| Jason Babin's man card is getting punched in the face. (Getty Images) |
If there were a contest for "manliest offseason by an NFL player," that contest would be over. And Jason Babin would be the winner.
Or will be the winner, at least, when he caps off his testosterone-filled offseason by running with the bulls in Pamplona. Babin believes being chased around by horny animals qualifies as something needed "to be punched out" on his man card. We'll presume hunting bears -- something Babin's already done, at the expense of joining the Eagles' voluntary offseason training activities -- is on that list too.
"It's kind of a rite of passage," Babin said Wednesday about his plans to run with the bulls, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's a stamp. I guess in my brain I have a figurative 'man card' that's got certain punches that need to be punched out."
His man card is taking a beating this offseason, too, because Babin already headed up to Cold Bay, Alaska, to "hunt bear" and "just survive." Unlike last year, when he was able to take down a big bear, he got nothing this offseason.
"I didn't see the one [bear] I wanted," Babin said. "It's proper stewardship of the outdoors to not shoot a little one."
All jokes aside, that really is a fantastic attitude to hear from a hunter. Babin's attitude toward the bulls is a little, shall we say, different. He thinks heading to Pamplona is not "dangerous and hazardous" as long as it's "done correctly and soberly."
The defensive end is taking things so seriously he even broke down tape of the bulls.
"Bulls can't turn the corner on cobblestone, so as long as you're on the inside you're going to be all right," Babin said. "I broke the tape down like game film."
Bulls not turning corners sounds a lot like alligators running in zig-zags to me, but Babin clearly is a man who's not afraid to embrace a little bit of danger in his life.
The Eagles didn't comment on his decision, but you can bet that if Babin, who's making this trip in between OTAs and the start of formal training camp, gets hurt, they'll have plenty to say.
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