They Took Carson Wentz off the Linc
On iconography, sports relationships turned sour, and how sports can be a microcosm of life.
Carson Wentz’s likeness had been adorning the side of Lincoln Financial Field that faces I-95 for most of recent memory. It made sense, given that for four seasons, he played like someone on the arc of being a franchise quarterback. He was the face of the franchise, a second-overall selection in the NFL Draft, a legitimate MVP candidate, and a guy who, at his peak, could make throws that only the tippy-top of elite quarterbacks could make. It was that fifth year where the wheels came off the wagon. The Eagles did so badly, mainly because Wentz was the worst quarterback in the league when he was under center, that they threw out the only head coach who ever led the team to a Super Bowl victory, and the first one to win a NFL Championship in 57 years. Wentz himself wanted out as well, feeling as if the well in Philly was poisoned. Perhaps it was a strained relationship with Doug Pederson. Maybe it was the general manager with more lives than three cats, Howie Roseman. Maybe he just wanted a fresh start. Wentz got his wish.
However, the likeness that had adorned the Linc still annoyed Eagles fans who were eager to move on. At least, it did until the team took it down Monday. Taking the image down was a huge sigh of relief for an area that was mostly eager to move on. It was a huge sigh of relief for me, even though I was still hopeful Wentz could turn it around until the Eagles proved so bad that I thought doing anything but watching them exclusively on Sundays was a better use of my time, which was around the time after they lost to the Giants and were about to get thwomped by the Browns. Thank God for NFL Red Zone, right?
It wasn’t the first time I believed until it was too late with the Eagles. Then again, I have OCD as I admitted yesterday, so obsessing over outcomes is sort of in my DNA. I was on the Chip Kelly ship until the moment the owner, Jeffrey Lurie, fired him less than a year after he gave him full control of the team. Basically, I should’ve seen it coming before the season began with his harebrained roster management that didn’t really prioritize speed or size or anything. I’m not sure what Kelly’s philosophy was, but as soon as it was clear he was riding with career also-ran Sam Bradford at QB instead of making a move to get “his” guy Marcus Mariota in the draft, I should’ve seen the writing on the wall.
Back to Wentz though, I never really hated him, even at the end when he was sending ducks in the air with the same regularity as the Nintendo game that most kids from my era got on the same cartridge as Super Mario Bros. He never really publicly lashed out, which is uncharacteristic for such breakups that usually include the player letting the media know personally that they want out. Then again, Wentz DID use quite a few local reporters as his mouthpieces quite transparently. Rob Maaddi was one of them, and he was the most obsequious and shortsighted of all of them. Maybe I just don’t care to pay attention to anyone who isn’t right in my face. I still don’t necessarily wish him harm or misfortune in Indianapolis outside of what can benefit the Eagles next offseason. If Wentz plays enough and the Colts are bad enough, the Eagles can get a pretty nice first round pick. Still, I have no reason to hate him.
Yet, when the Wentz poster came down off the side of the Linc, a huge weight was lifted off the part of my brain that obsesses about recreational activities like watching sports. While I don’t wish Wentz ill-will, there’s still the whole thing about keeping up a monument to someone who didn’t want to be here. It was bad luck at best. At worst, it was mockery, not the kind of mockery that drives people to supervillainy. Sports are not nearly as important as real life issues. They’re certainly not as important as real life relationships, which is why I pause before I outright compare Wentz and the Eagles to a bickering married couple. Married couples’ problems are real to them, but the Eagles and their dealings outside of the games and on the field are just vicarious things that fans witness.
Still, that vicarious escape can be crucial to people to escape from their most tedious or damaging details of everyday life. I’ve written about how people take it too far before, but in the right doses, the thrill of victory can soothe mental wounds, however slightly. The agony of defeat can give you an excuse to do self-care that you’ve been putting off. It’s all about keeping things realistic. I know the political climate doesn’t favor that realism at times, and I don’t know how in real life the species can step back from the brink. That being said, I like to speak in hopeful tones, because the opposite is just downright depressing. I know, because I don’t do what I like to do all too often.
But self-help, self-care, all those things are easy to learn. That’s why I can take solace that the team finally took the former golden boy off the stadium. I mean, they were always going to take his image off the side of the stadium that everyone passing through the city could see but waiting until July to do it felt too long. They replaced it with a poster that will last a long time, someone’s hands holding up the Lombardi Trophy. I think as a franchise, you definitely want to celebrate that you won the whole thing. Unlike what financial nerds think, the goal is to win your championship, not make the most money. Still, going with a symbol over a player to me feels a bit hollow. Players win the titles, you know?
I don’t think it should’ve been Jalen Hurts though, to be honest, at least not yet. I’m not sold on him as the answer at quarterback, as I’ve said many times before. I’m excited to see what he can do with a full offseason with new coaching and full confidence though. Perhaps the team should’ve replaced Wentz with someone they could’ve never really had the opportunity to regret, someone from the past. Someone like maybe Nick Foles, who was the quarterback in the actual Super Bowl we won, although if you want to be technical, I believe those hands holding the trophy on the new one belong to him anyway. Maybe it should’ve been Concrete Charlie himself, Chuck Bednarik, the last of the two-way players who led the team to the 1960 NFL Championship and the only time a Vince Lombardi-coached Packers team lost in the postseason. Perhaps it could’ve been Reggie White, Randall Cunningham, Harold Carmichael, or even the most recent team legend, Brian Dawkins.
Personally though, I would’ve gone with Brandon Graham. Sure, he’s still active, and he could always be the victim of miserly team management the way Dawkins was at the end of his career. That being said, I think people in the front office know they want to keep Graham for his whole career, and why not? He’s been one of the best players in team history at an important position. He also has perhaps the most iconic single defensive play in team history, a strip-sack of Tom Brady in that Super Bowl to help preserve a lead and thus a victory. That’s what I’d have done if I were the Eagles, and there’d be no real way that it would turn sour the way Wentz’s imagery on the side of the stadium did.