Eagles Pro Bowl kicker David Akers is almost certain that his years as an Eagles kicker is over. It’s not just the two easy field goals he missed yesterday that helped to cost the team an advancement into the next round of the playoffs, but it’s also something Akers did in December.
I learned from an NFL source that Akers turned down a three-year contract offer from the Eagles last month. I was told that the Eagles wanted Akers to sign the contract by December 25th but he refused because he wanted more money in the deal.
The Eagles weren’t pleased with that decision by their kicker. From what I hear, the Birds were strongly persuading him to sign the deal and were extremely disappointed when he didn’t.
The missed kicks and the refusal to sign the contract offer plus the history of the Eagles front office makes Akers believe that his career is history and I agree with him.
“Looking back now, 12 years, it’s been a nice run. It’s not really the way I wanted to go out as an Eagle,” Akers said after the game. “I’m sorry that I didn’t get to put the best foot forward for them.”
He was awful yesterday when everything was on the line. I remember thinking before the game that Akers was getting spooked by the windy weather. All you have to do is ask him about kicking in windy weather and you can tell that it messes him up mentally.
“I let down the team. The fans. The organization,” said Akers in a whisper in front of his locker after the game. “I misplayed the first one. Tried to drive it into that wind. I just kind of pulled the second one.”
Both of the missed kicks went to the right of the goal posts. The first one was from 41 yards out, while the second was from only 34 yards out.
I learned that his snapper Jon Dorenbos had to be restrained from going into the stands when walking through the tunnel after the game. I was told that Dorenbos wanted to go into the stands and put a beating on some the fans who were saying some unprintable things about Akers when he and Dorenbos walked off the field.
Gary – I’m sure the Eagles are disappointed that Akers didn’t sign their offer. They frequently encourage players, especially older ones, to sign contracts that favor the Eagles. Either way, I’m not so sure it’s a foregone conclusion that Akers is done or maybe the Eagles forgot how hard it is to find a kicker of Akers current ability. If they do cut him loose cause they want to take their ball and go home they better have someone pretty darn good in their back pocket. If not, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen the Eagles cut off their nose…
Ill take Akers over any free agent kicker you could get to replace him.
Akers has gotten better. Alot more of his kickoffs were in the end zone this year. You can’t even find a kick returner, good luck finding a pro bowl kicker. He’s an alltime scorer. pay him. he’s paid his dues.
question…..have we found an adequate kick returner since Brian Mitchell left?
Are they that hard to find?
Have to agree with the other postings. Akers has earned a new contract and there is no free agent kicker better than him. Dude has barely had any bad games. He just had one at a bad time.
I shudder to think about out kicking situation without Akers in there, especially when our resources should be spent finding replacements for positions of need, not one of the most solid kickers in NFL history. Last night was an aberration, he didn’t make the Pro Bowl for nothing.
For those that are blaming the kicker for the loss, look at the defense and the over reliance on the big play. If we had actually made any adjustments to our game from last season (the reasons we got beat up in Dallas were much the same), we could have won the game last night no problem. The players have changed, but the system stays the same. It’s the system that doesn’t completely work…
This regime blames everyone but themselves. Remember McNabb was the root of all the problems but didny yesterday look familiar? Different players, diffrent coaches, but the same HEAD COACH. Time for Andy to go.
Akers has 2 bad games this year
The Falcons game where he missed 3 FG’s (Which didn’t matter for they won big)
and yesterday against the Packers
I would be more concerned about the entire COaching Staff and roster for the Eagles lost their
final 3 games at Home versus the Vikings,COwboys & Packers (in which 2 teams were bad this year)
I think Coach AR needs to look at everything including himself
Ozzman I agree with you, yesterday looked and felt some familiar. Bad coaching poor line play D and O, lack of a running game, horrible LB play. I honestly think that Andy has taken this team and organization as far as it can go. It’s time for a change. Youth/ Vets it doesn’t matter. Same OLD schemes, same OLD results. David Akers had a bad day, he is still Top 5 kickers in the league, you can’t let him go… Plus he has really been booming his kicks lately…it seems after he turned the Eagles offer down his leg got a little stronger…
BTW, whatever happened to home field advantage… name me one guy on the Defense who the other team sees as a threat or fears, besides occasionally Samuel. Trent Cole was invisible yesterday…where is our Matthews on Defense…we lost our last physical threat like that when Dawkins left. On Defense every single players position should be open for competition…
DA is automatic during the regular season, just like other the other Eagles’s players and coaches; yet disappear during the playoffs (including the great Brian Dawkins). Everything we do to catch teams off guard in the regular season is old news and predictable come playoffs (e.g. the way the Cowboys laughed at our predictability this time last year)
Akers play reminded me of the year he gave away our Superbow to the Bucks with his playoff gitters… that year he was perfect all season, until we needed him most.
I’ve seen the FG kicker carousel too many times. When you have a kicker with Akers’ consistency, you hold on to him until he can no longer kick, which I don’t think is the case. He’s come through in the clutch too many times for me to even begin to associate pressure with his two misses yesterday.
Once again, the Birds play financial hardball. Let’s hope we’re not seeing a similar scenario as the ones played out with Jeremiah Trotter, Brian Dawkins, etc.
If Akers makes just one of the kicks…..
Anyhow, he deserves another contract but he rejected what the Eagles offered him. Here’s the thing, if you don’t resign him and don’t have an adequate replacement it will be the same case of letting “old” guys go but still not having good talent behind them.
Chuck, Trent Cole has been invisible for about 6 weeks now. I’m tired of him too. He’s a very good players and seems like a good dude but he is just like all the other players in Reid’s tenure, disappear in the biggest games.
Kickers are a dime a dozen,
Finding a quality, consistent kicker is another story… there are lots of Kickers coming out of College this year..
ithe magic man would have got tuned up if he went into the stands
The Eagles need to just try to bridge the money gap with Akers instead making another war that will chip away another piece of a “Not That Long Ago” dominant team. If the Eagles had had some luck in the past finding kickers it would make sense, but they haven’t.
Scorp…I;m starting to believe that had the Eagles drafted Jason Pierre-Paul Trent Cole would have been a lot more effective. It was also annoying to see Clayton substituted for Sims late in the game especially after he had the sack. I was saying to myself “…You’re just noticing that Ernie Sims is ineffective at WILL? WTF????”
The Blue Hens kicker is pretty good, he’s 64 for 67 and he’s from Landsdale so he’s got a cold boot and the stadium gets windy as hell just like the linc. I’d try him out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG4Vj-4FSIE
When you say NO to this front office, they take it personal and make sure you are no longer part of the team. The guy had a bad game. He has been consistant for 12 years. He has earned better treatment from the team.
We will struggle to find a replacement that can be steady.