JACKSONVILLE – Bang, bang, bang, bang on the door to the Super Bowl a fourth time before you finally break it down, and that’s a lot of dues to pay. So don’t think for a second the Eagles didn’t earn this. The only freak thing about them landing here yesterday to play the Patriots next Sunday was The Freak himself, who flew the plane as much as anybody.
“Jevon Kearse is everything we thought he was and probably more,” said Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. “He can go sideline to sideline, and you just don’t see too many defensive ends who can do that.
“This guy runs down running backs from behind. He’s just an amazing specimen.”
That’s why they call him The Freak – too big to be this fast, too fast to be this big, and blessedly not too late for Philadelphia to get this core of contenders over the hump.
Terrell Owens, the Eagles’ other huge free-agent signee last winter, gave a core of receivers that had been unable to get open in big games and generated big heartbreaks a true gamebreaker. But in the end, the Eagles finally broke though in the NFC title game without him.
Of course, if Owens is nothing but a limping charade against the Patriots, it will be the same old thing next Sunday, only two weeks later. Still, whatever chance there is for Owens to truly contribute comes largely courtesy of the guy the Eagles signed to take a pedestrian pass rush up another notch, too.
Kearse had 7.5 sacks this season, half of what he had as 1999 NFL defensive rookie of the year. But the Eagles had the second most in the league with 47, with 17 guys getting at least a piece of one. Derrick Burgess, the other end, had a career day in the NFC title game because nobody double teams him, unlike Kearse.
“I’ve always said we like to throw fastballs at the offense and now we have Nolan Ryan,” said coach Andy Reid, when Kearse signed.
This is a lineman who tied Deion Sanders with the fastest 40-yard time in scouting combine history. No wonder, Eagles fullback Jon Ritchie says he has always maintained Kearse is the toughest guy to block in the NFL and therefore, not a surprise at all, that he helped what had been a not-quite-good-enough defense through two rounds for the first time.
Kearse led the team with 21 hurries, blocked a punt by the Giants’ Jeff Feagles, looked as dominant as always in recording five tackles and one sack in the divisional playoff game victory over Minnesota. Last Sunday, he threw Michael Vick for a loss, the league’s once most exciting defensive player running down its most exciting offensive player, exactly why Kearse was paid an $18 million signing bonus in an eight-year, $66 million deal.
The Titans, for whom he had double-digit sacks his first two seasons after being as good a 14th overall pick as there has ever been, didn’t think Kearse, seemingly diminished by injury, was worth such a big hunk of their cap. In the time since, they went south without him, figurately speaking, while the Eagles flew south here with him.
It is his second trip, the last one ending one lousy yard short of overtime with the Rams. Kearse told himself that one yard would make him watch one more reel of film, do one more rep in the weight room. Last week he always seemed to have one more story of what the Super Bowl is like to tell his inquiring teammates.
“There is so much hype,” he said. “The guys who get most of it are used to it, but they get to Media Day (tomorrow) and it’s totally different. I’ve told the guys about it a little bit, but my experience was five years ago, too long ago.
“I just tell them it’s an opportunity to make a name for yourself.”
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The impact of Eagles DE Jevon Kearse can be felt all over the field, from QB sacks to punt blocks.
’03 — ’04
N.D. Kalu 5.5 — Jevon Kearse 7.5
Brandon Whiting 2 — Corey Simon 5.5
Darwin Walker 6 — Darwin Walker 4.5
Corey Simon 7.5 — Hugh Douglas 3
’03 — ’04
Rest of team 17 — 26.5
Total 38 — 47