July 20, 2026
A recent ESPN survey showed that the Eagles are both loaded and underrated. All I could think when I saw that headline was, I guess the Worldwide Leader in Sports does most of its polling now at Chickie’s and Pete’s in South Philly.
Honestly, other than our eternally optimistic fans, who can truly look at the past 17 months since the Super Bowl 59 victory and logically conclude that the Birds are loaded?
Don’t get me wrong. Owner Jeff Lurie is loaded. No argument there. The man Is a billionaire.
Of course, the stands are also loaded. There hasn’t been an unsold seat for Eagles games in 30 years here. This is the only version of football – not futbol – our city will ever truly love.
And OK, many of the people occupying those seats might be a tad loaded themselves by the end of a game. Still, if you think it’s bad now, you should have seen it during the boozy Veterans Stadium years.
But the 2026 Eagles have a loaded roster? Really? The definition of loaded is “having an abundant supply.” Where exactly are the Eagles loaded?
Quarterback? In a companion piece last week, ESPN ranked Jalen Hurts 17th out of 30 QBs. That is hardly an abundant supply at the most important position.
Running back? Saquon Barkley was a marvel in the Super Bowl season, but only about half as good last year when the offensive line fell victim to injury and age. At 29, Barkley is well past the expiration date already for his position.
Offensive line? Optimists are proclaiming that the great unit of a year or more ago will return now that the injuries have healed for some of the younger blockers. Good luck with that. The anchor of that line, Lane Johnson, is 36. His fellow tackle, Jordan Mailata, is approaching 30. The others, regardless of age, are nowhere near as durable as those two studs.
The defense? Ten contributors from the 2024 champs are gone. That’s 10 in less than two years. Milton Williams, Reed Blankenship, Josh Sweat, Jaelen Phillips, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Darius Slay are the biggest names.
They have been replaced by Riq Woolen, Ambry Thomas, Arnold Ebiketie and two Jonathans, Greenard and Jones.
Loaded is not the word I would use to describe the Eagles defense. How about decimated?
Finally, there is the coaching. Nick Sirianni often acts loaded with his unhinged antics on the sidelines, but the real question is about the offense he was hired to run when he signed here six seasons ago. Another novice is calling plays. This time it’s Sean Mannion. Plus, in my jaundiced view, a staff that just lost legendary OL coach Jeff Stoutland can never be defined as loaded.
Hey, I could be wrong. Two years ago, I face-planted when the Eagles whom I predicted would win five games held a parade after demolishing Andy Reid and his Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59.
There may be a reason why I’m dispensing my opinions for free here nowadays. Maybe that’s exactly what they’re worth.
But previous failures have never discouraged me, and I’m way too old now to change. So I’m going to say today, a week before training camp opens, that the Birds are not going to make the playoffs this season.
I’ll say it again, more slowly.
No . . . playoffs. . . . in . . . . 2026.
Sorry. I still think the team (and its always hopeful fans) has drastically underrated the loss of A.J. Brown to New England. Saying that the new No. 1 wide receiver, DeVonta Smith, will seamlessly replace the third-down wizardry of Brown is pure folly. I would say the media butt-kissers are miscalculating by roughly four inches and 45 pounds when they dismiss the difference.
Eight Eagles are now on the wrong side of 30, with another half-dozen knocking at the door. They are an odd mix of too old and too young.
I don’t think I need to point out that the NFC East cakewalk of the past few seasons is missing most of its frosting this time around, if indeed Washington’s amazing young QB, Jayden Daniels, is healthy again and John Harbaugh is able to continue his coaching success with the Giants. (Forget the Cowboys. They suck.)
In the end, when problems develop, it is the duty of the head coach to redirect energies in a more positive direction. That will simply not happen with these Eagles under Nick Sirianni. If he has proven anything, it’s that he has no answers when fortunes take a bad turn (see: 2023 and 2025).
Anyway, I just finished polling myself, and I can say without hesitation that the Eagles are neither loaded nor underrated.
Did you hear that noise? It’s the championship window slamming shut. I don’t even have my hearing aids in, and I can hear it.
Why can’t ESPN?
Why can’t the fawning local media?
Can you?
ESPN, a sports network in decline for a generation now, had an especially bad week in mid-July. In addition to the snafus involving the Eagles, it also proclaimed in a bold headline: Messi Is the Greatest Male Athlete of All Time.
This profound declaration was made by a writer named Ryan O’Hanlon. Name doesn’t ring a bell? Yeah, me neither. But when I saw the headline, my first reaction was to get more information on this wise old man O’Hanlon.
I mean, after Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Usain Bolt, Wayne Gretzky, Tom Brady . . . . you get the idea. There are lots of contenders for that GOAT distinction – athletes who did a lot more than camp themselves near the goal and boot balls into the net.
