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The DiCecco Daily: Remembering Former Eagle Bryan Braman · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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Speaker 1: Hey, what's happening everybody? Welcome into this edition of Di
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Checko Daily. I am Andrew de Checko, and I want
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to do a part two of my Obscure Eagles that
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you remember for different reasons, whether or not they were
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in training camp, or whether or not they had roles
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during the regular season at various times. There's no wrong
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answer here. It's kind of fun to go down memory lane.
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And these are players who, for whatever reason, you remember.
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And I do want to get to an email here
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because someone sent in an email to Inside the Birds
0:42
at gmail dot com included linebacker Sean Barber. Wholeheartedly agree.
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Two thousand and two, Sean Barber was electric. They signed
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him to a one year deal when he was with
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the Washington at the time, Washington Redskins, and he was
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all over the field. If you remember that linebacker corps
1:00
was Levon kirkwins slash Barry Gardner at middle, weak side
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was Sean Barber, and strong side was Carlos Emmons, who
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I maintain is one of the most underrated linebackers in
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recent memory for the Phodolph Eagles. His ability to sort
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of erase tight ends. He had some really good battles
1:16
with Tony Gonzalez and him being six foot five and lengthy.
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I thought that he gave Tony Gonzalez some fits there.
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He also mentioned Sean Constanine Moses Fokou remember him seventh
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round pick out of Maryland. Chris Polk Bang bang, chicken
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and shrimp. That was what he said when he was
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on hard knocks with the Houston Texans. He was a
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running back out of Washington, went undrafted. Nauji Good the linebacker,
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of course, I remember him wide receiver Hank Basket and
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running back Ryan Motes.
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Speaker 2: Appreciate your weighing.
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Speaker 1: In Scott and those who want to kind of add
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to that, feel free to email Inside the Birds.
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Speaker 2: At gmail dot com.
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Speaker 1: I will raise your Ryan Motes with Bruce Perry, who
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the drafted in the seventh round out of Maryland. And
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Bruce Perry, I remember him being immensely undersized at five
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foot seven, and he saw that.
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Speaker 3: In training camp. But as he worked through the.
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Speaker 1: NFL over the last next couple of seasons, I thought
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that he got a little bit bulk heer, he added
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some muscle to his frame.
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Speaker 2: He was drafted in the seventh round in two thousand.
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Speaker 1: And four, spent the two thousand and four, five and
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six seasons with the Eagles and rounded out his playing
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career with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. But I
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do remember him suffering a very gruesome injury, and I
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want to say it was the preseason Hall of Fame
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game against the Raiders on kickoff, if I'm remembering this right,
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and it was a very serious concussion. I believe it
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was in two thousand and six, and that was a
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very scary situation, and Bruce Perry spent some time on
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the practice squad after that. At one point I believe
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he was converted to a cornerback and he was eventually
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released on seven in two thousand and seven, and that's
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really where his NFL career ended. But there are a
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number of other players that I wanted to get into
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here because it really sparked some interest.
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Speaker 2: And it seemed like I got got a lot of
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really good feedback on this podcast.
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Speaker 1: It's kind of fun something to kick around as we
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get towards training camp. How about Artist Hicks, the offensive
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lineman from Memphis from the early Andy Reid era of
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the two thousands. He started the Super Bowl in four
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but this was an undrafted free agent from Memphis in
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two thousand and two. I believe he was the only
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undrafted free agent to make the roster that year and
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ended up carving out a pretty good career for himself.
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He appeared over one hundred games, started a bunch, and
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bounced around to a number of different teams. I think
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he was a classic example of development under one castile
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and they saw something in him and he played in
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some pretty big games for the Eagles. And how about
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safety Clinton Hart. Many may not remember Clinton Hart, but
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really good story. He began his career playing for the
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Tallahassee Thunder of the AF two. Then he graduated to
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the Arena Football League and played for the Tampa Bay Storm,
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and then it was back in the two thousand and
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two season, he was signed to the Eagles practice squad,
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makes the team in two thousand and three out of
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training camp and starts nine games in that three season.
