Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson has passed. This was just announced by the Philadelphia Eagles a moment ago. I had learned early today that Andy Reid left training camp last night to visit Jim in the hospital.
It had been rumored around the team that the mastermind defensive coordinator had taken a turn for the worse in the last few days.
I can't say enough about what a stand up guy he was. Jim was courageously honest after games regardless of how his defense played.
The guy embodied the type of truthfulness and selflessness that was a common thing in past generations. All I can think of when I see the guy is that he was a fighter.
I saw things in Jim that I saw in my grandfather. If they were given a job they were going to do it to the best of their ability because they had given their word on it. That's honor and I saw that in Jim.
I remember him telling me and some of the other media guys that he couldn't talk to us because there was something going on with the team that he shouldn't talk about. He let us know he couldn't talk about it and gave us a wink and a smile.
He wasn't going to come out and lie to us like a lot of coaches would have instead he was honest and said he could talk about the subject.
The picture of him on the cart during the OTA's was emblematic of the fact that he loved football and was going to coach it to the end. Football was his job and it was what he loved to do.
He had even told us that he didn't want anybody to feel sorry for him.
He had talked about the NFC Championship game and how disappointed he was that the defense hadn't stepped up when it had the opportunity.
Jim's failing health had forced him to coach the game from the press box and it could have had an impact on the outcome.
Jim had a close trusting relationship with former Eagles great and current Denver Broncos safety Brian Dawkins. Their was a bond between those two that was very apparent every time they talked about each other.
If Dawk goes into the Hall of Fame, Jim Johnson deserves a lot of the credit for getting him there.
