It doesn't take much for public perception to change in a football-crazy town like the City of Brotherly Love. It isn't uncommon to hear boos that can destroy a player's self confidence turn into deafening cheers in the span of a couple of hours. Just ask the Philadelphia Eagles or Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos.
"These (effing) people"... That's a statement that will live in Philly lore forever. Too bad The Phils couldn't dispose of the hated New York Mets, but that's how it goes sometimes. Attention now shifts completely to the Birds for many of us. There's still some time before the Flyers and 76ers really get into the meat of their schedules.
One of the new Eagles, Bryce Huff, is getting a crash course about Philly's passion and, perhaps, learning about said passion the hard way. We wonder if Nick Castellanos called him. Well, if not, he doesn't have to work hard to find someone to stand in as a 'big brother'.
A beloved former Eagles pass rusher, Hugh Douglas, offers some advice to the new guy.
One of our favorite memories as Eagles fans was seeing Hugh Douglas' sack and forced fumble of Shaun King in that New Year's Eve Wild Card Game. We all remember where we were when we saw that.
In six seasons with Philly, Big Hugh racked up 238 tackles, 58.5 sacks, an interception, eight pass breakups, and seven forced fumbles. Those numbers include ten playoff appearances with two starts.
These days, Hugh helps man the 94.1 WIP-FM Midday Show in Philadelphia with Joe Giglio. He previously served as a football analyst for ESPN.
Like Huff, Douglas began his career with the New York Jets. Who better than him to give a young Eagles pass rusher some advice about his new town? Here's what he had to say during a recent airing of his show.
"Bryce if you listening, you need to go into Vic Fangio's office tomorrow. Now I don't condone violence. Don't do that. (But), if he don't want to hear you, you need to go to Howie and you need to tell Howie this is how I need to play. Now I'm willing to learn, but dammit, this is what makes me successful and take it from there."
Sounds like some sound advice. Hugh appears to agree with us. Here at Inside The Iggles, we had previously expressed our displeasure with Vic Fangio's mishandling of Huff and how we'd like to see a change in coaching philosophy. Here's more of what was said while you mull that over.
On said mishandling, Douglas finished his point by suggesting Huff express the following:
"You're making 50-some-odd million dollars. Somebody is going to hear you that's writing checks because you need to produce. Go in and tell Vic you better start using me the right way or I'm going to stop being nice about this."
The Eagles have some work to do if they're going to establish themselves as a true contender. There are varying theories about how to achieve that, but we all can agree that young players have to produce, especially those in important roles.
The best coaches put their players in the best position to be successful. We don't care how 'old school' Fangio is, he's failing at that.
Huff was decent in Week 6, registering two tackles and one half-sack. Unfortunately, however, he's only tallied four tackles and that half-sack in Philly's first five games.
