Brian Dawkins, Pro Football Hall of Famer

We continue inside the Downtown Phoenix Convention Center. Zach Galb here with you on CBS Sports Radio. And we got Philly in the house. I'll tell you, I was at the NFC title game. And when they introduced Brian Dawkins as the honorary captain, B-Talk, I thought you were going to go out there and make a tackle. Yeah, for a split second I forgot that I was just there to be a captain just to take pictures and I wasn't about to play.

But no, it was a phenomenal experience for me and I'm so humbled that they called me back to be standing beside those, you know, recent, those now legends about to go into that game. What I love about this team, and when I say underdog, I don't view the Eagles as an underdog. They're the number one seed.

I think they've been the best team in the league, it seems like, for two, two and a half months. But you look at some of these stories. Hassan Radek, who I'm wearing the Temple shirt right now, I went to Temple with. I know the work that he put in. Brandon Graham, when he first got to Philly, people the first two, three years were calling him a bus. It's a career year coming off an Achilles injury. There's just so many stories.

Jalen Hurts had to transfer, got benched at Alabama. There's a lot of easy stories to root for with this team. And that's the thing about it. What you're speaking and what I'm hearing you say is Eagles. Eagles players.

People that can survive and absolutely operate in Philadelphia. That can earn the the the love of the the the fan base, not by doing things that they think that the fan base wants them to do, but by being themselves, by overcoming, by doing better, by hearing criticism and getting better. Right.

So all of those things that they do, as you just mentioned. Right. I think, Hassan, I don't think he did he get any like scholarship? Walk on. Right. His mother had to take out a loan so he could have a meal plan. Right.

Early on at college. Right. So you have these individuals and coming into Philadelphia and doing what they're doing together. Right. So and you say they're not their favorites.

And but if you listen to so many commentary, it's like people are just waiting for them to fall like. But they did. But the schedule was weak. But all because it was all is always a because they won. But it was because of something else that happened for the other team. The wrong is the reason why they're in the Super Bowl.

That's what I keep hearing. Well, you know what it is off that point as Brian Dawkins, legendary Brian Dawkins is here with us. So many people before the start of the year, like I looked at the Eagles, I said they would win the NFC East right at the draft where they traded for AJ Brown. I never entertained, though, the thought of the Super Bowl.

And I think so many people what we do, people are stubborn and they can't admit when they're wrong. So when someone says, all right, the Eagles are a good team, but they're not a Super Bowl team. They just wait all throughout the year, lose the game to the commanders. Hertz is is out for two games.

They drop both. Those games are like, oh, here we go. The Eagles really aren't that good. And they call them a fraudulent football team, which if you actually watch the games, you can't be perfect.

Only the Dolphins were perfect. And this is the that's the biggest thing is that one loss up the sky is falling. Everything's coming to an end. It's stupid what we do. And that's the thing about it. As a player and as someone that has played the game from not just a physical place, but from a cerebral place to really understand the game is one of the things you necessarily don't want to have happen for your team is to just sweep through the regular season, especially when you have a young team. This is still basically a young team in a lot of aspects. So for a young team to just all of a sudden get into the championship game or get into the playoffs and they really haven't faced any like true adversity.

Right. Because adversity pressure the way that the way that I understand it in my life now is adversity introduces you to yourself, good or bad. So when that pressure becomes and it comes upon you, then some of the things that you need to stop doing comes to the surface. And if you're someone who can look at that and say, yeah, I need to get better at that, then you get better at it. But if you're winning the whole time, it's hard to have a tough conversation with somebody when you're winning. But when you begin to lose right now, I can really have some tougher conversations with you. I'm talking about coach to player. I'm talking about player to player right now. And then you see what you really have. So again, when Jalen went down and you had these adverse situations out, I'm not going to tell you that I love the fact that Jalen got hurt.

That's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is that when that opportunity presented itself for us to see the character of the team, I'm like, yes. Now we get a chance to see what they're going to do and how they operate in tougher situations, because you don't have your quarterback who is MVP candidate right at the helm. Now we're going to see the character of the team because he's coming back. He'll be back in the fold. But in the interim, we're going to figure out who is who.

You're going to have those tough conversations. So what then when he then comes back, the team will actually be a better team for him to quarterback in. Think about that. What it did was and I agree with you. Yes. I had said the same thing. It recharged the batteries of those guys and didn't allow any complacency.

What's this on it? Well, it's not recharge is recharge. It's it's when you go through that toughest, that pressure situation, you're hearing all the negativity coming from the outside. And then you probably have some negative thoughts coming from the inside. That is an opportunity for you to do two things. It's the opportunity for you change to get better or just what was me? Yeah.

Well, maybe we are what the people are saying. You feel me? So in that in that and I'm ready to run through a wall in that interim, listen, in that interim, you have a decision to make and it is to get better. It is to be honest. What I see on the film, sometimes for a guy who's when you're having that success, you won nine in a row, 10 in a row. Sometimes it's hard for you to look at the film and be honest about what you see because you're winning games.

But once again, when you lose, when you lose, now you're going back to being being hard on yourself, being brutal to yourself. Oh, man, look at that false step. Look at that missed opportunity. You see what I'm saying? You don't just sweep it on the road because, yeah, we won.

