PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Eagles 26: How No. 24 Asante Samuel And No. 23 Hugh Douglas Became LEGENDS | PHLY Eagles Podcast

Episode Date: June 23, 2026

Our countdown of the best Eagles players since 2000 rolls on with Asante Samuel and Hugh Douglas, two key cogs in a golden era of Eagles defensive football ushered in by Jim Johnson. Bo Wulf and EJ Smith discuss Samuel’s legacy as as a high-risk, high-reward cornerback and Douglas’ historic run as one of the best edge rushers in franchise history. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello everybody and welcome to the P-H-L-Y Eagle Show. A rainy Tuesday, Bowulf. E.J. Smith live from the X-Finity Lounge and presented by Ashley. E.J. is back and he's got thoughts on what is and is not appropriate. No. Wedding dance moves. No comment on that one. Okay.

The photos, what I will say about a wedding is that the photos from Devante Smith and... Oh, good, Devante. Yeah, Devante Smith's wedding was very beautiful. You know, Jalen Hertz was in attendance. I think I have a beef with People magazine for the photo. That was AJ there? Probably, right? I didn't see photos of AJ.

I didn't see photos, but you would be surprised if he wasn't, right? Yeah, you'd be surprised. It is interesting how much that's died down, like the wedding attendance list watch. Yeah. Yeah, the pictures are great. I did notice in the Instagram video, Tyler Steen was there. Oh, was he? Good for Tyler Steen.

Yeah, you know what? I agree with you. Good for Tyler Steen and get that invite. Tyler Seen's happening like a moment right now. That Alabama invite, yeah. But yeah, the pictures look beautiful. I wanted to say that People Magazine, the way they wouldn't that be really funny if like Tyler Steen was Devante's best friend? It would kind of track. They're both so quiet. Yeah. Now, quiet in different ways, though.

Yeah. But I mean, it would, I mean, really funny. Like, I think it'd be funnier if like DeVante's best friend were like Andy Dalton, I think that would be funnier. I don't know. I think Tylerstein is pretty funny. I like Tylerstein. He's a good guy.

Okay. What was the other thing you're going to say? People magazine. The way that the photos look, they looked like almost like airbrushed. I feel like they needed to chill out a little bit with the contrast control on the Photoshop there. Understandable. But yeah, photos look great.

Okay. What else is on your mind? A little bit of NFL news. Yeah. The Brendan Sorsby news. Do you want to talk about it now? want to save it. I mean, we can just mention it. Yeah, I mean, the fact that there's no supplemental draft this year, which the NFL said was their discretion. It's their choice if there is

one each year. I mean, it's effectively a one-year suspension for him without actually suspending him. We can talk about my opinion on it later. I don't hate that decision by the NFL. I think it's totally fine. Yeah. Yeah. We can talk about it. We can get into it later. Sure. Yeah. And then we do have to give a shout out before we get into this, a great job. by, let's see, let's see if we can figure out there are three names. The Mark L. Vell signing, yes. Yeah, I mean, you want to talk about somebody getting it done in a big spot when it really matters. You want to talk about three of the best in the business.

You got to talk about Connor Mullins, Trey Robinson, and Marlon Moore of athlete elite agency because they did the deal. They did it. They hammered it out. This was it, you know, we talked about how difficult the Jalen Carter contract negotiations are for Howie Roseman and Drew Rosenhouse, a lot of different things that they're going to be quibbling about. I think it sort of increased that tenfold when it comes to the third round contract for Markle Bell. Yeah, it's a tough one. He signed on the dotted line.

Did the deal. They finally made it happen. Wow. Woo! Ground breaking stuff right there. Amazing. Marlon, Trey, and Con. Hunter. MTC, baby.

MCMT. CTC for MTC. CMT.C. Country Music Television. Yeah, I go CTCC. TMC. TNC. TN.C. TN. Classic movies. TMZ has been having a moment because they're on after the World Cup games in some markets. At least when we were on vacation, it felt like, you know, I never turned the hotel TV off. Maybe that's a bad work by me. Maybe it's a bad job. But, yeah, we'd come back to the room. I'd be like, why is TMZ on?

It's because, you know, got that primetime slot after the World Cup game. Like, trying to think of another. example of that. Something that... That's on after. It's always on after. Now, what comes to mind in Showtime at the Apollo

after SNL when I was growing up, but I liked, I wanted to watch Showtime at least. 60 minutes after the Sunday night game, that's a good one. Yeah, that's a good one where you come back into the room and it's on. Yeah, that's a good one.

That's like nostalgia. Like growing up, the 60 minute sound like in the fourth quarter of the Sunday night football game. I don't have that as much now because I'm like a lot, I'm usually working Sunday nights. I'm not watching Sunday night football as closely.

If I get, if I'm home, I will. But, you know, Well, what's actually going to work out pretty well on that front this year is that when the Giants play on Sunday night football, it's going to work out well because Jackson Dart's going to be the quarterback. And then he's going to be the main correspondent for 60 minutes. No comment on that one. I'm Jackson Dart, those stories and more tonight on 60 minutes. Let's talk to Sante Samuel.

I'm excited to hear this. Well, don't give it away. I mean, it's a fun now. It's a whole. This is a difficult thing. Because, you know, if you're listening, if you see the title, you know who's going to be there. But we want to play it up a little bit. Yeah, I really enjoyed your monologues for these guys.

