DeSean Jackson saga dominates Philly sports talk in 2014

To say that 2014 was a less-than-ideal year to be a Philadelphia sports fan would be a vast understatement.

Most of Philadelphia is behind the Sixers plan, but between a record-tying 26-game losing streak and an 0-17 start to the 2014-15 campaign, 2014 hopefully brought the lows of the Sixers plan.

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Of course, most of us are just thankful that the Sixers have a plan. The Phillies, for the third consecutive season, tried to milk once last playoff run out of a tired core, only to go 73-89, stand pat at the trade deadline, and finish in the NL East cellar. Sure, the Phillies finally seem to be embracing a rebuild with their off-season trade of Jimmy Rollins and shopping of Cole Hamels, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone has confidence in Ruben Amaro’s ability to rebuild the team over the next few seasons.

The Flyers front-office made changes in 2014, despite Craig Berube helping the team to slip into the 2013-14 playoffs, only to be eliminated by the eventual Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers. Shortly after that exit, Ron Hextall replaced Paul Holmgren as the team’s General Manager. Holmgren was reassigned to team president, and the two, largely because of cap issues that Holmgren got the team into, haven’t been able to make any positive short-term moves to help the Flyers, who currently sit fifth in the Metropolitan division.

Oh, and not that you needed a reminder, but the once 9-3 Eagles completed a December collapse that will have them sitting at home when the NFL playoffs get underway next week–and not because they have a first-round bye.

Regardless of how 2014 went for you personally, as a Philadelphia sports fan, the year probably left much to be desired.

Part of the reason that 2014 ended up being a down-year for the Eagles, besides the whole collapse in December, was because the team released DeSean Jackson in late May. The move was hardly a surprise given the amount of background noise that surrounded the artist formerly known as number 10 after the season wrapped up. Jackson went on to be the second most discussed athlete on Section 215 in 2014. Here’s a timeline of Jackson’s tumultuous 2014.

