DeSean Jackson Opinion

In my opinion, DeSean Jackson deserves to be paid and remain a Philadelphia Eagle. Jackson is in his fourth season in the NFL and all four have been with the Eagles. I thought it was messed up how the Eagles did not take care of their own before going out and signing so many free agents this year. I was so happy to hear that the Eagles signed my favorite defensive player Nnamdi Asomugha from free agency, but I still think that DeSean should have received a new contract. I was happy to see the signing of defensive end Jason Babin and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, but the signing of New York Giants wide receiver Steve Smith pissed me off because he signed a four deal and is making more money then Jackson. Steve Smith is getting paid more then four times what Jackson is and Smith is sitting on the sideline this year. DeSean held out of training camp in order to show that he wanted a new deal. I think Jackson should get paid because he is already the Eagles franchise record holder in punt return touchdowns, one of those coming in the game against the New York Giants for the win last year. Also Jackson lead all receivers in the NFL with an 24.5 yards per catch last year and on during the voting for the best players of the 2010 season, voted by the players, DeSean Jackson placed 29th overall. Last but not least, out of his first three years in the NFL he has made it to the pro bowl twice.

Will Desean get paid?

Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles organization took a chance on drafting rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson from the University of California in the 2008 NFL Draft. They selected Jackson in the second round of the draft because of his speed and diversity. DeSean was a very talented receiver at the University of Cal because he has value as a fast wide receiver and as a deadly punt returner. The Eagles gambled by taking the undersized wide out, DeSean  weighing in at just 175 lbs and only 5'10'', was said to be too small to play in the NFL. The Eagles took him and he has been a dominating threat with his speed, punt returning, and with the deep ball. Now DeSean is considered one of the most explosive offensive players in the NFL, but has not been being paid like one. Jackson is in the last year of his contract and this year he was expecting a new deal after being knocked out last year, he does not feel like getting injured severely is worth being underpaid. DeSean is one of the most underpaid players in the NFL and if the Eagles don't reach a deal with him soon then I'm sure Jackson will test free agency and others teams will start to make offers.

Christmas Story

I’m barely able to sit still as I sit on the coach watching my favorite christmas classics with my family. On Christmas Eve we would always get together and watch National Lampoon’s Christmas’s Vacation and the cartoon version Of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, even though it was short it was always one of my favorites. We would finish watching our movies just before I was forced to my room to try to get some sleep.

No matter how hard I tried, my excitement mixed with my ADD hyper active self would never let me get much sleep. I was always the last to fall asleep and and the first one awake. I remember laying there staring at the ceiling thinking about what Santa Clause was going to bring me. I always felt as long as I didn’t get clothes, it would be a good Christmas. Finally, I would fall asleep only to be yelled at by waking all of my brothers and sisters up too early the next morning.

“Wake up! It’s time to open up presents,” I screamed. 

“Graham! Shut up! It’s too early!” Kellen said. 

After waking up my siblings, I would rush into my parent’s room to wake them up only to receive the same response. 

“Calm down, Graham. All of your brothers and sisters need to wake up before we open up presents,” My mom would say.

Eventually, we would all gather into the living room. I was always too excited to eat and would run straight to the presents. Before getting too ahead of myself, my mom would make us each open a specific present first. Now that we are older, we all know what it is before we even open it. The present is always a special ornament of a theme that my mom dedicated to each of us. Mary gets barbie ornaments, Chris receives football players, Kellen gets hunting and fishing ornaments, Jackie gets movie themed ornaments, I get trucks, and Sarah gets technology based ornaments. When i was younger, I thought it was boring and did not appreciate what my mom was trying to do for me. Now that I am older, I realize that she established a strong Christmas tradition for all of us kids. I am more appreciative of this tradition, and I can not wait to continue this for the rest of my life. I would even want to pass this tradition onto my future family and children as well. 

Christmas Blog

I’m barely able to sit still as I sit on the coach watching my favorite christmas classics with my family. On Christmas Eve we 

would always get together and watch National Lampoon’s Christmas’s Vacation and the cartoon version Of How the 

Grinch Stole Christmas, even though it was short it was always one of my favorites. We would finish watching our movies 

just before I was forced to my room to try to get some sleep.

No matter how hard I tried, my excitement mixed with my ADD hyper active self would never let me get much sleep. I 

was always the last to fall asleep and and the first one awake. I remember laying there staring at the ceiling thinking about 

what Santa Clause was going to bring me. I always felt as long as I didn’t get clothes, it would be a good Christmas. 

