Number 36.

Duce Staley is my favorite Eagle of all time for a few reasons. When I started watching the games in 98, we had no quarterback, no receivers, and no offensive line. Duce was the only player on that team I ever saw make a play. As the team got better, he was no where near the best player on the field. He wasn't flashy and rarely made a huge play. But if it was 3rd and 1 and you handed him the ball, it didn't matter if he was hit by two men in the backfield, he was finding a way to get the first down. He never gave up, put his shoulder down and ran hard. The first Eagles game I ever saw in person, at the vet, he caught a ball at the two yard line, was hit by two cardinals defenders, and kept his feet moving for a good three seconds before forcing himself into the endzone. In the same game, a rookie by the name of Brian Westbrook came into the game at garbage time, with the eagles up four scores. He took a handoff and ran for three yards up the middle. The half drunk bearded man in a Hugh Douglass jersey behind me shouted as he praised the young back. "I LIKE THAT KID!!!" I nodded my head in agreement, feeling like a man for the first time in my life in the 700 level of the vet. Two years later Duce was in Pittsburgh and the kid from Villanova was our featured back. He became the one player on offense we could not afford to lose. He saved the team from being average. In a game against the giants years ago, we had a 2-3 record and were down 10-7 with 1:34 remaining in the fourth quarter. We had no timeouts and Donovan never takes the team down the field when it matters most. We caught a punt near the 20 and, with barely any blocking in front of him, took the ball 84 yards down the field for a season saving touchdown. We went on to win 9 of our last 10 and finish 12-4 with homefield advantage. It's pained me to watch him this year because when he has the ball in his hands, he is not what he used to be. He was a magician out in the open field with a football in his hands in years past. It was a joy to watch. After suffering his second concussion of the year Sunday, I would love to see the man retire an Eagle now, come back as a running backs coach to mentor Lesean McCoy, and not take any risks. Over the years I've done my fair share of cheering when a player on the opposing team is injured or even cheering when someone on my team I don't like is injured, mostly out of bitterness. I've also pretended to care when a player goes down with an injury. That's why I was shocked when for the first time in my life a player was taken out of a game and I was more worried about his own health than what impact it would have on the game. Brian Westbrook has been embraced by the Philadelphia Eagles fans in a way that players like Donovan Mcnabb never will be. There's a reason for that. The media picks players that fan bases are supposed to like. Donovan was supposed to be that player in Philadelphia. I have mixed feelings towards Donovan, but at the end of the day, I love him and consider myself lucky to have watched him. That being said, he is not Peyton Manning, he is not Tom Brady, and as far as Eagles go, he is not Brian Dawkins, and he is not Brian Westbrook. He isn't a leader. Deep down, he thinks he hates us, the fans of the Philadelphia Eagles. That's fine, I don't care. The media doesn't understand that the reason people give Donovan shit isn't because he's never one of a super bowl, it's because he's never learned from his mistakes, and he's never just simply rolled up his sleeves and gotten it done. Brian Westbrook is a quiet leader. He leads by example. He never lines up wrong, gets called for holding, or misses a block. In a game last year against the Baltimore Ravens, we were down 36-7. The game was over. Donovan had been benched and he put a coat on, stood by himself on the sideline and refused to talk to anyone. BWest gathered up the entire offense in a game that they had no chance of winning. "I need a little bit more from everybody, just a little bit more." He wasn't screaming at people or throwing his helmet, he was asking for effort. The man has given his all to this franchise. I could not have asked for more from him. Players like him are why being an Eagles fan is worth it. If I don't have a super bowl championship by the time I have a kid I won't be able to tell him about the great drive we went on in the last two minutes of the super bowl to win it all, but I'll be able to talk about Brian Dawkins, a safety that hit harder than anyone I'd ever seen, Brian Westbrook, a player who could change a season with one play, and Duce Staley, a back with average talent that never gave up. There's an exclusive list of players that I will never boo or verbally abuse. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Brian Dawkins, and now the great Brian Westbrook.