I'm excited to be in studio for this one. It feels like I'm going to get extra juice, listening to it up close. All right, let's get into it. Number 24 on the list of the Eagles 26. Defense in the NFL is really, really hard. You got three or four chances for the offensive. to move the ball 10 yards. It seems pretty easy,

especially with all the rules in their favor. Competence, let alone greatness on the defensive side of the ball, typically requires 11 people working in harmony, hoping that the split-second difference between bothering the quarterback and letting him ignore your presence is enough to help out the secondary or the vice versa, that staying a half-step closer to the receiver is enough to let your defensive linemen get home.

And that's to say nothing of the human car crash that is defending the run. Defense is hard. And the very best thing any defender can do is make sure they don't have to play defense anymore. But causing turnovers, that's mostly luck, except when it's not.

No cornerback in the NFL this century, period. was better at intercepting opposing quarterbacks than Asante Samuel. For four seasons, he did that in Philadelphia, totaling 23 interceptions from 2008 to 2011, three of which were Pro Bowl seasons, with 16 interceptions combined in 2009 and 2010. We have not seen the likes of that since Samuel left, not really in the NFL, but certainly not in Philadelphia.

since his departure, not a single outside cornerback for the Eagles has had more than three interceptions in a season. Only Patrick Robinson and Brandon Boykin on the inside managed four. Now, no one, I think Asante included, would say that he was an all-around player. He would lower a shoulder if called upon near the sideline, but tackling was not his calling card. he might not travel with opposing number one receivers and lock them down on a plug-in, playout basis. Instead, like some kind of analytic invention, he was fully optimized to do the most important thing any cornerback can do. He played left corner because most corners, quarterbacks, are right-handed and they throw to their right more often. He understood route combinations and

tendencies at a molecular level and pounced like a cat on a mouse with his any opportunity he got. Lost my train of thought there. But he did that all with his mouth wide open yapping at the top of his lungs whenever he got the chance. Asante's arrival as a free agent in 2008 coincided with the drafting of Deshawn Jackson as the second round pick that same spring. And together, I feel like they transitioned the Eagles from this model of boring competence to one of boisterous swagger. Asante would tell you exactly what he was going to do

and then either he would do it or you would beat him and he would forget about it and tell you that he's going to do it on the next play. He called himself the president. He had the perfect cornerback mindset. And so, we see. stand out attention and hail to the chief, to the last of a thieving breed of cornerback that no longer exists,

to the swagger, to the gallop he would do after just missing out on a pick six. And of course, do all that thickness. Ladies and gentlemen, number 24, Asante Samuel. Man, goosebumps. excellently done well said well written good to hear your writing that's fine enjoy it enough about me assante to me a lot of these players especially in the earlier years like i'm gonna be i'll talk more about the feeling they give you sure and the feeling of being like you know in middle school watching of asante samuel the early high school age for me was like the

thrill that he would give you as an eagles fan watching the game and as like somebody who is, you know, studied in football and passionate about football now, I do look at him as one of the corners to change the way that the position is viewed. I feel like Asante might have been an ideal fit for the era he played in because of interception numbers across the league being higher in that era. Quarterbacks were putting the ball in harm's way slightly more than they do these days. But also, you look at corners today. I think that he was ahead of his time in terms of like feel he had for the game. And like you said,

the prioritization he put on taking the ball away. Yeah, it is, most of me does not believe that, like, that interceptions are a reliable thing. And even when you say

that the quarterbacks were turning the ball over more, they were, but still most of those interceptions were being done by safeties. Yeah. You know, Asante has the most interceptions of the century in the NFL,

just beating out Champ Bailey. Now, not all of those are with the ego. some of those, a lot of those were with the Patriots, but he is the guy, the one guy, who really was doing it at a repeatable level. And if we accept that getting turnovers is the single most important thing you can do on defense,

which I think is true, then you do have to accept that even if he's going to give up a 20-yard completion here or there, although not, he didn't usually get beat deep. You know, it was more he would get beat shorter. Still, you take that. at the risk or at the reward of having a guy who can actually reliably take the ball away. Yeah. To me, and I enjoyed your discussion about the corners in general,

he was an incomplete player, but again, synthesized down to what is the most important part about playing this position. I think that that was really special. And again, like, I think when we're, when we are looking at these players, we sometimes look at the body of work and the stat, you know, the stat distribution, who had the most interceptions, but I do think you can go back to the feeling that some of these guys gave you. And he had moments and he had the, you know, the thumbnail text for today is game changers, right? He was a game changer. Yeah.

And I think that in that era of Eagles defense, like he is one of the players that shines the brightest, not necessarily because he was the most productive, even though he was productive, it was because of the fact that he was the type of player that a 12-year-old, 13-year-old kid knew about would sing their name, like he was that type of player, and I think that that adds to the legacy. I think it really does.

It was also not without accolades. You know, he was here for four seasons. Three of them were Pro Bowl seasons. And I do think that that transition from 2008 to 2009, he's there in 2008, Brian Dawkins last year, and in the year when the defense has to figure out who they are and what their personality is without Brian Dawkins as a leader

you know Asante's voice carried a lot of weight and it's romantic to me because that's the season that I first started covering the team is 2009 and I just I mean I just remember being at training camp and watching him and Deshawn going back and forth like Deshaun I've never seen anything like it

the ease with which he's able to just get wide open with his speed but Asante just yapping and yapping and yapping and yapping and still, you know, backing up his words, to me that was like, oh my God, that, like, that is what an NFL cornerback is about. And just like Deshaun has this unbelievable wiring where, like, for a guy his size to be able to dominate the way he does, like he's, it's only going to work if he's got

that special wiring. With Asante, it was only going to work if he had as much self-confidence and crazy bravado as he had. Which you needed the cornerback position. Now, what I find interesting, and this is, I'm going to position this as a question to you about Asante, hearing stories from people who have covered him, it seems like there's not a unanimous, like, great guy, amazing guy. And I think that that is part of, like, what you need to be, like, an elite defensive back is that, like, you know, you're not afraid to, like, step on eggshells or, you know, hurt people's feelings.