Finally, I would fall asleep only to be yelled at by waking all of my brothers and sisters up too early the next morning.

“Wake up! It’s time to open up presents,” I screamed. 

“Graham! Shut up! It’s too early!” Kellen said. 

After waking up my siblings, I would rush into my parent’s room to wake them up only to receive the same response.

“Calm down, Graham. All of your brothers and sisters need to wake up before we open up presents,” My mom would say.

Eventually, we would all gather into the living room. I was always too excited to eat and would run straight to the

 presents. Before getting too ahead of myself, my mom would make us each open a specific present first. Now that we are 

older, we all know what it is before we even open it. The present is always a special ornament of a theme that my mom

 dedicated to each of us. Mary gets barbie ornaments, Chris receives football players, Kellen gets hunting and fishing 

ornaments, Jackie gets movie themed ornaments, I get trucks, and Sarah gets technology based ornaments. When i was 

younger, I thought it was boring and did not appreciate what my mom was trying to do for me. Now that I am older, I realize 

that she established a strong Christmas tradition for all of us kids. I am more appreciative of this tradition, and I can not wait

 to continue this for the rest of my life. I would even want to pass this tradition onto my future family and children as well. 

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving traditions run deep in some families. For some people they wake up have Thanksgiving breakfast, maybe play a little pick up game of turkey bowl or tackle football, and then every one gets to sit down and have a huge thanksgiving dinner. Then there are families like the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, their tradition of playing a football game on Thanksgiving thursday has been going on for years. Even though this tradition runs deep it happens to be a lot more important this year then many of the others in the past. For starters, the Detroit Lions have struggled the past couple seasons and have suffered important injuries and losing records in the past, however, this year is different. The Lions did not lose their starting quarterback Matthew Stafford like last year, and they started off to a great start and have a record of 7-3 currently. This Thanksgiving is a very important run for the playoffs as the face the visiting division rivals the undefeated Greenbay Packers. I bet that the Lions would be the first team to upset the reigning Superbowl Champs. Another important game is the Dallas Cowboys facing the Miami Dolphins. This game may not be the "big game" making it in the head lines but in my eyes this is a huge game. Because the Eagles won last week against the New York Giants we might still have a chance to make it into the playoffs by winning a wildcard game. And since we need to win the division and the Dallas Cowboys are in the Eagles division it would help the Eagles so much if the cowgirls would lose to the Dolphins and the Eagles could beat the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Players Out

There are several injuries to many notable players heading into week 11. Starting in Philadelphia, two of their big name offensive players have been ruled out for Sunday night's game. Vick suffered a couple broken ribs during the last weeks game against the Arizona Cardinals. Michael Vick has been told that he cannot play against the New York Giants and so Vince Young has been ruled as the starter for Sunday Night's game. Another key player that is going to miss this game is starting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. Maclin also suffered an injury against the Cardinals. On the other team the Giants will be without running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who has been out for a few weeks due to a foot injury. Some other very important injuries are from the division game match up between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens are going to have to face the Bengals without defensive leader and middle linebacker Ray Lewis. On the other side of the ball the Ravens will be going against the Bengals impressive offense lead by rookie quarterback Andy Dalton. However, Dalton the the Cincinnati offense will be forced to play without their number weapon. Rookie wide receiver A.J. Green because he suffered a injury to his right knee, during the game against the Pittsburg Steelers in week 10. Hopefully these teams can over come the losses especially the Eagles.

The Harbaugh Bowl

This up coming thanksgiving holds a huge match up between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. With the two brothers going head to head in week 11, this game is now becoming known as the Harbaugh Bowl. The Harbaugh brothers are the first pair of brothers to become Head Coaches for NFL teams in NFL history. After being the head coach for the University of Stanford, he had four successful years at the school and was offered jobs to the big leagues. Head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Jim Harbaugh, signed a five year 25 million dollar contract with San Fran and even though this is Jim's first year coaching in the NFL is has done more then just prove himself. The 49ers finished the 2010 NFL season with a losing record of 6-10, but since Jim Harbaugh took over the 49ers are sitting on a 8-1 record which is the second best record in the NFL right now. (Following the undefeated Packers 9-0) Even though Jim Harbaugh is having success he is about to face his biggest challenge facing the 6-3 Baltimore Ravens lead by head coach John Harbaugh. After coaching the defensive backs and special teams coach for the Philadelphia Eagles for nine years, John Harbaugh signed with the Ravens in 2008. I really wish he never left or that he would come back to replace Reid but that will never happen. Anyway, I cannot wait to watch this match up on thanksgiving night after I stuff my face and sit on my ass.

