Nobody Wants To Say Bad Things About Brian Dawkins

On his blog yesterday, Daily News columnist Rich Hoffman summed up the conventional wisdom on Brian Dawkins: He might be getting too slow. But look at all the recriminations beforehand:

I have to admit, up front, that my heart is not in this one. But you know, after the Dallas game, that people are now going to be asking the question if Brian Dawkins is done. I don’t think he is — but I honestly can’t decide if my judgment is being clouded by the fact that this is a conversation I just don’t want to be having. But here we are. Again, I don’t think he is done. But the conversation is a fair one at this point.

This is kind of the conventional wisdom on Brian Dawkins, too, incredibly: Eagles fans just don’t really want to complain about Brian Dawkins. Iggles Blog wonders if this is a Philadelphia first: “I’ve been racking my brain to come up with another time when Philly fans — as a whole — have been so loathe to complain about such an obvious slippage in on-field performance.”

Hmm, not sure, though one of those good-guy hockey types could have gotten away with it. But, hey, let it be known: If you say all the right things, play a little dirty and be one of the stalwarts of the defensive secondary for about a decade, Philadelphia fans will like you.

Has this ever happened before? [Iggles Blog]
The Dawkins Question [The Idle Rich]