Last night featured the first-ever NFL Honors award show, where Aaron Rodgers received the award for being the season’s MVP from Peyton Manning, even though that fact that he was voted MVP with 48 out of 50 votes was announced hours earlier.

Alec Baldwin hosted the inaugural program, and LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson were in attendance. It didn’t take long for the jokes about the Eagles and VY’s proclamation of a Dream Team to start. In fact, this is what Mr. Baldwin, who I normally quite like, had to say:

“It was a dream – like a dream where you show up at school naked, you forget to study for the test, and you lose four of your first five,” said Baldwin, who then called Jackson “DeSean Johnson” and asked if he and McCoy were “laughing. I’m not looking.”

So you know, DeSean did not look at all amused by Baldwin’s joke. Shady smiled.

NBC10′s John Clark had a chance to ask DeSean about his contract situation on the red carpet, and not surprisingly no light was shed where D-Jacc stands with the team. – CSNPhilly

Though imagining any outcome to SB46 is painful, the game must not end with any members of the New York Giants being able anywhere near the Lombardi trophy.

Obviously, the Giants web team is hoping for the exact opposite result and, in fact, seemed to be helping the team to visualize a win. They took it a little far, though, announcing for all the world to see that the Giants had won Super Bowl 46. On Saturday. Simmer down, Giants web and marketing team. There is still, like, a game that must be played. – ProFootballTalk

Another Super Bowl Sunday, another day that Andy Reid is doing exactly what we will do this evening: Siting on the coach on our duffs. Le sigh. – philly.com

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I hate you. Photo via Manningface.com

We are almost there, kids. We have almost made it through two-week long national “Aren’t Eli and Tom the best?” fest. We have had to endure pronouncements that the younger Manning may, perhaps, be better than big brother Peyton. That he is indeed elite. All sorts of proclamations of the Giants’ collective awesomeness.  It’s been unbearable.

As for the national Patriots lovefest, in some ways it’s easier to handle. It’s nothing terribly new. Yes, Tom Brady is good–maddeningly so. Bill Belichick is an evil genius. Well aware of it. But it’s not like I can root for them.

The team that plunged Philadelphia into the depths of despair after defeating us in 2005 in  Super Bowl XXXIX? Oh hell naw. Such a glorious time of happiness and hope in this city the last 2 weeks of January 2005 were, and then…here we sit, seven years later, still without a championship. Sigh.

I despise both the Giants and the Patriots. I don’t want a victor. I want a sinkhole.

UGG. I hate you, too, Brady.

It’s the perfect solution, really. Players and coaching staff for the Patriots and Giants would be the only ones injured. No fans. We all win. Gisele will just have to send another kind of email asking for prayers of a different kind from family and friends.

Some have asked, if I truly feel this tortured by this Super Bowl, why put myself through it?

Because I must. It is football, after all. And it’s the last football for many long, torturous months. I, unlike many football fans, have the Madonna halftime show to look forward to (on top of my many other reasons of bitterness, I am mad at this Super Bowl for ruining what should be the perfect marriage of football and my most favoritest pop star of all time). But after that, depression at the fact that someone must win will set in.

Or, the sinkhole will open up.

So what are some ways to survive the home stretch, you ask? Here are some suggestions:

1. Focus on as many non-football related Super Bowl events as you can. Like the Puppy Bowl. Puppies make everything better.

2. Do the opposite of what you do for most shows. Mute the game, watch the commercials. Even the least likeable teams shouldn’t take away from what the Super Bowl is truly about–buying stuff. We’ve seen the preview of the VW one featuring dogs barking the Star Wars theme. Let’s hope the rest of the commercials will be of the same caliber to alleviate our suffering.

3. Make fun of Eli. This part is a given. Eagles fans are a witty bunch and I can already hear the Eli jokes that are to come. Yes, Peyton has his moments, but no one does Manning Face quite like Eli.

4. Listen to other witty, bitter fans. The hilarious guys at The Voice of the Fan will be doing a live show during the Super Bowl. They hate Eli. They hate the Giants. They hate the Patriots. They hate Chris Collinsworth. So turn down the TV and turn up their sardonic remarks as they try to release the pain through laughter. You can check them out by visiting The Voice of the Fan’s website here. Coverage begins on Sunday at 6 pm.

Call it brotherly love. Our shared bitterness and hatred for both teams WILL get us through this.

Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/phillysportmuse.

