Today the Redskins released veteran defensive lineman Phillip Daniels.<\/p>\n
That sucks.<\/p>\n
I don’t want to have an intellectual conversation about how the team is doing this, or the team is doing that – I will say only that I am very happy with the moves that the organization has made in the last few days.<\/p>\n
Most of them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Phillip Daniels has been a Redskin for the last seven years of his storied NFL career. In that time, myself, along with many in Redskins Nation, have grown to know him a little bit. We here at theHogs.net were fortunate enough to be the exclusive home of Phillip Daniels’ Blog. A blog that I enjoyed reading each and every week. A blog that allowed me to feel like I knew something more about the man than just what went on his football life.<\/p>\n
Phil is a man of God.<\/p>\n
Phil is a man of family.<\/p>\n
Phil has served as a mentor to countless young Washington Redskins in his tenure here.<\/p>\n
The popularity and integration of Twitter into our collective lives has allowed us even more of a glimpse into the lives of our favorite NFL players. Gone are the days of standing behind a pad of paper and a pencil in hopes of autographs from athletes we revere – we live in an age where we can actually have some level of discord with whomever we choose through this great social phenomenon called Twitter.<\/p>\n
Some athletes and celebrities use their Twitter account solely to market themselves, or to boost their ego, or to merely have a voice of their own in a sports world of sensationalistic journalism; but some athletes embrace the opportunity to reach out to their adoring fans and interact with them on a much more intimate level. Phil was the latter.<\/p>\n
Anyone following @PhilDayz93 on Twitter has probably had some sort of personal interaction with him – he is very giving of his time, and moreover, appreciative of OUR time and adulation. We get to see him actually play a role to younger players, and we get to hear about elements of his personal life like his workout warrior mentality, and even his diet (still have a massive T-Bone set aside for you when you come back to the dark side Phil). Sometimes, we even got to see him decked out in some pimpin’ threads.<\/p>\n
It’s really a fantastic age to be a sports fan, and to be a Redskins fan, when there are players like Phillip Daniels helping us all plug in to their world. There is however, one unfortunate side effect.<\/p>\n
Our ability to deal with these players, these people, on a much more human level, changes the way that we look at some of these athletes. It changes the RELATIONSHIPS that we have with these players.<\/p>\n
I live in Canada, and have not been down to D.C. for the last couple of years like I normally do, so I have not had occasion to be formally introduced, and shake hands, with Big Phil. I fear now that I will never have the opportunity. I sheepishly choose a blog to at least express gratitude to a man that I feel like I know personally, and that has been very kind, and very giving to both this website, and to Redskin nation.<\/p>\n
For some strange reason, it feels like that awkward moment when you were a kid and had to watch one of your friends drive away, because their dad got a new job on the other side of the country.<\/p>\n
Ridiculous, right?<\/p>\n
I don’t really have any sage words of wisdom, or poignant blog finales to close with, but I do want to add a few things, that I hope Phil has occasion to read himself:<\/p>\n
1) Thank you for all of your time and energy, and for bleeding burgundy and gold with us all<\/p>\n
2) Good luck in whatever the next, and all chapters of your life, hold for you, and<\/p>\n
3) You will be missed.<\/p>\n
So long Phil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"