Brian Dawkins is beloved in Philadelphia not only for his Hall of Fame reign as a hard-hitting safety, but also for the heralded leadership he brought to the Eagles locker room. He isn't bothered in the least by the recent drama surrounding the team, which has overcome several emotional displays of frustration to win a franchise-record 10 straight games. In fact, if anything, Dawkins believes Philly is better for its friction.
Partnering with Boehringer and Lilly for their "It Takes 2" initiative, the former All-Pro will appear in the upcoming 2025 Rose Parade to promote kidney health, motivated by his parents' history with Type 2 diabetes. As part of the program, he spoke with CBSSports.com Tuesday, believing "the blessings and information that I receive in my life" are "supposed to be passed on."
That includes what he learned about weathering storms on the field, as the 2024 Eagles have done, improving to 12-2 despite some early year bickering between coach Nick Sirianni and the Philly crowd, and pointed comments from receiver A.J. Brown about an erratic passing game led by Jalen Hurts.
"There's a whole lot of maturing going on in Philadelphia," Dawkins said. "The head coach is maturing. He's having to mature and grow through some stuff. The quarterback is having to mature and go through some stuff. There's a whole lot of maturing. And hopefully the maturing is such that they grow into who they need to be to win a championship this year."
Dawkins, who played 14 seasons for the Eagles, added that hiccups are inevitable. The key is in the response to them. One such example: Hurts and Brown making it a point to celebrate together in Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, which Dawkins took as the signal-caller "having a little more fun."
"Pain is pain," he added. "Struggle is struggle. And what pain and struggle often does is reveal the heart of the person. Whatever's in you comes to the surface. ... The Bible says that iron sharpens iron. When you think about the process of iron sharpening iron, there's friction involved. Friction is not a bad thing. Friction helps remove the impurities off the surface.
"Do you have character in the locker room, or characters?" Dawkins continued. "The character is what you want. You don't want characters. ... I love turbulent times. I love it. It's the turbulent times that introduce you to who you are, and when you [endure] that, when you step into the playoffs, you've bonded, you're closer together."