What was your experience like covering him? Was it, you know, was it part in parcel? Like, sometimes he was a little abrasive. Oh yeah, I mean, he was, you know, he's always yelling at Domowich. Paul Domovich. Yes, because of the Hall of Fame case. Because of the Hall of Fame. I mean, he was very aware of chasing a Hall of Fame case.

And even still, you know, if you follow social media, he's like, how is 50 interceptions not a Hall of Fame thing? And I do think that he has been kind of boned by the Hall of Fame process. Not that he definitely deserves to be in, but he doesn't even make it to those semi-finalist lists. Yeah. With guys who are much less impactful as players than he was. Yeah, I mean, he would only talk once a week, but he would be yelling at the, in the locker room. Now, I was not a veteran reporter,

and I was also working for the team website, so it's not like he was, you know, antagonistic towards me necessarily, but it was, to me, more of like, this is a guy with a huge presence and, like, a personality that fills up. I mean, he was the biggest personality on that team. Yeah, I just, I find it interesting because I know with our list,

the personality doesn't always, like, we won't let that overweight where they fall on the list. But I do think it's part of, like, his legacy. And, like, I wonder how much it affects the outside perception of him. You know, the fact that he wasn't maybe, he didn't have as many people, like, singing his praises because of the fact that he had that personality. So I pulled a quote about his play style in anticipation. This is from a story from Frank Fitzpatrick in the Philadelphia Inquirer back in 2010. This is, Assante Samuel, one of his college coaches. talking about his place now. I thought you'd enjoy this.

He says, I tell my kids, I don't want you to play like Asante. I tell them, I want you to stay square. I want you to keep play in front of you. Don't gamble. Asante can get away with the technique flaws. You can't. He's a unique player. I think that that's like a very fun encapsulation of Asante Samuel. Yeah. I mean, it's he's not a person to repeat. Yeah. He can do it because he sees it and his like his closing quickness was a lead. You know, and think about how many times you saw Asante break up. on a ball and just miss a pick.

Yeah. Like these are not, here's not like, oh, he just, he had great hands and he got all these picks. No, he was putting himself in those situations all the time. Yeah.

It felt like he was ahead of his time in some regard. And I truly, like, you don't, maybe part of it is the way the defense is coach now and what defense coordinator's want, but you don't see that

in the NFL anymore. Yeah, like Trayvon Diggs was like a pale, like, you know, maybe like, right, you see these one season blips. Yeah, he was kind of like close to that for a few seasons. And I remember having conversations with people who like observe the league about like, you know, Trayvon Diggs. Like Eagles fans were low on Trayvon Diggs.

Oh, he's like a pick artist. But Asante was that just more effective at it, you know? And like the value of the turnover overweighs the fact that you were taking those. Yeah. And I think like, you can say you can say pick artist or fluky or whatever if it's a one season thing. Yeah. And that's why. Like to me that is why Asante is different.

It's because it was never, you know, there are some seasons where it's more than others. but like on a consistent basis, he is the guy who was able to actually do it and not have it just be, you know, number reversion and stuff like that. I think that's a good point. That's what separates. And part of it is, you know,

he was an incredibly smart player. Yeah. You know, he knew exactly what the rock combinations were like. You know, he was optimizing four interceptions and he was studying to make that happen. Yeah. And also like at the end of the day, like, can you blame him?

Like playing corner, playing corner seems miserable. We've talked about it. Like people have talked about this, you know, a lot. Like, it's the hardest position to play. It's a miserable thing. He's like, screw this. I'm going to get some interceptions if I'm playing this position and good for him. He could do it.

And I also think it's, you know, it's different than like a Jason Babin. Yeah. Yeah. Which is not necessarily at the team's benefit. Mm-hmm. If you take the ball away, that's good for everybody. Yeah, I mean, he scored a decent amount when he took the ball away too. All right.

Time to take our first break on the other side. We got a quick little check-in on one of Asante's teammates with some insight on him. And we'll talk about how difficult it is to unpack all the cornerbacks, the great cornerbacks who have played in Philadelphia over this century. Stay with us on the PHO AGO's podcast. What if you, yes, you could have reliable and intelligent Wi-Fi for five years at the same price. Well, good news. That's what X-Finity is bringing to the table.

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good service. Route 73 South and Marlton, Elkins Chevy, tell him PHL Y sent you. Sante's Angels. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Sauti. Oh, I love Sopty, dude. Santee, that's my type. Yosea, just, I'll be grind you out. I'll be talk bad to you, and I'm going to love you at the same time, but I'm to hold you accountable. And that's, that's how the type of guy was. That's what I love about Santi, man. He, he, he, he, he comes behind me, he comes behind me, telling me, he said, man, he did a hell of a job, you know, saying, you know, putting pressure on the, you know, putting pressure on the quarterback for him, you know what I'm saying? He's trying to get interceptions too, but Santi, that's my God, man, I love to Santi, you know what I'm saying? He's type of guy,

he's just grit. I mean, he's, he'd have to, if we were going to war, I wouldn't have to have to count him in, he's already there, you know what I'm saying? So, he's He's all around good person too, as well. Loudest practice player that you ever played with? Ooh. I mean, is it Asante? Who? BG probably in there?