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If you remember, Brian Dawkins sustained an injury and it
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was Clinton Hart who filled in at safety. But I
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remember that very vividly, and so when you look at that,
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he had a really good career because he played for
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the Chargers for a while, he found a role there
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as a starter. His last season was in two thousand
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and nine. He signed late with the Rams that year.
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But I think when you really look at it, this
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is a player who began his career in the Arena
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Football League and carved out an NFL career for himself.
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That's something that I always remember. I believe he wore
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number thirty three. A rangey type of player, and those
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are kind of fun stories to think back on. What
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about linebacker Quinton Caver with the Eagles drafted out of
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Arkansas in the second round in two thousand and one,
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they went Freddie Mitchell and then they won Quinton Caver.
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Speaker 2: He did not play in a bunch of games for
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the Eagles.
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Speaker 1: He was somebody that I had, and I'm sure the
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Eagles did as well, had some high hopes for but
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for whatever reason, never quite panned out. You see the
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size at six four, two forty one. You compare that
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to what Jeremiah Trotter was. You think that you're getting
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a player who can step right in and give the
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Eagles some stability there at that position.
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Speaker 3: But he played just really one season with.
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Speaker 2: The Eagles, eleven games.
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Speaker 1: He split time in two thousand and two, between two teams.
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So he's with the Eagles for a little bit, played
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in six games there or five games with the Eagles
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in two thousand and two, one with the Kansas City Chiefs,
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and then he stuck around with the She's for a
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couple of seasons three and four, and then by two
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thousand and five he appeared in eight games with the
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Cowboys and that was it.
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Speaker 2: For his career.
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Speaker 1: Kind of fizzled out after that, and that really set
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the stage for what was to come. That Matt McCoy
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in the second round and obviously that didn't pan out.
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Speaker 2: That was back in two thousand and five.
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Speaker 1: Remember Nate Wayne and Mark Simonel holding down the linebacker
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situation for a while. It was dire straits for many
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years for the Eagles. Barry Gardner at middle linebacker, Levon Kirkland,
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Sean Barber, which Scott mentioned in the email. And then
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you look at what the Eagles have right now and
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Zach Bond, Jehad Campbell, Na Kobe Dean, Jeremiah Trotter, Junior,
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Smile Mondon, It's just it pales in comparison when you
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look at the earlier Andy Reid years to where they're.
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Speaker 2: At right now you should feel really good about that.
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Speaker 1: But Quentin Caber was a player that I was thinking
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about last night whatever happened to and that kind of
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got the wheels turner for me. So he's definitely a
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player that I thought of when I was compiling my list.
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Speaker 2: Rishard Cook, the safety.
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Speaker 1: This is a player you often see the two Eagles
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secondary posted on social media. I thought he was one
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of the more underrated players in that room. He had
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a very memorable sack. I think it was in the
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two postseason game against the Bears. He sacked Jim Miller.
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He's come up with some big time plays. His career
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was very short, but I thought he was a very
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critical piece, a rotational piece for Jim Johnson and somebody
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who I thought that they could plug in and you
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can utilize him as a blitzer. He was always around
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the football and he was a core special teamer. And
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he played in forty seven games, started three, all with
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the Eagles. This is a guy who was a six
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round pick in nineteen ninety nine of the Chicago Bears.
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His career only lasted four seasons. I don't know if
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you can remember back to three. I think it was
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a Monday Night football game. Might have been the Steve
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Sperrier game where he's dealing the duck lips and he's
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sort of like looking exasperated, looking up for some sort
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of help. I think that was the game where Rashard
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Cook suffered a knee injury. He might have been an
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acl and he never really returned as the same player,
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and that was really for him. But for the minimal
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amount of time that he was an NFL player, that
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was somebody that I always thought was underrated and somebody
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whom Jim Johnson clearly had a lot of trust in.
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For those wondering, Rochard Cook is the head football coach
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at matter Day Catholic in San Diego.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I said that he's still around the game.