Is this weird for you? Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins joining us that the Eagles are going up against Andy Reid in the Super Bowl? No, no. And the reason why is because, first of all, I like Andy. I knew the coach handy is I knew who he was with the Eagles. And I know you don't just lose the person that he is. Now, I know he went through some tough things towards the end with the Eagles. But as a person, as a person to person, how he allows players to be themselves, how he puts them in position to have success, how he invites them into even some of the creativity of the game planning. Right.

All of those things. Once I want to like you want to play for Andy like you want you want him to have success. You want people to be putting Andy as one of the best coaches who ever coached.

And the only way that will be is if I go out and play my behind all for him. Does that make sense? So now it doesn't surprise me. The Eagles. This one is a surprise this year that they made it to the Super Bowl this year. I did not think that they would make it to the Super Bowl this year. But again, they gel so quickly and they put the product together and they're having a good time with one another.

And I love that they literally look like they have been together for years and they've only been together for the most part for one year. I would say that Jalen Hurts is the best leader in Philadelphia that I've seen since you inside that Eagles locker room. Wow. Because you're the top. You're the definition of leadership.

Thank you. But what Jalen Hurts has done with that team at that young of an age and the whole locker room operates at the beat of his drum. It's it's impressive. It is very impressive. It's very impressive that a young man as young as he is has the leadership qualities that he possesses and is all genuine. And that's the thing about it is not a script being read. It's not him having something that he's been taught over the years.

And I got to speak this way now. You can you can hear him in his low, mild tone, giving you emotional points about himself needing to do better. His team needs to get better. Him challenging his teammates and all of those things. But I think the thing that you also see is during the breakdowns, you get a chance to truly hear how he kind of talks to the guys when the cameras are not on. Right.

Sometimes it's more elevated, it's more energized. Right. And so all of that being said, you have a young man that has come through so much in his young life, even in college. And he's fought through it all and got better.

That's who is leaving, leading the Philadelphia Eagles right now. And I love it. Tell me what you're doing today with He Gets Us. Well, he gets us dot com.

You can go there for all the information. But what you will find there is, wow, my source of how I live, the way my source of why I live the life that I've been blessed to have, the way that I live it is through my relationship with Jesus Christ, period, period, period. The passion that I play with is the passion that he loves people with. And I love people with that same passion. I want to do the best that I can to bless those around me so that their lives will be better at some point.

I didn't come up with that on my own. I came up with that because I've read the word of God. I've read the Bible and I've looked at his character. So I want my character to match his. And if as much as my character of compassion, of being able to listen to people, even people I don't necessarily agree with, I can still sit down and listen to your point of view and how you feel about it, not get emotional about it, right, and still be able to bless you in some type of way.

And all of that comes because of my decision to then follow Christ as my Lord and Savior. Last thing before we let the pro football of fame of Ryan Dawkins run. You always remember your speeches and you crawling out of the tunnel. What would you say to this Eagles team before Sunday? Wow. Well, the thing that I would tell them, first of all, is to enjoy it. Enjoy it.

Enjoy it. Take deep breaths early in the game, because that's when your emotions are at their highest peak, to be honest with you. In the beginning of the game and the end of the game, your emotions are going to creep up. Right. So in those in those instances, you take a whole bunch of deep breaths to calm yourself down and calm your nerves so that you won't make mental mistakes, because that's when mental mistakes usually happens early in the games. Right. Or late in games when the pressure has rise, those emotions come and it's just like a basketball game. A free throw in the first quarter is different from a free throw in the fourth quarter. And you're up by one and you need it to go up by two or go up by three.

The ball could be filled just like a little heavy for some reason. Right. And that's because of your nerves. So when you can make sure that you keep your emotions under control early in the game, then you will just put it will be football then and you can play. But again, it's going to be the same way in the in the fourth quarter. When the crunch time comes, then it's going to be the same thing.

You have to be able to stay in the moment and not allow your emotions to dictate your decisions. Brian Dawkins, always great to see you. Always great to hear your story and your journey. Thanks so much. Thank you both.

Thank you. God bless the biggest game of the year. The Super Bowl is on Odyssey and Westwood One brings it to you.

Streaming live for free Sunday, February 12th on the Odyssey app. The Eagles have been the NFC best team. It's the Eagles versus the Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. Catch all the action from Westwood One, your Super Bowl, your Odyssey. Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. The biggest game of the year. The Super Bowl is on Odyssey and Westwood One brings it to you.

Streaming live for free Sunday, February 12th on the Odyssey app. The Eagles have been the NFC best team. Touchdown Travis Kelce. It's the Eagles versus the Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs.

The Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. Catch all the action from Westwood One, your Super Bowl, your Odyssey. Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. The biggest game of the year. The Super Bowl is on Odyssey and Westwood One brings it to you.

Streaming live for free Sunday, February 12th on the Odyssey app. The Eagles have been the NFC best team. Touchdown Travis Kelce. It's the Eagles versus the Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs. The Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl again. Catch all the action from Westwood One, your Super Bowl, your Odyssey. Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today.