Yeah, we could bet BG and Santi. Who else would it be else? That about being, it probably was a Sonti's loud, but yeah, he was always loud. I mean, practice, you always heard, he always heard him talking. I mean, he's calling everybody out. So I said, he holds people accountable. Like, he called him out on the sideline.

Yeah. That's Trent Cole. and what I like about that is really just you saw the smile on his face when you ask about Asante it just lights up and that's the personality we're talking about absolutely and that's important

you know I will have to talk to BG about if like that type of energy like fed into him becoming who he was but yeah no I mean it feels like we've always had somebody at an Eagles practice that has that trash talking spirit with Jordan Davis kind of taking the mantle now too right what is your what is your

a singing Asante Samuel story? Yeah, so I'm not going to sing it. I'm not going to sing it. I'm not going to sing it. Is it the Asante Sona from? No. You won't know this, I promise. Do you know the song?

Six foot, seven foot by Little Lane. Sing it for me? No, I'm not going to sing it. Lindsay knows it. In the background of that song, I don't know what they're saying, and I don't even want to guess. It's probably something inappropriate,

but it's just like, I guess I do have to sing it. It's like, We used to sing Asante Samuel to that tune. Me and my sister when we would watch games growing up. Again, that's the type of stuff that, like, I feel like fits him because, again, he was a player that even like my sister, who wasn't really watching the game, she loved him because it's like, he's the ones going to make the play you remember for the whole week.

All right. Now, let's talk big picture of cornerback here because this is one of the more difficult parts of putting this list together, is who deserves a spot? How do you stack right? rank, Asante, Lido Shepard, Sheldon Brown, Quigion Mitchell, Upertijin, you throw Bobby Taylor in there. All very good players. Now, I think I would tell you that,

I think Quinyan is a better player than Asante. Yes. But the fact that it has only been two seasons versus four for Asante. It just tips to scale a little bit. They could not be more different. Yeah, they could not be more different. They could not be more different. I mean, they're both great coverage players, but like in different ways.

I mean, everything about both of them is entirely different. Yeah, exactly. Quinyan is silent. Quinnian can't catch the ball. It doesn't care about interceptions. Yeah. We'll travel with whoever. Unselfish player.

Totally. Yeah. Asante is the exact opposite. Yeah, they are inverses. Yeah. Absolutely. Now, I think earlier versions of this list might have had Lido over Asante. Because Lido has a first team all pro.

He's got that big moment against in the, in the Tio return game, obviously. Just, you know, talking to people who were around both of them. Just wasn't as impactful of a player. And I think you can make a good case that Sheldon, you know, was better than Lido. Could make his place on this list. Bobby Taylor as well. And then you get to Gourbergen. But in the end, the spots go into Asante because of the game-changing impact.

Yeah, I agree. I think the acknowledgement of the importance. importance of takeaways, which is something that in Philadelphia, I feel like Eagles fans have really, like, you know, understood even more in the Nick Siriani era because of how good the Eagles defense has been with takeaways. I think you can give him the nod over a lot of these players. I like the way that Fran put it on when you guys were discussing the list. Like, if you were starting a defense, you probably wouldn't choose Asante Samuel over some of these guys. Unless he's kind of, he's like a designated hitter. Yeah, unless you're building it around Asante. And I think you could

have a legitimate argument or a legitimate conversation about if you should build your secondary around a guy who's consistently going to take the ball away. Like, you know, if you told me, you could have a, like, if you told me Quinnian Mitchell were on the other side, I probably would take Asante as the other corner in that group.

Like, I over somebody like Darius Slay. But it's more We didn't mention Slay. We should talk about Slay. It's more scheme dependent with Asante, but I think the juice is worth the squeeze, just like it was when he was a player. Like you watched them on the field. And you always said, high risk, high reward, but the reward is worth the risk.

How do you feel about Slay in this conversation? I would put Asante over Slay. When I was asking you about the personality aspect of this, I do think that Slay gets dinged a little bit by that. Fair or unfair, I'd say unfairly. But even just as a player, again, this is where like the moments, the impact, like where you're standing is on the team, I think Asante is just higher in those areas than Slay. Like, I think Slai actually gets hurt a lot. a little bit by the fact that he played for such a good defense and such a good team. It feels like it's hard to imagine those Eagles defenses without Asante. It's easier to imagine those Eagles defenses without Slay.

That makes sense. Yeah, but you know, you can make a good case for Slay. Just like Asante, four seasons, just like Asante, three Pro Bowl seasons. The other season that he wasn't in the Pro Bowl, they win the Super Bowl. You know, his 20, his 2022 was really, really elite. he's following guys. Yeah, I mean, in the end, he doesn't get the spot, but I think he probably gets undersold in this discussion as well.

And I think the personality is part of it. I think that that... Well, you think he was too silly? I think he... I appreciate it, Slay. I actually thought, like, you know, as a leader, yeah, as a leader, as, you know, just as a man, like, I can appreciate a lot about, you know,

I appreciate getting to know him. But yeah, I think that his personality always classed with Philadelphia, and I think as a result, he never really got the full appreciation for what he was as a player. Like, I think, I don't know, it's hard. It's like, you know, I'm not saying I feel this way about him, and I'm still making the argument that Asante's over him, but I do think he gets danged a little bit for the personality. But I just, you know what I mean? Like, if you think about that 2024 Eagles defense, like, you can envision it without Darius Slay. Yeah, I agree. but like when you're thinking about Asante Samuel at his peak in those defenses, it's harder to envision it without.

