This was an excellent article, thanks. It's clear that you get the importance of Stoutland to Philadelphia. You're right that "Philly is the only town in America where offensive linemen become stars." At every other stadium in the league, fans show up in the quarterback's jersey or some other touchdown-scorer's. In Philadelphia, half the people are wearing the number of our retired center.
My favorite tribute to Stoutland is when Jordan Mailata announces his college as "Stoutland University" in player introductions, and when he wore a Stoutland University t-shirt (motto: Hungry Dogs Run Faster") to the championship parade last year.
My fear is that Lane Johnson will retire quickly with Stoutland gone. The Eagles' championship window is still open, but without Lane it gets very narrow very fast. He's that good.
I can't believe Howie Roseman (or even Jeffrey Lurie) didn't intervene and do whatever it took to keep Stoutland here for another year or so.
Thanks for reading Eric! You're so right man, I think the biggest impact yet to be felt is how the offensive linemen react to this. The Eagles have had only three offensive line coaches in the past 20 years. For all of these guys, Stout is the only coach they've ever known. I can see the change (even if ultimately necessary in the long-term) having some sort of impact on the locker room in the short-term. Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson could step away this offseason. If you're Lane, do you really want to come back and learn a new offensive system? I could see him coming back and wanting to go out with a better ending we'll see. The real wild card is Dickerson. When he was drafted, he had a long list of injuries and that list has only gotten longer. You can see in postgame interviews how much the injuries are weighing on him. I hope a long offseason helps him heal up and come back, but now that Stoutland is gone that may be another reason to step away from the game with a Super Bowl under his belt. We'll see. Go Birds!
This was an excellent article, thanks. It's clear that you get the importance of Stoutland to Philadelphia. You're right that "Philly is the only town in America where offensive linemen become stars." At every other stadium in the league, fans show up in the quarterback's jersey or some other touchdown-scorer's. In Philadelphia, half the people are wearing the number of our retired center.
My favorite tribute to Stoutland is when Jordan Mailata announces his college as "Stoutland University" in player introductions, and when he wore a Stoutland University t-shirt (motto: Hungry Dogs Run Faster") to the championship parade last year.
My fear is that Lane Johnson will retire quickly with Stoutland gone. The Eagles' championship window is still open, but without Lane it gets very narrow very fast. He's that good.
I can't believe Howie Roseman (or even Jeffrey Lurie) didn't intervene and do whatever it took to keep Stoutland here for another year or so.
Thanks for reading Eric! You're so right man, I think the biggest impact yet to be felt is how the offensive linemen react to this. The Eagles have had only three offensive line coaches in the past 20 years. For all of these guys, Stout is the only coach they've ever known. I can see the change (even if ultimately necessary in the long-term) having some sort of impact on the locker room in the short-term. Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson could step away this offseason. If you're Lane, do you really want to come back and learn a new offensive system? I could see him coming back and wanting to go out with a better ending we'll see. The real wild card is Dickerson. When he was drafted, he had a long list of injuries and that list has only gotten longer. You can see in postgame interviews how much the injuries are weighing on him. I hope a long offseason helps him heal up and come back, but now that Stoutland is gone that may be another reason to step away from the game with a Super Bowl under his belt. We'll see. Go Birds!