saying goodbye to brian westbrook

Wow. We all knew it was coming one of these days, but it is still hard to see the headlines. Brian Westbrook's tenure as a Philadelphia Eagle officially ended today. For those Eagles fans that are around my age, all we have ever known is Brian Westbrook. Trust me, it is no surprise that once #36 became a full time back for the Eagles, they were successful.

While he was known more for his electrifying run after catch ability then as a true every down running back, Westbrook brought much more to the field then meets the eye. He was a matchup nightmare, opposing teams were forced to recognize where he was on the field on every single play of the game, opening up opportunities for the other players to excel. How else do you explain Donovan being able to win ballgames with Todd Pinkston and James Thrash?

I could go on and on about the many things Brian Westbrook brought to this Eagles team over the last decade, but instead I'll leave you with some statistics to mull over. If you thought he was successful in the NFL, take a close look at what Westbrook did in college...

NCAA All-time leader in all-purpose yards (includes I-A and I-AA)
9,512 yards
(4,298 rushing, 2,582 receiving, 343 punt returns, 2,289 kickoff returns; 1,022 plays)
2001 Walter Payton award winner (basically the Heisman of I-AA football)

Brian Westbrook (3rd Rd 2002 draft, Villanova)
2x Pro Bowl selection (2004, 2007)
5, 995 Rushing yards (4.6 yd/carry)
37 Rushing TD's
426 Receptions
3,790 Receiving yards
29 Receiving TD's

Oh and by the way, Westbrook measured in at 5'8 200 lb and ran a 4.57 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine in 2002. Goes to show you dont have to run the fastest or be the biggest to be a great football player, Brian Westbrook showed us and the entire NFL just that.

Thanks for all the hard work Westbrook, you'll always be an Eagle to us