Oh, I think that's right. Yeah. I mean, he was the biggest personality. He was probably the, you know, him and Trent Cole were the best players on his defenses. Yeah. Whereas, I mean, I think in 22 when you had Slay and Bradbury, like together locking it down, both playing at that high level, that he felt more integral to that. Yeah, but I think when you're thinking about the peak of that Eagles defense, it's 24 that you're thinking of. But you're right. I mean, he's an important player. I do think that it's a little bit easier to.

I think that he just fell a little bit lower in the pecking order of like the players that made that defense that defense. Yeah, I think that's okay. All good players. We're not tearing anybody down here. We want to bring guys up. It's funny like how many great corners

you have to parse through for this because if you had asked me like, just at first glance, like are the Eagles like a great cornerback franchise? I wouldn't have said yes. But then you think about, the last 26 years and it's like they have a lot of guys who were fighting for this spot. I mean, you know, you always have to fill two spots. Yeah. That's part of it. But like,

but certainly there was the, you know, is you got the Byron Maxwell. You got the, uh, Namdi awesome law. Well, certainly nomdi. That's part of it. That's part of the Asante story is that year where they were not able to make that work with him and DRC. Um, you've got. Who else in the much malign? And what's the, uh, Bradley Fletcher? Uh, there's going Orlando Scandrick. Like, uh, just like the controversial guys. It does, feel like, well, you know what? I think, you know what it is? The fact that there are so many great corners is like a reflection of it's like, like it's hard to play corner in Philly. You know, it's, I think that might be like a sneaky thing that it's difficult because

again, my experience growing up, like the Byron Maxwell memes, like their memes weren't that popular when Byron Maxwell was getting memed. Like, you know, there's a lot of scrutiny for these guys and they have to handle it. And, you know, the fact that the Eagles have had so many great corners is probably a good thing because those guys like you know if they even if they struggled for a game they were going to get killed. Fran Duffy points out in the chat that you know 2024 is the end of Slay whereas we're talking about Asante's peak although Asante did not have did not play for that much longer after he left the Eagles but still that was that was the peak of his powers.

Yeah it's a tough one between the two of them. It's tough. Well congratulations to Asante Samuel number 24. on the Eagles 26. And with that, we turn our next break. On the other side, we will get into number 23,

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Hogi Fest is back at Wawa. Gotta have a Wawa. We're back on the PHA YGO's podcast, Bo and EJ. How are you doing? I'm doing great. How was the game last night? Oh, it was great.

Yeah, I mean, I'm jealous, man. That's a cool experience. Yeah, at first it was like, I mean, We brought our rain jackets as me and my son but what was great about it was the energy

because generally speaking it's a bit of a sterile atmosphere because it's not everybody pulling in the same direction and it's more about being at the you know at the event the the nature of the long

delay meant that when they come out in the second half everybody's like into it Because it's like we all collectively made it through to the other side. It was a much better energy in the second half that made it feel much more like a Philadelphia sporting event because it was like, okay, let's get rowdy. That's interesting. I would have guessed that the delay being like two hours plus would have taken the wind out of the sales. But that's cool to hear.

I mean, it's just like I am jealous that you got to see Killian and Boppe at the peak of his powers. That's pretty cool. That is awesome. What an experience. Yeah. That's very cool. My son came downstairs this morning and just going, Olao, Olao, that's great.

That's awesome. That's great. Did you have any other, like, players stand out other than the obvious guys? Did anybody just like, were you just like, man, that guy up close is special? No, honestly, I mean, you know, you can talk about Elysa and some of the other guys, but like our eyes are all watching Mbapé. Yeah, okay. That's fair. It's cool to watch.

What was fun about it was when they come out for the second half, they're getting the field ready, and, you know, they're squeaging in all the spots. and you see Mbapé, everybody else is sort of like, you know, kicking the ball around, and he's like purposefully stepping and stomping hard all over the pitch to see if there are extra spots, and then he calls him over at one point. He's like, I saw the video of this.

Oh, really? Yeah, because there's a, like, speaking of memes, Mbapé is known as the dictator online because he is like, he seems very type A. It seems like if he wants it, he's going to get it. Interesting. But honestly, like, that's funny because on the flip side. It's attention of detail.

Right. On the flip side, people love that Michael Elis goes out before the game and like tests how slick the pitches. Okay. So they're very similar in that way. Olise is my favorite player. He is my favorite player to watch. He is so, he's like, it's so beautiful to watch him play.

And his vision, his way he can pass the ball, way he shoots, he's so like nonchalant. I just, I love that guy. So France are a fun watch, man. I mean, everybody knows that. But yeah, fun team to watch. All right. Back to the Eagles. Yeah.

Number 23. I will tell you straight off the bat. Hugh Douglas is getting a raw deal here. To some degree, recency bias runs amok and works against a player whose impact came at the very start of this century of Eagle's proficiency.

