You’ve got to hand it to the Birds for the PR efforts on the Lito thing. At the same time that the local papers are covering it from all angles like an affair of state (”I like they way they surround a story”), Eagles management are playing it straight, assuring us that Lito IS A PART OF THIS FOOTBALL TEAM.

Of course, let it never be said that the Birds are not responsive to the needs of their customers! Note well that there are no fewer than four (4) photos of Asante Samuel and Lito Sheppard together (three with just the two of them, the other with Dawkins third-wheeling it in the corner of the frame) in the Mini-Camp album on the Eagles site. Never mind that neither appears with Sheldon Brown in any of the photos, or really with any other player at all except for Dawkins. Nope. Nothing to see here, folks.

Check out the photo gallery.

Also, and I don’t mean to nitpick, but could we go a little lighter on the “Sheppard flashed (first sentence) his trademark smile (fourth paragraph)”?

Come on, guys. That’s just sloppy.

Aw dude, seriously? We’re rocking the t-shirts with the slogans again? Do you realize how alternately cheesy and psychotic this makes you seem? You’re 31 years old. You’re not 17. It’s no longer acceptable to wear t-shirts emblazoned with inspirational messages.

(This one read: “If you prepare to be the best in everything you do in life, you will receive great results.  But if you are just satisfied with mediocrity, that’s what you will be.”  Did he actually buy this somewhere or did he do a custom one-off?  Dude.)

And we’re not going to comment on the “W.W.J.D.” bracelet he was sporting on the freakin’ field.

In all fairness, I’ve penned something of a screed on this topic a few years ago (complete with Randall Cunningham references). Full text after the jump.
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On a day when even the 36 Chambers of Brian Westbrook was willing to discuss the weirdness of the Lito Sheppard situation (”It was definitely awkward for me to watch that”), you have to love the all-biznass attitude of newly minted Asante Samuel. Not one to get caught up in the intra-team drama (and it actually seems like this is real drama for the players; not just the standard blathermonkey-fabricated fare), Samuel offered the following gem to the assembled media:

“That ain’t got nothing to do with me,” Samuel said. “I just do what my coach tells me to do. It doesn’t matter what I’m used to - whatever my coach tells me to do, I’m going to do it. I was happy to be out there with my new team and show a lot of love. I like the way things are going.”

Attaguy. Company man all the way. And to think we might have expected something different from a man with a tattoo that says “Get Paid” on his arm (though Wikipedia claims that it actually says “Get Rich To This” — mostly I think we get the point)!

We would have also accepted “Asante has 57 million reasons to be happy.”

Donovan McNabb is scheduled to speak to reporters as part of the Eagles’ post-draft minicamp today. I’ve been able to get an advance copy of the transcript:

Donovan, you said earlier in the off-season that you thought that the team needed to bring in “playmakers.” Do you feel that the team has done that?

Well, I said that I thought that we needed to bring in playmakers in all phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. Obviuosly with the addition of Asante Samuel we have a proven playmaker, and Chris Clemons as well. We also made some acquisitions of guys who can help us on special teams. I also think some of the young guys we brought in in the draft and by trade, like Lorenzo Booker, have a chance to make a difference. So we’re very excited about the team.

Donovan, do you still think that the team needs to go out and get a true number-one wide receiver?

We have some great receivers on this team in Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown and Jason Avant and Hank Baskett. We brought in a guy like DeSean Jackson to add to that. We also have L.J. healthy. I think we have a great group of receivers.
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In the context of the Buzz Bissinger-versus-the-InterWeb freakout, let me send a big Yo Whaddup to the good folks over at Eagletarian, the Daily News‘ new Eagles blog. I know that we unpaid amateur journalists, ensconced as we are in our jammies in our many parents’ many basements, do tend to sully the otherwise pristine waters of PROFESSIONAL SPORTS JOURNALISM, especially in Philadelphia. So I can’t tell you how flattered we are to have you pretend to join our ranks!

In all fairness, I’ve actually enjoyed the first couple weeks of Eagletarian (and even have the positive comments to prove it!). What with the actual access that these guys have to players, coaches, scouts, other members of the MSM (in Philly as well as in other cities), giving them a forum to publish shorter stories with a bit more niche/ nerd appeal (that is, stories for the freaks for whom no level of detail is too minute) is an actual great addition to the overall portfolio of Eagles-related media.

Things I’ve liked so far:

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