Ron's open letter to Sam Bradford.


Dear QB 7: First, you're a hell of a quarterback. You're my favorite Eagle, including the Upstart they just signed out of the television show Fargo. I wonder if he says, "Okay then."

Now, the Philly media is reporting you missing in action. You're upset — it's presumed you're upset, like Trump is presumed the Republican candidate for President. I don't believe you were quoted for hiding out, or for being upset. At least I never saw a quote, and I'm an Inquirer Homie (home delivery).

Plus, you're getting a bad rap from the media and even from the Faithful. Let's take the truck driver who lives on Shunk in South Philly. The same driver who first pays his Eagles season ticket deposit, then pays the mortgage and buys food for his family. See what I'm sayin'?

The truck driver sees that you will make $22 million next season and that you received an $11 million signing bonus. He then converts that into Stinkin' Baby because the Eagles signed the Pipsqueak, yet to throw a major college or NFL pass, and you disappear faster than Lyin' Ted.

Sam, I know that the Eagles pulled the rug out from under by signing you — smiling, saying, "You're our guy" — then trading up to draft the Upstart. Sort of like bait and switch. But let's man up. It's a nasty business. I saw the movie Concussion and all the crap they gave Will Smith. You expect honesty, here?
Sam, get real.

I think you need to take a lesson from the Phillies' Cameron Rupp (all the news people reading this will immediately think, "That's ridiculous, how can you compare Bradford to Rupp?" But theoretically speaking, I think you can.

Now, Rupp isn't making $22 million — try a one year do for $518, 000. Poker money for you. And I bet most drive-by Phillies fans don't even know who he is. What he is, is a decent backstop trying to improve and get some respect before the two catching phenoms — yet to play in a major leage game — show up. So right there, Sam, he's got you two to one. You only have to worry about one phenom, yet to play in a..., okay, I already make that point. Cameron's got two coming down the Northeast Extension.

And, Sam, you also need to consider this. Your physical health, combined with the condition of the Eagles offinsive line, makes you as vulnerable as a guy changing a tire on the Schuylkill Expressway, or a Republican running against Donald Trump. See what I'm sayin'? So taking in you getting your head slammed on the turf at least twice a game, the condition of your knees — where in shorts they look like Frankenstein's — I mean, lookit, you could trip picking up a dime on the pavement and be out for the season, am I right?

Now let's get back to the catcher Rupp, and with the two phenoms about to decend on Citizens Bank Park. One is an alumnus of the Hamels' trade, Jorge Alfaro. You know as well as I do, when Alfaro is deemed ready, he'll be crouched behind home plate. The Phillies aren't going to let a guy they got in a trade for perhaps the best left hander in the NL, and maybe the best Phillies' left-hander since Lefty, sit in the dugout, now are they, Sam? Plus, Alfaro is hitting .500 at Reading, with one home run and 10 RBI. Like you, he's been injured.

The other phenom is hitting machine Andrew Knapp, now at Lehigh Valley, hitting .250 with three home runs and 12 RBI. Knapp is 24 and Alfaro is 22. Now you tell me if the comparison is off base.

Rupp surely feels their presence but he's not in hiding, nor is he letting his agent speak for him, if he has an agent. He's speaking for himself, on the field. What is he doing? I'm glad you asked. He's trying to make it tough for the two phenoms to steal his job. And he just might hang in there; maybe not as number one, but number two. Or, he'll be so good other clubs will want him and he'll be traded into a nice number one situation. It's sort of refreshing to see a guy like that do well. Damn refreshing, Sam.

Granted, the catcher Rupp isn't a superstar like you, but I think you'd find some of the Eagles Faithful saying — in reference to you as superstar, "Superstar? Yo, he ain't no superstar, we didn't even make the playoffs." But here's the thing about that. Last season the Eagles' receivers set an NFL record for dropped passes. Mostly your perfectly thrown passes. The genius coach, that would be Chip Kelly, went out and got a passer, that would be you, but forgot about getting receivers.

See, here's the thing. The Upstart isn't taking over in 2016 if Sam is being Sam, and moving the ball down field on the way to the playoffs. If, in the playoffs, you continue to be Sam and get the Eagles to the Super Bowl, the Upstart might not even take the reigns in 2017, except for giving you a blow in the fourth, Eagles up by 24. Sam, come back and be Cameron Rupp. See how long you can keep the Upstart on the sidelines. If you're the kind of quarterback I think you are, you can teach the kid a few lessons. Lessons learned by watching Sam Bradford.

We all face adversity in life, it's how you handle it that makes each one of us special.

Thanks for reading this Sam. Go Eagles.


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