Further, he is the victim of the arbitrary endpoints exercise here where his five-year peak stretches before the start of 2000, of his 12 and a half sack season in 1998, while it was an impressive debut after the Eagles traded a second round pick to acquire him from the Jets,

doesn't count. And so that works against him a little bit as well. What does count is that stretch from 2000 to 2002. Those three years in which Douglas earned first team all pro honors with 15 sacks, backed that up with nine and a half sacks and another all pro season, and then punctuated his first stint with the team

with 12 and a half sacks in 2002 for his third straight Pro Bowl year. Those 37 sacks combined in three seasons remain the most sacks for any eagle this century in any three season stretch with only Trent Cole topping 30 sacks in a three season stretch, which he did twice. To listen to those who were close to the Eagles at the start of the century, tell it,

Douglas was an essential part of turning Jim Johnson's defense into the one of the league's best, and if Brian Dawkins and a cadre of awesome cornerbacks held things down on the back end, Hugh Douglas was the driver up front. What also makes Douglas very much of this Eagle century is that like so many others after, he came back. A one-season money grab in Jacksonville, as he would accurately describe it later, then led to a coming home in 2004 during which he was a role player on the

best team of the first half of the Eagle Century. And so as with Jeremiah Trotter, Jordan Matthews, Marcus Epps, Deshawn Jackson, Anthony Rush, Brett Tooth, Finney Curry, Jack Driscoll, Jack Stoll, Nick Foles, and others. Douglas proved that in this version of Philadelphia, you're not a true eagle until you come back home again. Even in his post-playing career, Douglas has, of course, come back home again, remaining a part of the Philadelphia sports landscape with, with, I think you will agree with this, E.J., a signature training camp lean that reveals both an intimate knowledge of the game and the back aches to prove it.

Yep. So here's to Hugh Douglas, no doubt better than I can convey, a great eagle at number 23 on our list. Yeah. Very well said. Hugh was a little bit before, like, my football remembering time, but to kind of supplement my research on Hugh, I called my dad on my way in. Oh, I love this.

Yeah. And, like, my dad did, like, the football coach thing. First thing out of his mouth, oh, just a good football player. Really, really, really loved Hugh Douglas, loved the fact that he was an elite pass rusher, but still a complete player. solid against the run.

And just, yeah, again, like a player who embodied the era of Eagles defense, you know, I was watching clips of Hugh this morning and, you know, like watching him drop on a sim pressure thinking to myself, like early 2000s and like, you know, they're calling it fire zone and everything. Like, you know, it's what the football coaches will say, nothing new under the sun. Like, seeing him do that in the Jim Johnson defense, it's a very fun visual. It reminds you of how innovative those defenses were and how important he was to that very, very special era of Eagles thief. All right. I like that. Now, for a little bit more insight into how Hugh came to Philadelphia, we're going to rewind the tape back to when Brian brought us

joined Fran last two weeks ago. Two weeks ago. Time is absolutely meaningless to me. Construct. In this current iteration of the show, but we got some real good insight into how Hugh Douglas ended up in Philadelphia. Let's check that out now. Mike, I tell you what, Mike Lombardi, I got to give Mike full credit for this one too, because we knew what Hugh Douglas was coming out of college. I remember, you know, within Green Bay and stuff. But we were, excuse me, we were, Michael is like, man, we need to get a little juice off the edge. We need to get a little toughness.

We need to get a little, you know, I mean, it was, it was, it was just kind of a, we had good players. I mean, the whole thing with Mike Mamula and all that was just, you know, I mean, it was just, we're trying to. We were trying and we knew we needed the help. And the thing with Hugh, Hugh just the way that he attacked blockers, the way that he played and the way that he kept blockers off him, the way he was able to extend, get rid of the quickness, Hugh never gave you any kind of hitting surface. He was always, he could get real small, get through cracks. get upfield. He could run over you. He could get around you.

He was always playing with his hands. The footwork, the ability to kind of, like I say, get small and get through cracks and then or chase the ball, make plays at the point of attack. He was really complete in a lot of ways. You were talking about, you know, Trey Thomas being a complete blocker. Hugh Douglas was you could turn on tape and watching him beating up on NFL guys. And again, Parcells, thanks, coach for, you know, helping, well, he helped the Eagles. Yeah.

Me and Mike were, you know, like, we were watching from afar like going, damn, we didn't do a very bad job doing that, building this football team, did we? But, but yeah, it, it was, it was really, like I said, it was a no-brainer because I just, I didn't. I go, I go down this board. I look down that board.

in the second round and I'm thinking, okay, well, what kind of edge rushers are we talking about, you know, I'm talking about guys like Grant Wistram. That's the kind of, you know, if you're talking about, well, Grant Wistram or Hugh Douglas. You know, what are you going to do? What are you going to do there? And so that's that's kind of where we were at. The depth of that position wasn't really, you know, like how you thought, I mean, it might be. I mentioned Foley and there were some guys in that draft, but it wasn't like Hugh Douglas.

And that made it really, really simple for us to have to navigate. All right. Thank you to Brian brought us and Fran for bringing that to us. It's time now for the right people presented by our dear friends, that's true mark financial. Let's talk a little bit more about Hugh Douglas and just, I think the defensive end position in general, which, you know, I think of Andy Reid's fastballs, right?

We want to keep throwing fastballs out of it. And the Eagles have obviously always prioritized this position, but it has so often been like a rotating cast of characters. Obviously, Brannagram is the exception to, to that rule and Trent Cole as well those guys who have been here who were here for a long time other than that I mean Hugh Douglas is you know it's it's it's century three seasons he was really here for five seasons it's a lot more of like you know Hassan reda comes and pops yeah and then leaves you know Chris Long has a couple good years and leaves or retires it's it's it's a spot where there's

a bit a little more of a carousel yeah there definitely has been like more of the mercenary types in that job And with that, I think what's admirable about Hugh Douglas is what you mentioned, that three-year stretch. Like when I was doing my research, that was what jumped right out to me. Because, you know, like, when I went into it, I was thinking that Hugh Douglas, and you can tell me what you think about where I had him originally in my, like, in my rankings. I had him a little ahead of Hassan, but right there with Josh Swett. Really?

