Weapon E: Snubbed!

How Brian Dawkins got snubbed >:(

Former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins, a 9-time Pro Bowler, 6-time All-Pro, and member of the NFL All-Decade team (2000s), changed the game of football. Not just for the Eagles. For every team.

All pictures from my hard drive; I don't remember where I originally found them.
A reverse-image Google search should help, if you want the sources.

As this well-done tribute shows, Dawkins was absolutely a dynamic player--a fierce hitter who could also cover tight ends, accumulate momentum-changing sacks, and snag interceptions.

So was Troy Polamalu, you say? Dawkins did it first. Ed Reed? Bob Sanders? Dawkins paved the way for them. Fans from all around the NFL know that Dawkins was a passionate and truly special player.

But, of course, B-Dawk didn't take credit. He gave the credit to the late Jim Johnson, a defensive coach whose chaotic yet meticulously planned, all-out approach embodied the fans of Philadelphia just as much as Dawkins' passionate, focused, savage on-field play did.

As a recipient of the prestigious Byron "Whizzer" White award for community service in 2009, Dawkins was--and remains--absolutely the kind of person who would give the credit for his accomplishments to other people.

That kind of humility and generosity off the field endears him to Eagles fans every bit as much as his on-field play always has.

Dawkins was up for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame before Super Bowl LI (that's 51, in case you don't know your Roman numerals). He absolutely deserved to be a first-ballot inductee! But he was denied that honor.

Despite all the oft-repeated garbage about how Eagles fans are so impossible to please that they'll even pelt Santa Claus with snowballs in a fit of childish rage, real fans understand that the passion and the high character that Dawkins displayed consistently are every bit as much a part of the legend of Weapon X as the parade of big hits, clutch performances, and memorable plays.