While typically I try to come up with a more clever topic, I felt this was all that needed to be said. NFL All-Pro Safety Brian Dawkins announced his retirement today after 16 seasons, mostly spent with the Philadelphia Eagles. He made the announcement on his Twitter account @BrianDawkins.

Dawkins, a Christian and mild-mannered person by nature, was an absolute animal on the football field. He was the heart and soul of the Eagles defense during his 13 seasons in Philadelphia. He gave wide receivers jitters and got into the psyches of many of the quarterbacks he faced. I can recall many Sunday’s yelling at opposing quarterbacks (on TV of course) to “look off” Dawkins and know where he was on the field.

For over a decade, he was the fiercest and most intimidating player in the NFL not named Ray Lewis (ironically, they were in the same draft class in 1996). In typical Andy Reid-style, Dawkins was sent packing after the 2008 season as the team felt that he was no longer the dynamite player from before. Dawkins went on to play three productive seasons for the Broncos with his last one limited due to injury.

As many of you know, I’m a lifelong Eagles hater but even I could never deny the impact of a player like Dawkins. I remember attending the 2003 Eagles vs. 49ers game. Terrell Owens had been a non-factor all game. When he finally caught a pass, “B-DAWK” nailed him, breaking Owens’ collarbone and knocking him out for the remainder of the season.

“Weapon X”, “Wolverine”, or simply “B-Dawk”; no matter what you called him, he was an Eagle true to form. Start making plans to travel to Canton, OH in 2017, because he will no doubt be meeting you there.