Brian dawkins can you feel that speech

If you haven't looked at my social media feed — my Instagram — when Steve went in [the Pro Football Hall of Fame], pssh, I'm a fanboy, right? So, absolutely! Like, this is the way that you play safety in Denver, period. Now, you can do other things — you can get picks, you can cause fumbles — but you absolutely snot-bubble people.

I'll say it like that. That's the kind of tradition there, and I wanted to add my version of it to those, and adding John in there as well. But Steve and those guys, they set the bar, and they set it extremely high for myself and others to come to add our version of it to the Denver culture, so to speak.

BS: Those first two seasons were pretty challenging from the lens of team success, but that third year must have been absolutely wild. With Tebowmania and the win streak y'all had, and of course the playoff win over Pittsburgh, what stands out to you about that experience and that season? Coach Fox had come in, and I wish I could have played more years for Fox, to be honest with you.

But how we jelled — and we basically did things to allow for the late-season push and magic of Tim doing things in the fourth quarter.

If you look at the defenses we played, how well we bonded and picked up our game in order to have those late pushes in the season, how well the special teams — [kicker Matt] Prater … and [punter Britton] Colquitt — they were absolutely crushing the ball, kicking yarders, yarders on a grand clip, pinning teams back, and we'd go out to do our job to keep the points down.

Just the overall flow and the confidence that we had that we can keep the score down in order for the late runs in the fourth quarter to happen, because that's usually when things would happen, in the fourth quarter. But we knew that. And again, we bonded together during those tough times, during those first two years, and then when Fox got here, there was the expectation for us to do things differently, and we did. BS: One of the guys you were around then was Von Miller, and you talk about how exceptional he was even then as a rookie.

Now, what he's going through changing teams, you obviously went through something similar going from Philadelphia to Denver.

The reality now where players don't spend their entire career in one place, how do you balance that with maybe the happy knowledge that he'll get to go play for a playoff contender right off the bat? BD: "That's the thing about it.

I didn't get traded, right? I was literally not brought back, so there is some differences there. When you are traded, the way that I see it, that team still values you, and they value you so much that they know they're going to get a bunch for you. So that's different.

They still value you. It still hurts. Don't get me wrong — it still hurts. But they value you. When you're … not even offered a contract that's worth even looking at, then that's different, that's a different feeling to it. But here's the thing, though: No matter how you leave and go to another team, the way that I've come to understand it is that I'm supposed to go to this next team to, first of all, earn the respect of my new teammates, to do things the first-class way in order to create a new family that … they can depend on me and I can depend on them for us to go handle our business to hopefully go win a ring, right?

So I was blessed to talk to a lot of individuals, guys that I respect, as I was going through that transition, going from Philadelphia. And I say it in the book that literally I went through a mourning period, because to me it was like you lose somebody in your family.

That's how I felt. That's literally how I felt, because of how things were done. But I knew I had to be everything and then some going to Denver. When I say 'then some,' in Philadelphia I had already earned the right from my teammates.

I had already shown them what I can do and who I am. When I then went to Denver, it was brand new. I had to earn that right. So again for Von, that's an opportunity. That's an opportunity for a new band of brothers to see the quality cat that you are, in and out of the locker room.

And you bond and you grow a new family. That blessed me, to be able to do it that way and then have those individuals in Denver once again earn that respect and then they began to trust me, and knowing whatever I can do to help, I'm going to do it. BS: In your book toward the end, you talk about how you were able to make amends with Philly.

Even during your time in Denver, could you understand that the love from fans, teammates or staff members never went away?

BD: "Here's what I had to do, though. Even when I was playing in Denver, it wasn't after I retired that I basically had to forgive.

And he closed by acknowledging those thousands of Eagles fans who had traveled here for the ceremony. Touring the Hall, in hotel lobbies and restaurants throughout this small city, they wore green shirts and black-and-green shirts, each with DAWKINS 20 stretched across the back, their presence a testament to what one of his longtime teammates, Brian Westbrook, called the "reverence" that the Eagles and their fans had for him.

What other choice did they have? He had been nothing but himself, this time in the name of helping someone else. He turned that love into a life lesson that no one around here will forget. Once more, it was the best part of one of the greatest Eagles of all. Not now, not ever, and certainly not on Saturday night, Brian Dawkins never settled for anything less than special. Skip to content Share Icon. Facebook Logo.

No one expected him to be anything but an Eagle next season. He was the face of the Eagles franchise, and the emotional leader of that team. No matter what colors he is wearing, we can all rest assured that he is going to leave it all on the field every game.

Dawkins is a hard player to place a label on. Here was his thank you to her:. And for that, I want to present something to you today. I have my gold jacket, and what I want to present to you sweetheart, is something golden as well That's my Hall of Fame wife right there.

You better believe Emmitt Thomas got a shoutout. Thomas, also a Hall of Famer, was Dawkins' first defensive coordinator with the Eagles from to He's the one who advised Dawkins to seek help for his depression battle after Connie Dawkins informed him about his struggles. He would not let me settle for good. He saw greatness in me that I did not see. He would not let me settle. It was hard. I was angry sometimes.