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Speaker 1: And I actually had a chance to talk to Richard
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Cook when I was working on some quotes for a
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Jim Johnson commemorative piece, and he offered a ton of
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insight into Jim Johnson, the man beyond the coach. So
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Rashard Cook was obviously a player that was that I
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wanted to get into. Here's a wide receiver that I
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think if you're a hardcore follower of the Eagles you
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may remember him. But this is a wide receiver by
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the name of Michael Gasperson. I remember him being this
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big bodied wide receiver six foot five or six foot four.
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Went to San Diego State and he was an undrafted
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for agent signing of the Eagles in two thousand and five.
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It seemed like he was on the practice squad for
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a couple of different seasons. Played for the Cologne Centurions
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of the NFL Europe, and he played in one game
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and for all the time that he was on the Eagles,
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I think it was from two thousand and five to
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two thousand and seven in different capacities. I remember there
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was a game against the Saints in the seventh season.
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He finally gets his opportunity. He might have even been
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utilized as a tight end because he had such a
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big frame. I don't even think they used him as
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a wide receiver, but he was out in the flat.
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Donald McNabb. This is like a short pass, maybe five yards.
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He gets his opportunity and it climbs off of his
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hands and I believe maybe even been The next day
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he was released and he was never really heard from again.
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He had to work out with the Seattle Seahawks in
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two thousand and eight. But as far as that, that
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was it for Michael Gasperson's career. But you remember seeing
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the flashes and training camp, and the fact that he
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hung around as long as he did suggested that he
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was like what he saw. At least he had the
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dimensions to give defensive backs some trouble or unique looks
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in practice. But another player that I sort of think
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about now that I'm mentioning Michael Gasperson is wide receiver
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Bill Sampy, who was pretty much a practice squad receiver,
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never appeared in a regular season game. Undersized but very fast.
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He went to Louisiana Lafayette, maybe he was six and seven.
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I believe he stuck around on the Eagles practice squad.
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He got hurt a lot, I do remember that, but
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there was some intrigue there with him. Yeah, man, I'm
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going down memory lane for sure. Those are two players
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that I definitely remember. Bill Sampy were number thirteen, and
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I remember him being very fast and slighter build, maybe
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five to eleven, one hundred and ninety pounds, very quick,
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good route runner. While we're going down this path, how
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about Damian Douglas. Damian Douglas Number eighty two, he was
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the the up back and when Brian Mitchell was the
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Eagles kick returner.
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Speaker 2: Damian Douglas was a core special teamer for the.
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Speaker 1: Eagles under Andy Reid and he was a wide receiver
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obviously under Brad Childress.
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Speaker 3: He ended up going to the Kansas City Chiefs after that.
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Speaker 1: This is a fourth round pick, I want to say,
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out of UCLA, and I just remember him having two
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touchdowns in one game from aj Feey in the against
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the Buccaneers in the season finale. Not a lot was
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really known, and Damian Douglas never really had a huge career,
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but he was somebody that was obviously an impactful, impactful
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player for John Harball.
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Speaker 2: He also recovered the on side kick.
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Speaker 1: There was a game of two thousand and one against
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the Kansas City Chiefs and I remember Damian Douglas recovering
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at the onside kick in that game? Was it the
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pickle Juice game as well? He may have recovered that
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kick too. So for someone who didn't really factor all
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that much into the Eagles plan as a wide receiver,
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he can clearly see that he was an ace gunner,
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good upback and I do remember for some reason I
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always remember him getting into shoving matches with opposing teams,
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particularly with the New York Giants and at the time
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the Washington Redskins those divisional games. He told me when
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I spoke to him maybe five six years ago, as
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I was chronicling the Pickle Juice game, that he really
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thrived off of Brian Mitchell, and Brian Mitchell had this
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fiery person out and he was always getting after it
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and talking a lot of smack before games, and Damian
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Douglas often found himself a part of that because he
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was there when the specialists were working out. And so
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Damian Douglas appeared in fifty two games over four seasons,
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only caught fourteen passes on twenty eight targets three touchdowns
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as I remember it was in two thousand and one
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he caught two from aj Feey. But after that he
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never really surfaced again. But as we go down memory lane,
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I think a couple other guys linebackers, Tank Daniels, Tracy White,
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another good special teamer, was very fast, never really factored
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in defensively. Dallas Reynolds. Dallas Reynolds was around for a
13:12
while BYU. He was the old school version of Brett Toth.
