Whipping boys

[sfphillyfan]

Let's face it, if you have an off year, this town turns on you in two seconds. So anyone could be a potential whipping boy.

Yes, but (and I don't know what the OP meant for whipping boys) but I've always thought of the whipping boy as someone the FO tries to pass off to us as a legitimate starter and ends up being someone that would be just a backup anywhere else.

For example, the whipping boys that I remember most are: Mark Simoneau, Reno Mahe, and Todd Pinkston.

As opposed to Asante Samuel, who I think is an ass, but is a legit NFL playmaker. If Assante fucks up, the fans will get all over him but not as the "whipping boy." If that makes sense.

[balto-eaglefan]

Reid, Howie, Marty, Banner, Samuel, McDermott, Nick Cole, Peters, Kolb, Demps (who everyone has already written off), in that order.

Unless Kolb has a 1:2 TD-to-INT ratio, then he'll go straight to the front.

[IMK]

Yes, but (and I don't know what the OP meant for whipping boys) but I've always thought of the whipping boy as someone the FO tries to pass off to us as a legitimate starter and ends up being someone that would be just a backup anywhere else.

For example, the whipping boys that I remember most are: Mark Simoneau, Reno Mahe, and Todd Pinkston.

As opposed to Asante Samuel, who I think is an ass, but is a legit NFL playmaker. If Assante fucks up, the fans will get all over him but not as the "whipping boy." If that makes sense.

Wow, I don't think it's anything so specific. A 'whipping boy' as simply a player that gets bitched about a lot by fans. It can happen for a variety of reasons, to me it seems like the most frequent reasons are 1) Having an (even slightly) off year, or 2) Being perceived as blocking playing time for a promising rookie (i.e. Kevin Curtis last year and Reggie Brown before that, who were perceived as keeping Maclin or Djax off the field, even though they really weren't.)

When was Reno Mahe ever passed off as a legit starter?

[sfphillyfan]

that's just my take on it. Either that or it was just coincidental.

Kick returners are starters too! (Just on special teams.) Especially when they can cost you a game -- see GB 3? 2? years ago.

[IMK]

that's just my take on it. Either that or it was just coincidental.

Kick returners are starters too! (Just on special teams.) Especially when they can cost you a game -- see GB 3? 2? years ago.

But that was only after Mahe was dredged back up after the Lewis/Bloom fiasco. Reno was never the first or even second option at KR. He was starting PR for a couple years, but then he was a fairly decent PR.

Besides, wasn't that Greg Lewis who cost us the GB game? That was the whole reason Mahe was brought back, after Reid had finally gotten rid of him.

[balto-eaglefan]

I think the big complaint about Mahe, was that some fans didn't think he even deserved an NFL roster spot, and figured this was another case of the FO trying to sell us on a player who wasn't as good as the FO claimed that he was. He could be an all right punt returner -- he led the NFL in punt return average in 2005 (minimum 15 punt returns or more), a good thing in an otherwise crappy season for the Eagles -- but he didn't really have the speed to be a threat to break any big kickoff or punt returns. Nobody was going to mistake Mahe for JR Reed or DJax.

Plus, his BYU background made some people think that AR kept him on the team because he was a BYU grad. Obviously not true.

[fly]

good god all this talk is bringing up blaine bishop in my mind. someone kill me.

but seriously, i guess i tend to see whipping boys as those 2nd (or 3rd) tier players as well. So yeah, 2nd CB is a definitely possibility ... as is Nick Cole or whoever ends up at RG. SLB on defense...

[sfphillyfan]

But that was only after Mahe was dredged back up after the Lewis/Bloom fiasco. Reno was never the first or even second option at KR. He was starting PR for a couple years, but then he was a fairly decent PR.

Besides, wasn't that Greg Lewis who cost us the GB game? That was the whole reason Mahe was brought back, after Reid had finally gotten rid of him.

Greg Lewis was the guy who cost us the game. But the blame was squarely on Reid as I believe Glew had never returned kicks before that season and only had a couple returns in the preseason and was thrown in there after the bloom experiment was a complete bust.