DeSean Jackson's view from Wednesday's Bulls v. Sixers game.

Yes, yes, Philly Sports Muse is a blog about the Philadelphia Eagles. But guess what? Right now I’m going to talk about another Philly sports team. And you’re going to like it.

Have you been feeling a little…strange lately? I may be able to explain the reason. You’ve got Sixers fever.

Regardless of which sport is normally your favorite, you’ve heard the buzz about the Sixers’ amazing 16 -6 record this season. You know about the new ownership. The new attitude. The new mascot. The new spirit.

Maybe you were doubtful about the early success. Okay, fine, you kept listening as the team continued to win. And then came Wednesday night’s decisive victory over the Bulls.

This team cannot be ignored.

Some of the Eagles are definitely paying attention. DeSean Jackson was front and center at the game,  tweeting pictures from his courtside seat.

After the 98-82 win over Derrick Rose and he Bulls and , Todd Herremans gave props to the team.

There is no doubt about it. You need to stand up and pay attention to this team. Many say that a superstar is needed to be a true contender in the NBA, but the Sixers are proving that basketball is a team sport that needs the consistent talent and effort of all players, not must one. Whatever the standard formula, the Sixers have found a way to get it done.

The now 16-6 76ers have a huge home game tonight as they face Bron Bron and them, i.e. the 16-6 Miami Heat. The Sixers showed on Wednesday night that their success this season is not a fluke. They’re coming for you, LeBron.

Happy Friday, and Go Sixers!

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In Tuesday’s press conference featuring a kinder, gentler Philadelphia Eagles head coach, Andy Reid was asked about DeSean Jackson’s future with the team. Though Reid’s answer itself didn’t say very much, the way he answered the question was telling.

“I was proud of DeSean for standing up. I thought he showed maturity this season. I think he’s done that every year he’s been here, but he showed it. He stood up and admitted to everybody that he didn’t handle things the right way. I will tell you that the last six games, he did a nice job for us. I was proud of him for that. We’re going through all of that right now, so we’re looking at everything right now. We haven’t come to any conclusions on anything, but we’re going through that. Again, you saw progress there, you saw a different attitude the last five or six games there. You’ve got to make sure you look at that part too.”

While the remarks are complimentary, they are by no means a ringing endorsement of the wide receiver. Rather than a true testimonial, it’s a polite, noncommittal,  “He’s a great guy” sort of response. Okay, Jackson did well in the last part of the season when he decided to stop sulking and that will be taken into account, but the first half of the season can’t–and won’t–be ignored.

Nothing was said about Jackson being an important part of the team, or a talented wideout and playmaker–none of that. Just remarks on the growth and maturity that, in all honestly, should be expected of any person in their early twenties after a few years on their own in the working world.

Reid was then asked if the team would commit long-term for Jackson. This response is even more telling than the first.

“We are going to go through and look at all that. I really haven’t gotten to that point. I have been making sure that we are kind of analyzing the free agents, we’re analyzing what we did, we went through our team, we’re going to analyze the draft and then you kind of put that all together and talk through it and have a feel on the whole picture on the personnel side of it.”

That is what you call a not-so-artful sidestep of the question.

Obviously Reid can’t reveal much of anything until offers are made and contracts are signed. But Reid’s comments, taken in conjunction with the report that little progress has been made between Jackson and the Eagles on a deal tell me that Jackson will be finding a home in another city next season.

Injury Updates

Andy Reid provided some updates on a few Eagles players who are recovering from offseason surgeries.

LB Jamar Chaney: “Chaney is doing well. He can’t do much right now, but he’s doing well. They say the surgery went well. I don’t think we’ll know here for a little bit.”

TE Brent Celek: Likewise with Celek, he was up and moving right away, even though he was on crutches. He’s off the crutches, it looks like he’s moving around pretty well. So we’ll see. He had two things done, so it was a little different.”

DT Mike Patterson: “Patterson had the surgery, I talked to him yesterday and he’s doing very well. Early on they had him sedated pretty well. I want to say [he had the surgery] Friday of last week. He’s doing well—very upbeat and positive. It was a very long surgery. They had to dig in there to get to the spot and they felt like it was successful.”

Andy Reid’s comments provided courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles.

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If only things worked that way.

Shady was in Indy on Wednesday soaking in the sights and sounds of Super Bowl Week, but it wasn’t to prepare to play on Sunday, unfortunately. Instead, he was present to collect yet another honor for his amazing performance in 2011: McCoy was selected the FedEx Ground Player of the Year. He beat out Maurice Jones-Drew, the league’s leading rusher, and Baltimore’s Ray Rice for the Award.

