Monday 24 August 2009

Michael Vick to appear in Eagles game




Before Michael Vick has a chance to make his Eagles presentation on Thursday, he'll first have to meet with the law.ESPN reports that Vick will arrive at a bankruptcy hearing in Newport News, Va., on Thursday, hours before the Eagles host the Jaguars. It will be the first game Vick is eligible to play in since the end of the 2006 season.Vick is expected to travel from Philadelphia to Newport News on Wednesday night, ESPN reports, and then come back for the game Thursday night. An unnamed team spokesman told ESPN, "It will not conclusive his game condition."

Sunday 23 August 2009

Did McNabb recruit his Eagles successor in Michael Vick?


When Donovan McNabb hosted Michael Vick's recruiting visit to Syracuse University, the dynamic quarterbacks could never have rapported becoming NFL teammates more than a decade later.But thanks to McNabb's change recruiting, this time lobbying Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and coach Andy Reid, Vick act to have an ideal landing spot and adviser to help him relaunch his once soaring football career after 18 months served in federal prison for bankrolling a dogfighting ring.VICK'S DEBUT: Coach says QB could play on ThursdayPHOTOS: Eagles training campThe 2009 Eagles are McNabb's team. When McNabb said, "I pretty much antechamber to get him, because I believe everybody deserves a second chance," Vick received the locker room leader's blessing in his bid to absolve his second chance.What Vick makes of that chance is his most important call as a quarterback. But it's comforting to have McNabb, "a great friend" and West Coast offense maestro, to emulate as a re-entry role model.FIND MORE STORIES IN: Super Bowl Philadelphia Eagles National Football League Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Michael Vick Terrell Owens Donovan McNabb Andy Reid ESPN Brian Westbrook Rush Limbaugh Syracuse University Kevin Curtis Desean Jackson NFL Films Jeffrey Lurie Solomon Wilcots Brian Baldinger Sirius Satellite Radio"I thought this was the absolute condition, the perfect scenario," Vick said. "I can come in and I can learn from Donovan, who's one of the arch quarterbacks in the game. Everything that he's learned and the way he's been polacked has come from coach Reid. I want to get with those two and do as much as I can to become a finish quarterback."PETS BLOG: Boycott football because of anger over Vick?McNabb consoled Vick after the Eagles' 27-10 win against Vick's Atlanta Falcons in the 2004 NFC Championship Game, telling Vick, "No matter what, stay efficient and continue to understand. … Your chance is going to come."It's now come a new for a three time Pro Bowler. But Vick hasn't played in two years. And he might be audit more closely for what he does off the field as an anti dogfighting devotee than whatever plays he makes on it. "There's no room for error on Michael's part," Lurie said. "There's no third chances."Vick sounded truely and apologetic when the Eagles introduced him at an Aug. 14 news conference."Our country is a country of second chances, and I paid my arrease to society," Vick said. "I spent two years in bond away from my fiancĂ©e, my mom, my family, away from my kids. That was a humbling experience. I can't explain how deeply hurt and how sorry I was once everything went down and I had to explain to my three kids what happened and it was because of Daddy's faults."I just want to say I asked them for a second chance to be a better father."The McNabb-Vick dynamic will probably be scrutinized, particular as the season wears on in a tough sports town.Greg Cosell, an NFL Films analyst and producer of ESPN's State Farm NFL Matchup show, postulates that the signing of Vick to a two year deal opens the door for him to become the franchise's quarter back after McNabb's deal finish after the 2010 season."I think Michael Vick was brought in to be their quarter back in 2011. It's like they just drafted this kid in the first round," Cosell says. "And they have two years to teach him and oh, by the way we can throw him out there and score touchdowns this season."I don't think they signed Vick and will pay him $5.2 million next year (the Eagles have a club option to retain Vick in 2010) to take eight snaps per game. He's going to be their quarterback. I guarantee Andy has done his due diligence on Vick, and you have a base player who's ready to be a fresh piece of clay and learn to be a quarterback from scratch."Much might depend on whether McNabb can lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl crown in the next two years with Vick likely deployed as a situational weapon aligned with Brian Westbrook in the backfield or flanked by speedy wideouts DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis and rookie Jeremy Maclin.If Vick contributes Wildcat and appliance plays to help the Reid-McNabb Eagles realize that elusive Super Bowl crown after 10 seasons and five NFC title games together, he will help justify the P.R. risk Lurie and the franchise are taking."I think Donovan wants to be known as a guy who gave Michael Vick a second chance, bigger and absorbed than pro football," NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger says. "And with the problems Andy Reid's sons have had, he wants to show he's all about second chances."Lurie will judge Vick by his actions, not yards. "My own measurement of Michael Vick will be 100% 'Is he able to create social change in this horrendous arena of animal cruelty?' " Lurie said."That's it. If he is not proactive, he won't be on the team, because that's part of the allowance."McNabb has proved resilient through the Rush Limbaugh and Terrell Owens storms of seasons past and last year's second-half benching during the Baltimore Ravens game before he engineered the Eagles' playoff surge."Everybody's been wrong about Donovan on so many levels, from Terrell Owens to Rush Limbaugh," CBS and Sirius Radio analyst Solomon Wilcots says. "Donovan has a very strong family background, a strong father and mother. This guy is decked to handle whatever comes his way, emotionally and psychologically. That strong family background is what Michael Vick never had."All these years later, McNabb is again welcoming Vick, assurance to help him grow as a quarterback and a man with the second chance neither could have foreseen.

Tuesday 4 August 2009

Eagles releases a new radio channel

Eagles iheartradio channel launched July 31st. The channel is set to include station host and band guitarist Joe Walsh offering anecdotes on his early days in music, with topics ranging from destroying hotel rooms to poignant recollections of the Kent State shootings. Music from the Eagles themselves will also be featured on occasion, accompanied by behind-the-scenes stories about the songs.