Sep 19, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jason Peters (71) battles with Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Tamba Hali (91) during the game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
It's only June and I've already had my fill of quarter century lists for the year.
Just get us to 2026 already so we don't have to do these again for a few years when the inevitable "Best of the 20s" lists start to trickle in.
Yes, I'm sure some deep diver researcher who is holed up in his office for the next six months will put together a 250 greatest American moments thing just in time for the semiquincentennial celebration in a little over a year, but really, who wants to read that?
In the interim, we just have to survive another five-plus months of this quarter century nonsense, and then we can move on.
But while we're mired in this era of listicles and debates over them, let's point out an injustice, if for no other reason than it's fun to see Philadelphia sports fans get up in arms over the smallest national slight.
Today, ESPN unveiled it's all-NFL quarter century team, and devised it as if it was creating an actual 53-man NFL roster, including an additional 17-man practice squad (including one player from the International Player Pathway Program) and a head coach and top three coordinators (offense, defense, and special teams).
Now, the premise of this list was inherently flawed from the jump, because it's rooted in some fancy statistical measurements and secondly, doesn't take into account that just because a player was really good at his position as a starter that they would be really good as a backup/special teamer.
As such, guys who flourished in those reserve roles, where they were top special teams players, were excluded (except for a return specialist and a long snapper), meaning this isn't a way a good football executive would construct a team.
But, we're going to play along with this, even though I'm sure to be told that I'm making to much out of a fun experiment at a time of year that is traditionally light with good, engaging sports content, unless you are a seamhead baseball fan.
So be it.
There are many problems with the list. I won't dive into all of them here, but how you don't include Mike Evans or Larry Fitzgerald among receivers, Marshall Faulk or Adrian Peterson among running backs, or Patrick Willis among linebackers should automatically make the list fugazi.
Mike Evans ties Jerry Rice for the record with his 11th consecutive 1000+ yard receiving season on the FINAL PLAY of the game!! 🔥🔥
Everybody in the stadium knew that ball was going to Mike 😅
Watch the #NFL LIVE on ESPN! 📺 pic.twitter.com/PE4MxT1Xqc
This is what happens when your eyes are constantly fixated on spreadsheets and statistics and not, you know, actually watching the games being played.
But I don't want to carp about how this sausage was made too much. Instead, I want to look at this purely through the perspective of the Philadelphia Eagles.
After all, this is a team who has reached four Super Bowls and won a pair in the past 25 years, and aside from that, also reached four other NFC Championship games. There has to be a glut of Eagles on that list, right?
Uh...
They got Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson and Brian Dawkins. All deserving.
Do we count Terrell Owens as an Eagle when it was really just one incredible season that he had here and the rest of the numbers he posted that got him on the list came from multiple seasons in San Francisco, Dallas, Buffalo and Cincinnati?
(Admit it, you don't even remember he played for the Bills or Bengals, do you?)
Any other Eagles?
Oh, yeah, they put Jordan Mailata on the practice squad as the one member of that International Player Pathway Program, which, if we're being honest, seemed gratuitous.
That's it for the Birds.
Seem a little light to you? It does to me.
I can think of two other Eagles who deserved serious consideration. One of them is a slam dunk and the fact that he's not on the list is pathetic. The other, I think is more debatable, but the authors released a list of players that had under serious consideration but missed, and, well, he didn't make that list either.
Some of the players who got the most discussion but were not chosen:
Adrian Peterson, Marshall Faulk
Jordy Nelson, Mike Evans, Larry Fitzgerald
Jason Peters, Jonathan Ogden
Robert Mathis
Warren Sapp
Casey Hampton
Patrick Willis
Budda Baker, John Lynchhttps://t.co/eXMkYnBqbo
The two players - Jason Peters and Fletcher Cox.
Simply put, Jason Peters is going to be in the Hall of Fame. He was one of the most dominant tackles in the sport and was so for a very long time.
He was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection, twice named first team All-Pro and four times names second team All-Pro.
Did he hang around too long in the end? Yeah, sure. The later years in his career were marred with frequent injuries and excessive false start penalties, but for more than a decade, he was the best in the game at his position.
This isn't to say Joe Thomas and Trent Williams weren't/aren't also great left tackles, because they were/are, but Peters track record is better than Williams, who missed a bunch of games in his prime, and even sat out a year over a contract dispute, which has to count against him, right? Or does that not compute with the nerdy FTN Fantasy DYAR metric that was heavily relied on when picking this roster?
Peters didn't even end up on the practice squad, losing out to Walter Jones - who had eight great years with Seattle at the beginning of the century - and Mailata, who, as we pointed out, is getting added purely because he's an international player.
Not including Peters was egregious, I tell ya. Egregious!
As for Cox, he was a six-time Pro Bowl selection, a first team All-Pro in 2018, and a second-team All-Pro three other times. He also had 70 sacks in 12 seasons - as a defensive tackle, and not an edge rusher.
Now, I readily admit this was a tougher group to crack than what Peters faced at left tackle. I have no beef with Aaron Donald, Calais Campbell (although his numbers are ballooned because of longevity), or Chris Jones.
The two practice squad guys though are where Cox could have an argument. Cam Heyward was dominant for a stretch in Pittsburgh, but he was a bit of a late bloomer, much like Brandon Graham was for the Eagles. His first six seasons in the league were pretty non descript, but then he became a beast.
The other choice for this practice squad was Kevin Williams, who spent most of his career in Minnesota. He had two double-digit sack seasons right off the bat (one as an edge, before moving inside) and then was just consistent and durable thereafter. He played one more season than Cox, and had seven fewer sacks, total.
Now, being a defensive tackle isn't all about sacks, it's about controlling the running game, and those numbers are harder to measure individually, which is where the eye test comes in, and where I think Cox also has an advantage.
Wait, now that I think about it, Warren Sapp isn't on this list as a defensive tackle?
Bucs 50 Countdown
Greatest Play #457 : Week 11 2001
Warren Sapp bullies 3 Rams and pile drives Marshall Faulk into the AstroTurf. Straight up dominant rep from one of the very best interior D-lineman in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/5rLDQaeFvJ
What the - ?
Shut it down.
