Broncos’ Brian Dawkins Ready To Embrace Retirement

When Brian Dawkins is honored during his Hall of Fame induction, whenever that may be, he will be remembered mostly for his days as a Philadelphia Eagle. After all, he spent 13 seasons with them versus 3 seasons with the Denver Broncos.

Dawkins describes his best football memory as when the Eagles won the NFC championship game in 2004-2005 to move on to the Super Bowl.

“The late great Jim Johnson (Eagles defensive coordinator who died of cancer). The tears of joy that he had on his face, grabbing me, giving me a big hug saying ‘Dawk, we did it, we did it,’ after we had lost three in a row,” Brian Dawkins said during his press conference Tuesday morning. “The magnitude of that game, getting over that hump, and the emotion that he showed. The emotion that Andy (Reid) was showing which he does not show any emotion ever.”

The Pro Bowl safety ended his career with 1,169 tackles, 26 sacks for 227 yards lost, 37 interceptions (2 returned for touchdowns), and 36 forced fumbles. However, Dawkins’s passion and determination standout way more than his career statistics.

Dawkins could have walked away from the Broncos when times were tough. Instead, he was a team captain, helped parties sift through messy lockout discussions, and paid for players to workout last summer. Then, he took a pay cut to stay with the team.

“I knew I didn’t want to end the way it ended two years ago,” Dawkins said. “I didn’t want to end my career like that.”

Dawkins took on his role as team leader with open arms. Now that his playing days are done, he’s ready to get back to full-time fatherhood and possibly embrace the role of coach.

Dawkins’ son, Brian Jr., plays receiver and cornerback at Valor Christian High School. He was asked if he would coach his son’t team.

“Yeah, it’s a possibility,” Dawkins said. “That’s one of the main reasons I decided to step down. To spend more time at the house, spend more time with my son. I spend so much time here. I spend a lot more time than the average cat. When I get here, it’s dark. When I leave here, it’s dark, so I don’t get a lot of time to spend talking with him and now I’ll be able to do that a lot more.”

As for his coaching style, Dawkins says that he’s not as loud off the field as he is on it.

“I’m more of a guy that encourages,” Dawkins said. “I’m not a screamer. I like to take you to the side and explain things to you. That being said, I have no idea what type of coach I am.”

No matter what kind of coach he turns out to be, we can put money on the fact that he will give players his all on the turf, and give his son everything off the turf.

Now for one of the coolest Dawkins’ videos out there. This is the first time that Dawkins was introduced as a Denver Bronco in Philadelphia. Eagles fans are a rough bunch, but see what happens when Dawkins is introduced.

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