It's quite possible that Bob Palcic, tight ends coach of the New Orleans Saints, is sitting in a video room at this moment trying to figure out how to beat his son-in-law.
This week, that's part of Palcic's job.
He needs to figure out how to get tight end Boo Williams free in the middle of the field Sunday for some big catches even if it means taking advantage of Eagles middle linebacker Mark Simoneau, who is married to his youngest daughter, Monica.
This, of course, poses a bit of a problem for Monica Simoneau. As the daughter of a lifetime football coach, she always knew the right thing to do was root, root, root for the owner of her home's team. Of course, she's no longer living in her father's home.
Even during Simoneau's three years with the Atlanta Falcons, when Mark and Monica were in the courtship stage of their relationship, the daughter's allegiance was slightly toward her father.
"It was always easier," Monica said. "I was always for my dad. He told me as long as he was still paying my college tuition, I had to root for him. Now it's different."
It changed in June when the couple were married shortly after the Eagles completed their final minicamp.
"She has no choice now," Mark Simoneau said. "Before we were married, I could let it slide. Now she's got to be for me. Of course, it's easy for me to say that. I'm not her dad."
Monica Simoneau says she is converted.
"Of course I want the Eagles to win," she said. "Actually, I wouldn't mind if it was a tie, either."
Mark Simoneau thought he had escaped the family rivalry when he was traded from the Falcons to the Eagles in early March. With Atlanta, he'd have to play Palcic's Saints twice a year, because the teams are in the same division.
As it turned out, the Saints were on the Eagles' schedule twice this season, too. The teams' preseason opener was in New Orleans, and they will meet again Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
The most uncomfortable meeting for Simoneau was the first one with the Saints during his rookie season in Atlanta. Monica and Mark had met during a party at the University of Georgia shortly after the Falcons made Simoneau a third-round pick out of Kansas State in 2000. The first time he met his future father-in-law was at the Georgia Dome as he prepared for a game against the Saints.
