Eagles toss away 'Dream Team' label
Philadelphia Eagles quarterbackl Vince Young laughs as he is introduced to the media after the morning session at NFL football training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. (July 30, 2011) Credit: AP
Humbled by an awful start, the Eagles are ready to bury that "Dream Team" label.
The defending NFC East champions are 1-3 in a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations. That's their reality.
"I think the 'Dream Team' -- that word is dead now," quarterback Michael Vick said Wednesday.
"You can't talk 'Dream Team' anymore. Maybe it put pressure on some players, maybe it didn't. But I think just the fact that it was lingering around and people were talking about it creates a sense of pressure.
"So, it's over with now. We're one of the teams that has to scratch and kick from the bottom now and try to figure out how we're going to get ourselves back to a position where we can compete with the best teams in this league."
The "Dream Team" notion was started by Vince Young, who signed a one-year deal July 29 to be Vick's backup. That capped a whirlwind two-day span in which the Eagles acquired three Pro Bowl players on defense: cornerbacks Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Nnamdi Asomugha and end Jason Babin.
Team owner Jeffrey Lurie, coach Andy Reid and others tried to downplay that comment, saying Young was out of line. But the media ran with it.
Philadelphia visits Buffalo (3-1) Sunday. These aren't the same Bills, who've had just one winning season since 1999.
"We could be so good,'' Eagles guard Todd Herremans said. "We should be. We're going to be. It's time to wrap it all up and do it."
Fans to attend Media Day
For the first time, fans will be allowed to attend Super Bowl Media Day. The NFL announced that 5,000 people will be allowed into Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Jan. 31. They will join roughly 3,000 accredited media members.
Frank Supovitz, the NFL's senior vice president of events, said the league has considered allowing fans into the event for the past few years. Tickets will be available in early December, and Supovitz said they will be "affordable."