I just brought up Mahe as an example of a whipping boy -- someone who the fans thought was a player that the front office said was good enough to be a starter and he wasn't. Somehow, despite below average speed, he was the returner for your Philadelphia Eagles, which doesn't sit well with most people.

It wasn't like Mahe was a stop gap for a couple games. He managed to be our returner for seemingly decades.

[Blitz]

I'll go with a dark horse and say that Lesean McCoy is going to get heat if he flops. High draft pick, showed some talent, now is the man ... if he struggles we're going to wonder what the heck he did over the offseason to get better.

That said, I expect him to be very good (hence, dark horse).

I really hope he doesn't struggle because if he does the Eagles are in trouble. Big time.

Way to go out on a limb there Blitz.

Maybe I should be a politician. Talking but saying very little.

Who do you think will win the Super Bowl this year?

Blitz: I'm thinking it's gonna be a team from the NFL.

I got a laugh out of this.

I don't see any traditional whipping boys on the team this year. The only one who comes to mind is the coach and not a player. I think Reid will take heat if the season goes south. But is that really any different than any other year?

I think this year the whipping boy will be a week by week type thing.

[IMK]

Greg Lewis was the guy who cost us the game. But the blame was squarely on Reid as I believe Glew had never returned kicks before that season and only had a couple returns in the preseason and was thrown in there after the bloom experiment was a complete bust.

I just brought up Mahe as an example of a whipping boy -- someone who the fans thought was a player that the front office said was good enough to be a starter and he wasn't. Somehow, despite below average speed, he was the returner for your Philadelphia Eagles, which doesn't sit well with most people.

It wasn't like Mahe was a stop gap for a couple games. He managed to be our returner for seemingly decades.

I was never trying to question Reid's culpability in the Great Kickoff Return Fiasco of 2007. I thought you were saying that Mahe was the one who cost us the GB game.

As for Mahe at PR, I would argue that a guy who leads the league at his position qualifies as a legitimate starter. But whatever. Mahe was definitely a whipping boy, one of the biggest of the Reid era.

I always get a little confused over the whole 'front office tries to sell us ____' idea. Why isn't it just the FO simply being wrong about a player? Why does it get couched as some sort of deceptive ploy where the FO tries to hide the truth?

[Eagle60]

My idea of a whipping boy is that frieken safety that we threw out there before Mikell who absolutely sucked and got run over all the time. And then he went to the press to complain about it. What was that stiff's name? Nevermind, I'm glad that I forgot it now.

[balto-eaglefan]

Had to look that up...I had no idea who it could've been...but it's probably the great Sean Considine! Don't remember him ever complaining about it though. But somebody even put together a photoshop thread on PE.com of him getting dragged for a few extra yards by kids playing Pop Warner football, getting dragged by a tackling dummy, etc. I think he's on Jacksonville's roster now.

[sfphillyfan]

I always get a little confused over the whole 'front office tries to sell us ____' idea. Why isn't it just the FO simply being wrong about a player? Why does it get couched as some sort of deceptive ploy where the FO tries to hide the truth?

Because even we, dumb fans with no access, can see that certain players are not NFL quality. Shirley, with all the coaches and tape and actual looks in practice, the FO knows a guy is a stiff. So, the thinking is: "what the hell, they need to get someone better in here at that position."


Take Mark Simoneau for example. It's not like the fanbase was divided about him or hopeful that he was gonna blossom into a good player. This isn't a case like Shawn Andrews where the talent was there but he just spectacularly flamed out. Everyone knew Simoneau was too slow, too small, and lacked the instincts to be a starting MLB. He's a backup and that's it.

So... I know Simoneau sucks. You know Simoneau sucks. The FO knows Simoneau sucks. And yet, Mark Simoneau is allowed to miss Deshaun Foster twice in the NFCCG on one play.

(My memory sucks - what was the game (god, tell me it wasnt' the SB) where you can hear someone yelling "Mark, watch the screen. Watch the screen!" and he gets absolutely burned on the screen.)

As a fan, I don't think I know more than the collective front office/coaching staff. So when something so obvious jumps out at me (and everyone else) and yet the FO refuses to do anything about it, it pisses everyone off. It's like entering a car race with a donut. Everyone is yelling about the fact that the rear tire is donut but the FO says "nah, we'll be fine there."