McCoy lead the league with 17 rushing  touchdowns and now holds the Eagles franchise record for most total touchdowns in a season at 20. He was 4th in the league with   1,309 yards. Shady was nominated for the FedEx Player of the Week four times during the season and won two of those times.

A dapper looking McCoy was honored to pick up his groovy looking new trophy in Indianapolis.

“I want to thank my teammates, fans, and friends. The fans they vote each week and each year for this award. For me to achieve this award is something special to me. Over a million fans voted for the FedEx Ground Player of the Year and I just wanted to thank them. Also, I want to thank FedEx because they’re donating $25,000 in my name to Junior Achievement of Delaware Valley. Once again, I appreciate this, and thank you.”

So happy this man is an Eagle. Congratulations to LeSean for the honor and for the continued notice of his tremendous talent and success.

Drew Brees received the FedEx Air Player of the Year honors.

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The coach that spoke from the NovaCare on Tuesday is not the Andy Reid that we have come to know and…well, you know. He wasn’t grouchy.  He answered all questions in complete sentences. You could tell that he was really making an effort to be humble.

Did Jeffrey Lurie have a chat with Reid about his tense relationship with the Philadelphia media? Probably. And for at least this one time, it worked.

The lengthy 49-minute session wasn’t the anticipated obligatory talk to spin the drastic disappointment that was the 2011 season. Instead, it was a more frank and forthright Andy Reid who spoke openly about matters that usually he would evade.

Reid came right out and said that Juan Castillo would be the defensive coordinator for the Eagles in 2012. After confirming what had already become pretty clear, Reid addressed the most talked about bit of speculation from the past month: The rumor that Steve Spagnuolo would come to the Eagles as defensive coordinator.

“Steve and I are good friends and we talked throughout the season as we do every year. When Steve was released from the Rams I did offer him a spot here to coach, if he needed one, a place to land with open arms. And my feeling was that you can have two great coaches on defense and that’s even better than just having Juan himself, so that’s about as far as it went there. We didn’t talk about titles. We didn’t go into any of that. He had opportunities to look at other places. He wanted to do that, which I completely understand.”

This revelation is compelling for a number of reasons. Previously there was no certainty as to whether the Eagles had indicated any interest in Spags. Now we know that there was interest, but as Reid describes it was of a friendly and casual nature. Howevver, ce the idea was floated between Spags and Reid, surely Andy thought about the possibilities that could come into play should Spagnuolo wanted to come to the Eagles. Was he hoping to replace Castillo, or simply provide Juan with a resource that would make him much less likely to fail?

We will probably never know the answer to these questions. And it will drive us mad until we finally accept that we will never know.

Reid then discussed the hire of Todd Bowles. In reviewing the work history of the newly hired Eagles secondary coach, it’s easy to see that B owles is extremely qualified to be Philadelphia’s secondary coach. In fact, a little too qualified. He’s worked with several defenses around the league as secondary coach, and held that position as well as that of assistant head coach  in Miami. Surely he could have demanded–and likely gotten–a higher position in the league. So why did he accept the same position he has essentially held for the past 12 years with the Eagles?

Comcast Sportsnet’s Derrick Gunn has a theory: That a Bowles has the qualifications to take over for Juan mid-season should things head south in 2012. And to take that idea further, the blog Eagle Eye posits that Bowles could serve as a qualified replacement for both Castillo AND Reid should next season turn out to be less than ideal.

Speaking on Bowles’ experience and how he will interact with Castillo, Reid said

“finishing out the staff, I wanted to make sure that I brought somebody in – and I felt this way going through the process – that just as [offensive coordinator] Marty [Mornhinweg] and I have an opportunity to bounce things off of offensively, that Juan had somebody with some experience to bounce things off of defensively that had somewhat the same scheme. And that’s where Steve fit in nicely and it also fits in nice with Todd.”

Reid confirmed that Bowles did indeed have other opportunities around the league but wanted to come to the Eagles.

“Todd is an individual who has a nice resume and had an opportunity to sit in the head coaching position down there in Miami as interim head coach, interviewed with the Raiders as a head coach, and had a couple offers to be a coordinator in the league and decided that he would like to come here, kind of back home where he went to school and his family…”

While adjustments had to be made to the coaching staff on the defensive side of the ball, Reid stated that offensive coaches are strong, but that the team must address one glaring, ugly issue before the 2012 season: Turnovers.