When I look back at the numbers, it's like that three-year stretch, like, I think that he is getting hurt by recency bias. I mean, like you mentioned, it is the best three-year stretch that any Eagles edge rusher has had. 37 sacks, 52 tackles for losses, six-force fumbles and an interception? Like, it's a very, very dominant and fun stretch from an edge rusher. And again, like, even though they have had a lot of talent, you know, filter in and out of that rotation over the years, the fact that he has that stretch to kind of boost him up this list, I think is a real testament to that, the way that he, how important he was to that era.

I think, I think, you make a fine case about sweat? You think? Not that he should be over hue. Production-wise, he doesn't compare, really. No, and I think, you know, it's the sliding scale of tenure versus peak, which, you know, you want to make the Sequin argument. it's like at what point do these things intersect. But, I mean,

sweat on the team for seven seasons and has one Pro Bowl season, a different season with 11 sacks. Obviously he has a, you know, arguably should have been Super Bowl MVP. Those are like big moments. I think you could make a case for inclusion in the top 26th.

I think, I mean, I don't think he makes it in. But I think, I think we probably underrate Josh Sweat's impact in an exercise like this. I agree this. It depends on how much you want to weigh the Super Bowl over that three-year stretch that Hugh had.

I think it's the same thing we mentioned with Slay, where it's like he was part of such a great group, Josh Wet. Sure. And I also think that Hugh being an important part of a, that was a good sell you by you. I liked that. Hugh being such a, yeah, nice. Hugh being such a big part of like one of the most revered. eras and Eagles' defensive history.

Like such a, like, such a beloved group of defensive players and he was so important to it, I think that that kind of does, like, add to the aura of Hugh when you're looking at somebody like Joshua who has won a Super Bowl. Yeah. I think that's fair. Anybody else come to mind just, like, you know, not for the list, but just guys you've appreciated? I mean, the obvious guys.

Like, I think there's a tier skip. I think it's fair to say there's a tier skip on the edge rushes from here, right? Am I forgetting anyone? I think so, yeah. I love Jvon curse when I was kid. You know, it's funny. Grace was saying, like, I'm not that much younger than her. I should remember Hugh Douglas.

Like, I remember Hugh, but young EJ. maybe didn't know ball because I had not one, not two, three Javon curse jerseys. Really? Yeah, like, and he was the more productive player and probably the more important player, not probably, was the more important player. So, listen, I was young.

Give me a pass here. Does Hugh Douglas imply the existence of Doug Hewis. I didn't think about this. You'll be surprised to me see here. Did not consider that. Certainly would be a worse would be a worse player, you would imagine.

I've got enough of you, I don't know. Let's close the book on the right people presented by our friends at True Mark. I think we're going to bring in someone who was a little bit closer. To Hugh Douglas in the D block? Before we do that, let's make a point of saying, like, I was asking around about Hugh's impact in the locker room.

Very beloved in the locker. Obviously, you have the fight with T.O. That kind of, like, has aged well. But when you hear stories from reporters about Hugh, it is, like, his presence and his accommodation. Poor reporters was very good. So I think that we should mention that. Good guy from an outside perspective as well.

Okay. But, and more importantly than that, I mean, listen, I don't... Do they really care about it if a guy was nice to the... Well, it just seems like he's a good guy. But I mean more to the point of that is, you know, a true, like, leader. Yeah. For the team and a guy who was willing to call people on their BS. Yeah.

I think it's very cool that, like, him and Tio had that fight, and they both talk about it. And they've talked about it together. They've moved on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think that that's, it's admirable from both of them. And I do love the leaving and coming back because that has really become such a. Yeah. And it's one where I, you know, I'm sure that that happens other places.

Yeah. But there's no way it happens as often as it does here, right? Yeah. Yeah, you'd like to think. Howie loves that. Yes, probably. I think what, I think they, you know what, it's not dissimilar to them talking about, like, having moved on. I think, no, the list, there are guys like Jack Stoll or whatever, but then I think what they really like is when there's like a contentious negotiation that leads to a departure.

and then they come back and hug it out again and they're working together again. Yeah, yeah. Like DeShan. Yeah, I guess, yeah. It ended okay with DeShan. The second time? The second time.

Yeah. It was fine. Yeah. Somebody made the point, I mean, spoiler, Deshaun will be on this list. But he's caught touchdowns from McNab, Vic, Bulls, Went or not Wenz, but Jalen. Yeah.

Remember like, yeah. That is like a cool piece of being. The ultimate connector, yeah. Yeah, we should ask him about his quarterback ranking. All right. And with that, we send to break on the other side, because he's going to step into EJ's chair. We're going to talk a little bit more about Hugh Douglas,

try to give him some of the appreciation he deserves for being number 23 on the Eagles 26. No, I was watching my nephew play in his. summer basketball league the other day, and I was just thinking, you know, I wish I could still be out there, you know, dunking on people, crossing people up. But as everybody knows, as you get older, tough workouts, pick up games, just everyday life, it can start to catch up with you and you shouldn't ignore it. So go with the best, Rothman Orthopedics. They've earned national recognition as the number one physician practice by Castle Connolly for having the most top doctors in

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with friends, make your first stop at Dix Sporting Goods because summer sports start there. We are back on the PHA line. Eagles podcast and look who we got. What's so funny? We got Cus. How are we doing? What are you doing about? Very excited.

