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The 7-0 Kansas City Chiefs are trying to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls, and it might take a group of Hall of Fame defenders to stop them.
Hall of Fame defenders like Brian Dawkins.
“Going against that juggernaut of an offense under Andy Reid, I would have loved to—in my prime—to go against those individuals,” the legendary safety told Bleacher Report.
Dawkins might have quite the advantage considering he played under Reid on the Philadelphia Eagles for 10 seasons. Going up against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs would also mean he was matched up with Travis Kelce, which is the kind of showdown football fans could only dream of at this point.
“You have to be physical with him, but you have to be patient,” Dawkins said when asked what his strategy would be against Kelce. “Because he’s not necessarily going to run past you. That’s not necessarily his game. His game is nuanced, it reminds me of Antonio Gates. He had that same type of game where he’s like a basketball player as he runs his route, and he’s going to lull you to sleep before he does a crossover or a reverse pivot on you.
“So you have to be physical and patient with those guys. And you have to be skillful with how you tug their jersey. You have to hold just a little bit on those guys.”
The Eagles could have used him in Super Bowl LVII when they lost to those Chiefs, but his former team looks like it could once again be a contender this season.
While it was fair to raise questions after an inconsistent 2-2 start, especially after last season’s collapse, Philadelphia is now rolling with three straight wins and a 5-2 record.
It also appears to have fully adjusted to life under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Saquon Barkley wasted no time establishing himself as a difference maker with more than 100 yards from scrimmage in six of his seven games as arguably the league’s best running back, while quarterback Jalen Hurts accounted for four touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The defense also helped seize control against Cincinnati in the second half with a fourth-down stop by Cooper DeJean and an interception by C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
“I love to talk about the growing pains they were experiencing,” Dawkins said of the Eagles. “New offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator. From that, you’re going to have these up-and-down moments. I’m so happy they didn’t play great at the beginning of the season because when you struggle it introduces you to who you really are. Because if you’re honest when you’re looking at film, it can show you if you have character in the locker room or you have a bunch of characters.
“You don’t necessarily want a bunch of characters, you want character. It can begin to allow you to talk about the principles and foundation that needs to be set in place in order for you to be productive as a team. And your offensive and defensive coordinators are beginning to see who they can trust, and they can move forward and get better as the season goes. That is what I hope is happening with this team, and it seems that way after this past week.”
Dawkins brought plenty of character to the Eagles during his own career and will forever be associated with the team.
While he played his final three seasons with the Denver Broncos, it was Philadelphia that selected him as a second-round draft pick in 1996 and helped him become one of the most dominant defensive backs of his generation during his first 13 years in the league.
The Hall of Famer was a nine-time Pro Bowler and four-time First-Team All-Pro selection who finished with 37 interceptions and 36 forced fumbles in his career as an enforcer in the middle of the field who delivered big hits and created turnovers as a ballhawk.
One of the signature plays of his career was his monster hit against Atlanta Falcons tight end Alge Crumpler during the 2004 season’s NFC Championship Game, which fired up the Eagles as they advanced to the Super Bowl after losing the previous three conference title games.
But those types of hits are few and far between in today’s game, which can serve as a source of frustration for former defensive players.
“I understand why they’ve changed some of the rules like they have, but at the same time there’s certain aspects, especially the quarterback, where it’s almost to the point they need to just put flags on them and just allow everyone else to get hit,” Dawkins said. “Because that’s what we’ve seen.
“With Patrick Mahomes, it seems like the defenders pulled up and then he runs and everyone is saying, ‘look at how awesome Patrick is.’ And I’m not saying he’s not because obviously he is, but at the same time as a defender, these guys are coming up and not wanting to get a 15-yard penalty so they pull up and he runs by. For me, in that case, I’m cleaning his clock. If I’m going to get 15, I’m earning my 15. I’m cleaning his clock.”
Dawkins also joked that he “still would have gotten fined a lot, though” even if he played with a bit more caution in today’s game.
But playing that way made him an Eagles legend and a Hall of Famer, which, in turn, gave him a larger platform after his career.
And he is using that platform to help the military and veterans by partnering with USAA, the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and Face The Fight to amplify mental health awareness and support the ongoing battle of veteran suicide prevention.
“I’ve been blessed to be with USAA for many years now,” he said. “Being able to help out veterans has been tremendous. And this is another one of those opportunities to team up with them and the NFL’s Salute to Service to talk about Face the Fight. I love that title. I always say it like this, your future is worth the fight. Your future that you will live is worth that fight.
“In this case, we wanted to amplify the message when it comes to our veterans and suicide rate and ways through Face the Fight for companies and citizens to come alongside veterans and help them. Face the Fight is such a powerful program. It provides such a powerful formula of hope for our veterans, and they so much deserve it.”
Part of those efforts included Dawkins joining warriors from the WWP in a 5K ruck march with weighted backpacks that symbolized the mental and emotional weight everyone carries. The group also held a roundtable conversation that discussed the importance of mental health.
Dawkins, who said he prefers the term cerebral wellness to mental health, has been very open about his previous struggles, which gave this partnership a more personal feel.
“It’s extremely important because of some of the things I grew through my rookie year, going into my second year, as a National Football League player,” he said. “There were a lot of things that were going on in my life, things I was not talking about or telling anyone about. And some of the pressures of the NFL began to dump on me as well. I was a new husband, we had a baby son, Brian Jr., he was colicky and crying all the time. So nobody was getting sleep.
“I was letting none of that out to anybody, and basically I imploded. I got the help that I needed through the help of my beautiful wife, Connie, and Uncle Emmitt [defensive coordinator Emmitt Thomas], my coach at the time. They teamed up to make me go get help. It was a blessing. It blessed me to begin to see things from a completely different lens. From that place, I have gained a whole lot of wisdom for how I attack life. I attack life not just to survive, but I attack it to thrive.”
Thrive is exactly what he did on the football field for so long, and he still likes to see safeties pushing the position forward with the same type of overall impact he had during his career.
“I love a versatile safety,” Dawkins said. “I love versatility and guys who can do everything. Yes, bring the big hit, but also interceptions and tackling and blitzing and covering. I call it the chess piece type of player. For the longest time Minkah Fitzpatrick has been that type of player who can do those special things.”
Fitzpatrick is a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro selection who has the Pittsburgh Steelers in first place in the AFC North.
But the Baltimore Ravens are chasing them with another one of the league’s best safeties who also stands out.
“He’s a fantastic athlete,” Dawkins said of Kyle Hamilton. “He can do all of those things. As a defensive coordinator, you can use him in any situation. He can have success all over the field. That’s what I tried to be, someone who can impact the game in every statistical category. He seems to be one of those guys.”
If they continue to play at such a level, Fitzpatrick and Hamilton might one day join Dawkins in the Hall of Fame and be remembered as generational talents.
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