CANTON, Ohio – Joe Banner never will forget his first up-close-and-personal glimpse of Brian Dawkins.
“It was the ’96 Senior Bowl,’’ the former Eagles president said. “We wanted to bring more physicality to the team.
“Brian was playing special teams and had two massive hits on punt coverage. I mean, this is the Senior Bowl. You’re sitting there saying, ‘OK, anybody laying a hit like that in the Senior Bowl, they just can’t help themselves. They’re a physical player and likes to be tough and intimidating.’’’
As everyone knows, the Eagles ended up drafting Dawkins in the second round that year, and the physicality that Banner and the team’s scouts and coaches saw that day in Mobile from the undersized “’tweener’’ safety from Clemson was something they’d see over and over and over during his prolific NFL career.