Brent Celek Take Flight

I attended Brent Celek's Take Flight charity event on Monday, November 14. Even though I was attending as a volunteer I still had a great time helping out for the charity, as well as, seeing and meeting several players from my favorite NFL football team. I was able to meet some of the players from the Philadelphia Eagles such as Brent Celek, Todd Heranmans, Jason Avant, LeSean "Shady" McCoy, Ike Reese, Darrell Tapp, and others. It was very exciting to meet some the Eagles players, as well as, being in charge of the silent auction full of all sorts of autographed authentic Philadelphia Eagles apparel. Even though I was there as a volunteer to help out I was still trying to help out with donating to the charity, being the nice guy that I am. However, I bid $270 on a authentic Nnamdi Asomugha jersey I was sadly out-bidded for the jersey, my night was far from ruined. Not only did I get to help out for a charity, I got to do so with my friends, meet several Eagles players, I also received an autographed football. It was very nice of them to give me the football and I was thankful my professor Jimmy J gave me the opportunity to be a part of this event. Also to top of the great night I won fantasy football for that week thanks to the performance by Jordy Nelson on Monday night football. Nelson had 63 yards and two touchdowns to lock down my victory.

Eagles Are Ready

Are you ready for some football? A Monday night party! The stage is set, let's get it kick started. There is only on other thing that pumps me up for Monday night more then that song, and that one thing is when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing in the Monday night football game. The Eagles usually only get one Monday night game every season but they will make it a great one. This week is the Philadelphia Eagles against the Chicago Bears. With the Eagles being totally hyped up from their crushing victory against the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday night, I think the Eagles will have no problem having another consecutive performance like that on Monday night. The Eagles-Cowboys game ended with 34 to 7 final score. Last season when the Eagles played Monday night it was against the Washington Redskins. The Eagles absolutely dominated the Redskins. The game started off with the Eagles getting the ball and the first play was a 88 yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson. Michael Vick had a great performance last week and will do the same on Monday. Vick finished that game with 333 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 80 rushing yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns. Those were great numbers but that was against the Redskins and Vick is still looking for his first career win against the Chicago Bears. I'm sure Vick will get his victory since the Bears defense has been struggle this season, especially with deep passing.

Single Player Performances

Not only was the play calling revised and balanced for once but there were many single player performances that played huge roles in the must win game over Dallas. Heading into Sunday's game Dallas had the number one run defense in the NFL and their defense did not let a single running back rush for more then 100 yards all season. No one thought that LeSean McCoy was going to cut up the Dallas defense as bad as he did. Shady McCoy not only rushed for 100 yards but he also almost doubled it. Shady game on Sunday was one of the best games in his career. LeSean McCoy had 30 carries for 185 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and 15 receiving yards. Another member that showed a great performance was quarterback Michael Vick. Struggling with turnovers all season, but with Vick's three step drop and good protection, the Eagles did not turn the ball over once in the game against Dallas. Every single throw from Vick was a perfect bullet pass to all the receivers. Vick threw for 279 yards and two touchdown and he also had 7 carries for 50 rushing yards. With the Eagles two main receiving targets, Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson, covered for most of the game it left other targets open for business. Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek had another amazing career game on Sunday. Brent Celek had 7 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. Celek averaged 13.4 yards per catch thanks to his determination and trucking defenders off of him.

Eagles Vs Cowgirls

With the Eagles sitting at the bottom of the NFC East division, the birds were heading to Sunday night's game with a must win state of mind. I had no doubt in my mind that the Philadelphia Eagles would make the Dallas Cowgirls their bitch. I always have confidence in my Eagles and especially coming off from the bye week. Head Coach Andy Reid was undefeated after the bye week and went into Sunday night's game at 12 and 0. Now after the Eagles crushing victory Andy Reid's record now stands strong at 13 and 0. Another important statistic about the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys rivalry is that Eagles Coach Andy Reid holds the best winning record against the Cowboys by any Head Coach. Reid's winning record against Dallas is 16-9. During the bye week it appears that the Eagles turn things around and got themselves ready for a primetime game. There were a lot of amazing single player performances that people weren't expecting. Andy Reid also proved to the fans and the other teams that he can change his play calling and his team can play a full game. With the Eagles crushing victory on the Dallas Cowboys I think the other teams in the NFL better be afraid because the Philadelphia Dream Team is here and showing no remorse.