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Because Brett Toath has had steng power in the NFL,
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he's played in the regular season games. He's mostly been
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on the practice squad, but kind of like, kind of
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in that mold, although Dallas Reynolds, also, like Brett Toath,
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appeared in regular season games. Dimitri Patterson, the cornerback, is
13:36
another player that I remember very well. But if you
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think back to Dimitri Patterson won, he carved out a
13:43
role as a significant piece on special teams and then
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he actually became a cornerback, like he started for the.
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Speaker 2: Eagles for a while.
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Speaker 1: Man was that nine. But I first remember him from
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watching the Kansas City Chiefs hard knocks and he they
14:00
made their team. He was one of the players that
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they chronicled he didn't get the phone call he made
14:04
the Kansas City Chiefs. Then he surfaces later on with
14:07
the Eagles, and I do remember him from that and thinking, oh,
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that's interesting. And then he carves out a role on
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special teams and then played.
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Speaker 2: In some games.
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Speaker 1: I distinctly remember a game the Eagles had against the Colts.
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I think be Asante Samuel had a couple of interceptions.
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Dimitri Patterson had a really good game.
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Speaker 3: But that might have been in like two thousand and nine.
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Speaker 1: And then another player, Well, we'll close off with this
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oj Attagway if you remember that was around the CJ.
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Gaddis era where they drafted him at a Clemson and
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everybody viewed him as the second coming of Brian Dawkins.
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I believe they selected him in the fifth round and
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he obviously never panned out for the Eagles. But I
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think oj Attagway and I also think of Sean Jones.
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And there's another safety that I'm forgetting. It was maybe
14:56
twenty eleven, Jared Page, that was his name. That's that
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Jared Page is another player. So the Eagles have really
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went through it at safety and to be where they're
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at right now with Reed blanket Ship, Drew mccoob, with
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Sidney Brown, Tristan McCollum, Andre Sam.
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Speaker 2: Maybe even Lewis Seine.
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Speaker 1: We talked about linebacker having a complete renovation over the
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years and having a different philosophical approach, but at safety
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they finally seem to have.
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Speaker 2: Found some stability there. But this was fun.
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Speaker 1: If anybody else wants to weigh in on it, we'll
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keep this thing going and we'll do a part three.
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But this has just been one of those fun type
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of topics that I was kicking around with training camp.
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Speaker 3: Around the corner.
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Speaker 1: We've already highlighted position battles and we went through a
15:40
number of different topics. This is something that kind of
15:43
sparked my idea. As I was driving, I got some
15:46
different names in mind, and then I seeing Scott's email.
15:49
He seemed to really dig the podcast. I've got a
15:50
lot of really good feedback on it. If you have
15:53
any names you want to add to the list. Inside
15:57
the Birds at gmail dot com is the email to
15:59
get involved in the conversation, and that might compel me
16:02
to do a third installment of this series. And I
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also want to mention some tough news that was handed
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down this morning. Former Eagles linebacker Brian Brayman passed away
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after battling an aggressive form of cancer, and he was
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diagnosed with cancer back in February. Brian, of course, is
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a Super Bowl champion. He was a part of the
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twenty seventeen Eagles and one of the best special teamers
16:26
that I've ever seen. He brought a ferocity, he brought tenacity,
16:31
he brought attitude, and he made a ton of plays
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and he was a critical component for the Eagles third phase.
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And if you aren't familiar with Brian's story, he overcame
16:42
a lot of obstacles earlier in his career, had a
16:44
very unique story and I think if you have a
16:47
chance to go back and check out the story, which
16:49
I believe is on Philly mag I posted it on
16:52
my x account where it sort of chronicles his upbringing
16:56
and some of the challenges that he had to overcome
16:59
through his career to get to the NFL.
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Speaker 2: It's really inspiring.
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Speaker 1: So rest in peace to Brian Brayman, and my thoughts
17:06
in condolences go out to the Brayman family.