“On the offensive side really everything remained the same. On the offensive side, we need to go back and make sure that we take care of business with the turnover situation there.”

When asked if Reid believed that Mike Vick understood the importance of the turnover issue as much as Reid does, Andy replied, “I do.”

Reid also spoke about the Eagles drafting issues on defense and whether the organization does indeed value the linebacker position, fielded a question on DeSean Jackson, and discussed his impressions of Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference in early January and what he took away from it.

Reid’s presser was surprisingly interesting, as he made a concerted effort to respond fairly, frankly and completely to each question presented. One post is not enough to do justice to the information presented today. Tomorrow I will touch on several other aspects of Andy Reid’s post-season press conference.

Andy Reid’s comments provided courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Under Bowles, the Miami defensive backs contributed to a defense that held opposing quarterbacks to a 58.1% completion rate, fifth-best in the AFC and seventh in the league. His tutelage also helped safety Yeremiah Bell earn a Pro Bowl berth in 2009 after reeling in three interceptions.

Aah. Paradise.

Did you watch the Pro Bowl on Sunday night? Don’t worry, I only made it through the first half. If you’re truly dying to know how the game went, find out from someone who suffered through watched the whole thing.

Plays by Eagles on the NFC’s Pro Bowl squad included a fumble from LeSean McCoy (boo) and a deflected pass by Andy Dalton by Jason Babin (yay!).

While the “game” itself isn’t really entertaining, some of the lead up to it is.. Like when players are mic’ed up and harass some of their NFL peers.

Below is the best the Pro Bowl–LeSean McCoy mic’d up, asking the heavy questions.

http://youtu.be/HuFFtuCwr0Q

Seriously, Marshawn Lynch. What IS up with those Skittles?

If you’re itching for more video of Eagles players at the Pro Bowl, CSNPhilly caught up with Shady and Jason Babin to find out how it was all going.

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It all began with his very public holdout from training camp last summer, peaked with his meltdown and public pouting after the Eagles’ horrific loss against the Seahawks, and has been just beneath the surface ever since, threatening to boil over.

The question of whether the Eagles will keep DeSean Jackson in 2012 is a question that doesn’t fully take Jackson’s abilities into consideration. Are the Eagles are willing to forgive D-Jacc for his public displays of protest about his salary?

For the moment, the answer appears to be “no.”

A report from the Paul Domowitch appearing in Philadelphia Sports Weekly reports that the sides seem to be just as far apart as they were this summer.

“…league sources said Jackson’s opinion of his worth continues to be night-and-day different from the Eagles’.

While Jackson has said he would be willing to get franchised, the Eagles aren’t likely to do that. If he signed the franchise tender, they would have to pay him $9.5 million next year. That’s an awful lot of money to give a guy who has just five touchdown catches in his last 22 games.”

Jackson’s salary in 2011 was less than that of long snapper Jon Dorenbos. No offense to Jon, but c’mon, man. That ain’t right.  But Jackson allowed his dissatisfaction to impact his performance on the field, which was not a smart move for a man arguing that he is one of the best receivers in the league.

Will the team franchise Jackson? It’s very doubtful. Are the Birds willing to offer anything to D-Jacc at this stage? If so, it would be much less than the numbers he thinks he’s worth.

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LeSean McCoy and Jason Babin are living it up in Hawaii with their colleagues from around the league. And from their tweets they seem to be having a wonderful time.

While it’s an honor to be at the Pro Bowl, every player there realizes that the reason they are able to play on Sundy is because of one thing: Their team didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. And for competitive men who excel at their positions, that’s just not okay.

But they’re trying to make the best of it. The best running backs in the league, LeSean McCoy and Maurice Jones-Drew, are both present at the Pro Bowl and took some time to speak with the Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk about their seasons on the NFL Network.

Each back was asked what they admired in the other. MJD complimented Shady’s elusiveness, his vision, speed–and his inexplicable ability to hang onto the ball even in such a precarious position. LeSean was complimentary of Jones-Drew’s ability to take over games and pounds defensive players. He also stated that, “he’s short but he’s not small. He plays like he’s 6’6.”

Here is the interview, which is part mutual admiration society between MJD and Shady, part discussion of the every down back in the NFL with Faulk, but entirely entertaining. To check it out, click here.

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