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If I had known that there would be all this nonsense talk about Chip Kelly’s ideas about team culture after releasing Evan Mathis, I would have rather just kept him on the team. Since Mathis’ departure from the Philadelphia Eagles, radio talk show hosts and reporters alike are teeing off on Kelly’s emphasis on team culture and how Eagles players are publicly supporting it. Frankly, it’s a little mind-boggling and makes no sense to me.
None of the talking heads seem to understand why Mathis is no longer on the team. They claim Mathis’ release is going to set a bad precedent between Kelly and players when it comes to contract disputes, like somehow there’s no way on Earth Kelly will adjust a contract. Apparently, every time a player is dissatisfied with his contract Kelly is going to force the guy to play, then cut him from the team with the “culture” axe.
Honestly I think the critics are overlooking a lot of things. Let’s get it straight: Mathis is no longer here because of Mathis, not because of Kelly. Kelly wants players that are football and team-focused that will take every opportunity to get better no matter what. That’s the expectation. When Mathis forwent those opportunities and trained on his own in Arizona, he knew what he was doing. And so did Kelly. Working out by yourself away from the team is not you striving to get better, that’s you sending a message. Kelly got that message, loud and clear. It’s also important to note that this dispute with Mathis has been going on since last year. Releasing him was no knee-jerk decision. This has been brewing for a while and was starting to become a bigger issue.
Also, remember that establishing this culture is exactly what Jeff Lurie brought Kelly here to do. It’s exactly what he said he was going to do. It’s why he was given full control over the team. Did you think Kelly angled for that power without the intention of using it? These moves may be brash, but once the emotion dies down they all make perfect sense. We’ve survived the losses of better players than Mathis; I don’t get why he’s now the straw that’s breaking the media’s back.
And players publicly supporting Kelly, while in the process standing somewhat against Mathis, doesn’t make them traitors to their football brothers in arms like the media infer they are. They’re not being forced to do this by anyone. They’re making the choice to support Kelly’s culture because they’ve bought into it. They see the value in what Kelly has done here with what was not his ideal roster. Kelly’s performance so far in Philadelphia has been astoundingly good when you take that into consideration. Players are getting it.
I get it, Kelly is polarizing. He’s bold and decisive and unafraid of shaking the cage of convention. But what he’s doing is working. What he’s trying to build here is taking shape, and the franchise top to bottom is buying in. That is a very, very good thing. Criticizing it like this is just solidly wrong.
Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.