I really enjoyed the full conversations that we had, you, me, friends, and T-Mack. Fantastic. And now we have landed officially at number 23, Hugh Douglas, who you can speak to better than I can, certainly. And so I'm curious what you think of, when you think of,

Hugh, and the impact he made on that defense. Well, he was a great pass roster. Like, just a natural pass. rush, go get the quarterback. That was Hugh Douglass, great player. Also one of the most heart and soul guys of that room.

He was such, had the biggest and best personality. Like Big Q had one of the greatest personalities. And obviously he's still doing it on the radio. But he was in that room. You loved him. And being

embedded with that team, like I remember, he was always you make you smile, make you laugh, right? Like, keep you loose. Yep. When he, we walked in for the NFC championship game, I'll never forget, I was in there early in the locker room. He comes walking in, he's got a sweatshoot on,

he's walking in, he goes. Let's go! Let's do it for the big girls! Let's do it for the big girls! That was his first, and it was just the way he said it was so fun. It just was like, let's go. And then everybody started laughing. And it really took a lot of the edge off because it was pretty quiet.

Yeah. And then when Hugh was in the room, it wasn't quiet anymore. But of course, he also had an edge to him. It was not just. Well, he was a natural hunter, right? Like, he was a hunter. He was a hunter of quarterbacks, man. Like, Jim Johnson was like, let me just let him go. Like, our times when, you know, we were talking about a blitz all the time.

And, you know, he would blitz his defensive backs and, you know, he would blitz his defensive backs and Doc was always next to him, trying to get the call, and then Trott would basically shoot the A-gap and clog up. Hugh was attack. That was made him so great. Like, you could just see him, you know, flying off the edge and just, like, a bear,

engulfing the quarterback on his back. Like what he did against Tampa in the playoff games, Sean King Like I could Remember it right Like like here it was like you know Blindside off to like just swall him up like a grizzly bear I mean that was huge dog was nasty great play great he was a secondstein

I like that now did he is he the one he got in the fight with T.O. in 2005 So so here's a T here yeah So basically he was the ambassador, right? Like the badassitor, he would call himself, which was great. You know, I mean, he was still, he'd come back from Jacksonville. He came back from stealing, like he liked to say.

Like, that was his last contract. He was at the end of his career. But he was so, he meant so much to the room, right? Like, when he was that year, you know, he meant a lot to the room, man. Like, he was a big part of it. And, yeah, he was. you know, T.O. was in a bad place, right? Like, T.O.

You know, and I remember him, like, Donovan looked up. And like, Donovan was, didn't want any trouble from, from, uh, Tio. But Donovan looks up and he was like, you know, what are you looking at be? Right? Like, and it was just one of those things. Like, you know, Tio was itching for it. And Hugh was... I mean, that'd be a fun fight to watch. Yes.

Yeah, because... It was, because Hugh was tough dude, right? And how strong as anything. And T.O. was, you know, obviously not an ounce of fat on him, right? Like, you know... Just like you and me. Yeah. And, like, that whole concept of, like, he was, you know...

Big Hugh was tough. Yeah. But Tio, you know, Tio guys. you know big you came back but Tio was not I mean that Hugh was not round like he was thinking about throwing down you know what I mean so it got broken up quickly and all that stuff okay but I'll never forget the it was like I was like what happened what happened like texas like dude you never know you know it was funny trot like the whole thing I mean listen it was great stuff like it was it was great theater man it it um

It was, it was, no, that was, that was, that was, that was, that was juicy. I think that, I think we had to talk about it. Something happened and Trot, you know, was like, you tell the story. You tell the story. That's very funny. Now, if we, that's the end. If we go back to the beginning, Fran had Brian brought us on to talk about the initial trade for Q Douglas. What do you remember about?

Oh, with the Jets. Yeah, with the Jets sending a second round pick. What do you remember? So that was, it was funny. I was in New York at the time. because it was pre-andie it was under Ray Rhodes yes it was 98 I think yeah yeah and I remember being in New York at the time and you could tell like you knew that he was a

stud like he was a plier I remember thinking that's a great that's a great tree didn't want him or at least was willing to give him up yeah yeah and if you remember that year who was it 96 what I think it was 90s I covered the a FC championship game it was the job it was the Jets and it was the Broncos. Okay. And, you know, and they were a good team.

I mean, that was, I mean, that was the height of how good the Jets were. Yeah. Troll Davis had like a crazy game, like ran for over 20 yards in that championship game. But then, yeah, you're right. Then Parcells traded them. I always thought, like, I remember everybody in New York thinking, that's, that's a horrible trade. Yeah. And it was.

It turned up to be a bad trade. Yeah, and as they went over it, they just did not make use of those picks, but... Yeah, I mean, I get it. Like, they won the picks. Hugh Douglas was stunned, like, just a flat out stud. So if I tell you that he is number 23 on this list, you think that's a good spot?

Yeah, there's a lot of great players. I mean, there is. So, yes, I think it's a great spot. I think it's an honor. If you've made this list of the... Think about it. We're talking about the greatest era of Eagles football in our lives.

Well, that's exactly right. Right? So if you make the top 26, that's show you're a great player. I think Wikipedia worthy for anybody on this list. We're going to get on that and see if we can make that happen. I love it. All right.

I love it. Well, Cuzz, talk about a great spot, a great spot from you. Thank you so much. That'll do it for this episode of the P.H.O.I. Eagles podcast number 24, Asante Samuel, number 23, Hugh Douglas. Thank you. Do it for the big girls, Mo. back with Thursday's episode

of the next installment. But until then, we'll talk to you tomorrow at 2 o'clock for Cuzz and EJ and Lindsay. We thank you for watching and listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow. And as always, we love you.