January 4th: In their eventual playoff loss to the Saints, DeSean Jackson had just three catches for 53 yards, none of which came until under five minutes in the fourth quarter.
January 6th: On the day that Jackson was cleaning his locker out after he didn’t lit things up in the Eagles playoff loss, he cemented his legacy of the me-first attitude by lobbying for a new contract.
March 17th: After Jackson’s lobbying for a new contract, whispers became louder and louder that Chip Kelly wasn’t thrilled with Jackson. March 17th, Jimmy Kempski, then of Philly.com, joined us for an exclusive interview. In the interview, Kempski said that it was a ‘legitimate possibility’ that Jackson was traded or released during the offseason.
March 18th: CSN Philly’s Derrick Gunn reported that the Eagles were listening to offers for DeSean Jackson.
March 20th: A report surfaced that Jackson’s camp didn’t believe that he would return to the Eagles for the 2014 season.
March 21st: Tim McManus of Birds 24/7 reported that it was a matter of when, not if, that the Eagles would move DeSean Jackson.
March 22nd: Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the best beat reporter in the country, reported that Jackson wouldn’t restructure his current deal to help facilitate a trade, and that it was a lock that the Eagles would trade or release him.
March 24th: I made the brilliant suggestion that the Eagles do what the need to to get Jackson to an AFC team, even if it meant not getting much of anything in return.
March 25th: Jackson reportedly was telling teammates that after a conversation with Chip Kelly in which he was told ‘not to worry’ and that he would be back with the team in 2014.
March 28th: Eliot Shorr-Parks and A.J. Perez of NJ.com published a report suggested that DeSean Jackson’s ties to gang members were ‘troubling’ to the Eagles. Many speculated that someone within the organization tipped the duo off to parts of this story, in an effort to damn Jackson before his release.
March 28th: Within an hour of the NJ.com report, the Eagles released Jackson.
March 29th: Reports surfaced that Andy Reid and the Chiefs were not interested in Jackson, but that he was scheduled to visit with the Redskins early the next week.
April 2nd: After a night of partying with numerous Redskins players and D.C. based rapper Wale. Jackson and the Redskins agreed to terms on a three-year/$24 million deal.
April 4th: CBS Philly’s Joseph Santoliquito reported that Jackson was insubordinate during the 2013 season, including an numerous instances of cursing Chip Kelly out, and was not popular among his teammates.
April 10th-20th: After the original fire of Jackson being released died down, LeSean McCoy and Kurt Coleman both defended Jackson, while Nick Foles wouldn’t deny that Jackson was disruptive in the locker-room.
April 22nd: On the Arsenio Hall show, of all places, Jackson explained the exchange between him and Chip Kelly when he found out he was being released.
July 29th: After a lull in the Jackson saga, he ran his mouth in training camp, criticizing Philadelphia fans for ‘booing their own’, despite the fact that just about every fanbase in the league does that, including the ones in the nation’s capital. Jackson was also criticizing a fanbase that largely was upset with his release to that point, he was just to delusional to realize that.
September 15th: Despite spraining his shoulder in a win over the Jaguars, Jackson vowed he would do ‘whatever it takes’ to face the Eagles that weekend.
September 21st: Jackson would be active for the Redskins, despite not warming up. Jackson didn’t waste time getting involved, as he would make numerous first quarter catches, and celebrate by taunting the Eagles sideline and even borderline punching Malcolm Jenkins. This warranted necessary boos from the home crowd. Later in the game, Jackson would make a game-tying touchdown catch, only to flap his wings in mockery of the Eagles and then symbolically kick it away. The Eagles would win an ugly divisional game 37-34, but not without Jackson getting his. Now number 11 (or one of one), Jackson caught five passes for over 115 yards.
December 20th: Despite the fact that Jackson’s team entered the game 3-11 and the Eagles were still vying for a playoff spot at 9-5, Jackson would get the last laugh in 2014. Jackson would have four catches for 126 yards in a game that, coupled with a Cowboys loss, would ultimately eliminate the Eagles from playoff contention. Instead of just accepting that, Jackson paraded around after the game both in the stadium and on social media, as if his now 4-11 team had won the Superbowl.

In total, 57 articles were written on Section 215 that were about or pertained to Jackson in 2014. A few weeks ago, he seemed like the type of player that most Eagles fans were ready to leave in the rear-view, with a 9-3 Eagles team surging without him. But a win that symbolically knocked the Eagles out of the playoffs was enough to revisit the DeSean saga for many, or to at least question Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman’s poor handling of the situation.

In many senses, the situation is now irrelevant. The Eagles wouldn’t have won a Superbowl with Jackson on the roster in 2014. Given Jeremy Maclin’s 2014 season and the fact that he is a better locker-room guy than Jackson, the Eagles would have had likely locked Maclin up after this year and had to either trade or release Jackson for cap reasons. Conceivably the two could have been paired together for 2014 and the Eagles could have made that choice this offseason, but that’s neither here nor there at this point.

What we do know is that the Eagles front-office tipped their hand so badly that they ended up not being able to get any return for Jackson. They also, in his mind, publicly embarrassed him enough that going to play for one of the most volatile franchises in pro-sports became an attractive option, largely because they gave him a chance to play against the Eagles twice a year. And as we saw, even if the Redskins remain laughable as a whole, divisional games will almost always be tight, and having Jackson play on the other side could be key in swaying the Eagles playoff hopes one way or another. Here’s to hoping the Redskins move on from Jackson this offseason and he goes to a really bad AFC team that can’t affect the Eagles.

2014 won’t go down as a year that most Eagles fans would like to remember, but no one will ever accuse it of lacking storylines. It’s hard to believe the year started out with Jackson and the Eagles nearly winning a playoff game against the Saints and Jackson staring in the Pro-Bowl–with an Eagles helmet on.

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