It wasn’t supposed to end this way. Not here. Not with Brian Dawkins. Not with the very image of what diehard Eagles’ fans believed to be the embodiment of their passion.
For the rank-and-file, Dawkins wasn’t something as trite as the “heart and soul” of the team. He was bigger than that. Instead, Dawkins was the player fathers pointed out to their sons:
“You see No. 20… That’s how you play the game.”
Yeah, Brian Dawkins was much more important to the Eagles than they could ever imagine. Quite simply, he represented us. The best part was that Dawkins knew it and yet never took it for granted. He saw those No. 20 jerseys out there and realized that it wasn’t just mere fodder for his ego, but a responsibility to give the people as much love as they gave him. As the X-Men’s pal Spider-Man was always reminded: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
That sentence wasn’t cartoonish or just a mantra for comic book heroes. It was a call to arms for Dawkins. It was a code to live by and the result of it was a 13-year love affair with the people of Philadelphia.