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A month or so after the Eagles selected Watkins a friend invited me to join him at an event at the NovaCare complex. This was a meet and greet with the coaches. They had Doug Pedersen, Howard Mudd etc... We spent about 25 mins with each coach in their respective meeting rooms while they explained how the off the field part of the game works. It was well done and I was happy to be a part of it.
We all know Andy's policy of keeping the coaches away from the media. This was really a shame because Howard Mudd is a interesting character. He is a 50 veteran of the NFL as a player and a coach. Just a really nice old man who was funny and professor like in his delivery.
Howard starts explaining some of the protection schemes at a very low level and uses practice film to demonstrate. Again, very cool to see. He then opens up for Q&A and I ask him about Watkins and since he was glowing about him, was he your pick? "Nope Andy. This was Andy's guy. We had him here for a visit prior to the draft and Andy thought he was mature and he could step in and play right away. Danny told us about being a Fireman and EMT. He said one of his first nights as EMT he gets a call on a motorcycle accident and when he arrives the guy is decapitated. This guy has seen it all and isn't afraid" Howard mentioned that he and Washburn are "motorcycle guys" so it struck a nerve. The point is they were all impressed with his maturity and his toughness.
Of course, none of this helps him block the best of the best on Sunday. That said, I don't even have a problem with them drafting him just not in the middle of the first round. If you took a flyer in the fourth (where some had him projected) no problem. You work with him and maybe he lands on PS for a year or two. Unfortunately, he was over his head and will go down like Jon Harris and Bernard Williams, Kevin Allen before him as one of the worst first round selections ever.
So FWIW we close the chapter and move on...
We all know Andy's policy of keeping the coaches away from the media. This was really a shame because Howard Mudd is a interesting character. He is a 50 veteran of the NFL as a player and a coach. Just a really nice old man who was funny and professor like in his delivery.
Howard starts explaining some of the protection schemes at a very low level and uses practice film to demonstrate. Again, very cool to see. He then opens up for Q&A and I ask him about Watkins and since he was glowing about him, was he your pick? "Nope Andy. This was Andy's guy. We had him here for a visit prior to the draft and Andy thought he was mature and he could step in and play right away. Danny told us about being a Fireman and EMT. He said one of his first nights as EMT he gets a call on a motorcycle accident and when he arrives the guy is decapitated. This guy has seen it all and isn't afraid" Howard mentioned that he and Washburn are "motorcycle guys" so it struck a nerve. The point is they were all impressed with his maturity and his toughness.
Of course, none of this helps him block the best of the best on Sunday. That said, I don't even have a problem with them drafting him just not in the middle of the first round. If you took a flyer in the fourth (where some had him projected) no problem. You work with him and maybe he lands on PS for a year or two. Unfortunately, he was over his head and will go down like Jon Harris and Bernard Williams, Kevin Allen before him as one of the worst first round selections ever.
So FWIW we close the chapter and move on...
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