing it to Burton. His intended target on the play was since-departed Riley Cooper, but Burton cut in front and salvaged “six” from being a possible pick.

Hey, it worked out. Kudos. The Checkdown Charlie passes to the backs did, too. As did a couple 20-yarders to Jordan Mathews, one on point and one not, and a TD pass to Brent Celek on a busted coverage by the Packers.

But Bradford hardly was the second coming of Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Johnny Unitas all wrapped up into one, and his performance certainly wasn’t worthy of fueling such high expectations … by anyone.

Never mind everyone.

As “Street Kings” Det. Tom Ludlow said: “Own it. Effin own it.”

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It’s time to let go of the silly Super Bowl chatter that blossomed last preseason and settled in the “still got hope” recesses of Eagles fans’ minds. The reality is, the team didn’t have the talent or coaching wherewithal to pull off such a successful run then and, considering the total reconstruction throughout the organization since, it doesn’t now, either. So, as the calls for Carson Wentz begin to fade in the face of a “he’ll sit” mandate and the focus shifts to incumbent quarterback Sam Bradford, a word to the wise: Just mentally AND emotionally check out from references to his 10-for-10, 121-yard, two-touchdown effort in Game 3 of last year’s exhibition season, and please avoid feeling “comfort” in the concept that everyone saw the same brilliance. They didn’t, and the sooner you come to realize that, the better off you and others like you forever beholden to building up championship fantasies will be.