Well, it’s finally happened. The Philadelphia Eagles have removed their giant banner of Carson Wentz from the side of Lincoln Financial Field. Now comes the much tricker part. Who should replace him?
Obviously the Eagles have to be smart here. They can’t really go and put Nick Foles up because of the obvious conflicted emotions it would cause both in and out of the locker room. The team need to start a fresh chapter, not continue to try and relive a glorious one and watch it turn murkier by the page. With that in mind, it’s probably best not to put a big banner of Jalen Hurts up. If it’s competition that Nick Sirianni wants, promoting Hurts as the face of the franchise all but eradicates it. Still, the Eagles need to draw fans to the stands and promote marketable assets without potentially causing problems down the road. Here are a few options they could pursue.
Brian Dawkins
This would be the safest bet. Weapon-X is a legend in Philadelphia for his tenacious play and embracing everything the City stood for during his tenure. His jersey is already in the rafters, he’s in the Hall of Fame, and continues to work with the team to this day. There’s not an Eagles fan in the World who doesn’t know how symbolic the number 20 is and if you want to set the tone for a new-look team, putting Dawkins on the side of the Linc is a pretty good way to go about it.
Harold Carmichael and DeVonta Smith
I really like this idea – that of passing the torch. Harold Carmichael is now a Hall of Fame wideout and played in Eagles green for over a decade. While built very differently to DeVonta Smith, the concept of seeing a banner that honor’s Carmichael’s greatness and builds hype for the career of a Heisman-winning wide receiver is a salivating one.
Providing all goes to plan, DeVonta Smith should at least be around for the next five years or so. It gets the fans behind one of the most decorated receivers in recent memory and pays homage to one of the best to ever do it in Philadelphia. What more could you want?
A montage of greats
This would be really cool, but I can’t see it happening. It would be amazing to see a collage of names like Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook, Chuck Bednarik, Reggie White, and even Randall Cunningham. After B-dawk, this is probably the safest play there is. Honor a legend from each era of Eagles football and if you really want to get funky, that’s when you’d maybe feature Smith or Hurts at the forefront.
2021 stars
Franchise players ahead of the 2021 campaign for now, change the banner every year. The concept isn’t a difficult one.
That way, the marketability of players like Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and Darius Slay are all capitalized on, and you’re not going to look silly next year if you have to say goodbye to any of them, because the banner would naturally change anyway.
Jamon Brown
The man provided us with one of the most memorable performances from an otherwise dismal 2020 season. Not only did he manage to sack his own quarterback, but he stopped mid-play to adjust his glove after running into his teammate just a few plays later. He then posed post-game with Lamar Jackson, despite the fact his team had just been absolutely destroyed. Send him to Canton. What an icon.
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