Well, it turns out that O’Hanlon is around 38 or 39 – he is far less definitive when it comes to his own age – so he has not seen with his own eyes some of the athletes I presented above. He just knows Messi is the best ever because Lionel is the greatest at not just scoring goals but also “creating chances, dribbling, passing, even walking.”
Yeah, that’s always a main criterion when assessing the athleticism of a person. How well do they walk?
For want of a better term, Ryan O’Hanlon is an airhead with a terminal case of recency bias. Lionel Messi may well be the greatest soccer player in history. I would have to actually care about soccer to venture an educated appraisal of my own.
But I can assure you, with 75-year-old eyes that have witnessed athletic feats for twice as many years as O’Hanlon, Messi is not the greatest athlete of all time. He is, in fact, not even in the top 10.
First of all, soccer is more a sport of endurance than agility, though the talent to run fast, spin quickly and coordinate foot, head and body is undeniable. It’s just that basketball requires far more athleticism, as do football and hockey.
From my perspective, the top three greatest athletes are all hoops superstars. Third is Kobe Bryant, second is Michael Jordan, and first – by a still-significant margin – is Wilt Chamberlain.
What made Wilt a better athlete than Messi starts with height. Wilt was a gazelle at 7-foot-1, who was legendary in scoring (he still holds many records), passing (the first big man to lead the NBA in assists) and blocking shots (over 9,000).
In their primes, who would win a foot race between Wilt and Messi? Seriously? OK, let’s get the soccer star out there on the track, where Wilt also dominated. As soon as Lionel runs a 4.4 40-yard-dash or a 400 in 49 seconds, we can start talking about a valid comparison. But it’s highly unlikely that Messi’s tiny 5-foot-7 legs can move that fast.
I won’t dive any deeper into this contrast because, well, it’s laughable. Not only could Chamberlain run faster and jump higher, it’s a safe bet that he could literally bench-press the 148-pound soccer giant with one arm. Messi trying to lift the 300-pound Wilt would make for a hilarious video, at least.
Moments ago I described Ryan O’Hanlon (and the ESPN editors who know better) as an airhead. I feel terrible about it. I hate when I fail to tell the whole story. What I neglected to mention is that he is just another so-called influencer who figured out the best way to get clicks is to say something stupid.
My trashing of him right here is merely playing into his clammy hands. I took the bait. Now who’s the dummy?
Guilty as charged. But when you reach this age, you will do what I’m doing right now – defend the people whose legacy is constantly getting trampled by self-appointed experts who have no idea that life existed on this planet before 1980.
Now go back to watching highlights of the World Cup. (Not the Final, when the greatest male athlete of all time was invisible until the last few minutes.) Oh, look. There’s Messi now, standing near the net and hoping to get the ball. Standing, standing, standing. Now he’s walking. Wow. No one can walk like Lionel Messi.
What an athlete! Messi is the greatest male stander and walker of all time. I’ll give him that.
Other things to consider. . . .
- The World Cup final was everything you could ever hope for – if you were hoping for nothing. While Spain was peppering the Argentina goal all day (12 shots on goal), Messi’s heroes took exactly – ready for this? – zero shots in 120 minutes of inaction. That’s two hours! Hey, I like defense as much as the next guy, but when the people watching at home are tied with an entire team for shots on goal – I also had zero, by the way – well, that’s just embarrassing.
- The suspense over LeBron James’ next destination is killing me. I can’t wait another minute to find out which team is going to bring onto its roster the most self-involved, over-the-hill player in sports right now. If he’s going to be the difference for some team, why hasn’t he won an NBA title in the past six seasons? Personally, I hope he takes his talents again to Miami. As long as he stays away from Philadelphia.
- As a Sea Isle devotee, I was more than a little annoyed to learn over the weekend that Jason and Kylie Kelce have been on the waiting list for the past four years to gain membership into the Sea Isle Yacht Club. Coincidentally, I was once a member there myself, before getting banned more than a decade ago for going on the air at WIP and the ripping awful food and hopeless service there. The Kelces have done so much to create good will in Sea Isle. In my humble opinion, they are too good for that lousy yacht club.
- Bill Belichick, in the second year of his self-imposed exile from the NFL, is feeling very optimistic about his North Carolina squad now that the young players know his system. OK, good to know. But how does Bill’s girlfriend, Jordan Hudson, feel? I’ve gotten the feeling she’s the brains of that operation now. Plus, she has a big advantage over Bill. She’s around the same age as his players.
- I hate to be a party pooper, but all of the breathless praise for the All-Star festivities here last week seems a bit overblown, no? I mean, the game has to be at least watchable for it to be a great experience, I would think. Well, the National League scored zero runs while managing three hits and 15 strikeouts. In all, there were six hits and 27 K’s. in the game. This is entertainment? To whom? Ryan O’Hanlon?