Brian Dawkins

OF THE 69,144 "Cats" who incessantly chanted Brian Dawkins' name at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night, a few things can be said with much certainty: Not all of them will make it into work on time Monday morning and not all of them will make it into work at all. Of those who do, not all of them will be productive for their entire workday, and maybe some will even check out early. This does not mean they are bad people, any of them. It just means they are not Brian Dawkins.

Nnamdi Asomugha left Sunday's game in the second quarter with an eye injury, but he returned to the sideline six minutes into the third quarter and later reentered the game. The Eagles' top cornerback walked off the field holding his right eye before the medical staff examined him on the sideline. At one point, it appeared Asomugha had drops placed into his eye. Asomugha then returned to the locker room. The team initially reported that he was taken to Wills Eye Hospital for further tests, but he was not. Without Asomugha on the field, Brandon Hughes filled in at cornerback.

Former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins will have his No. 20 retired by the team at halftime of Sunday night's game against the visiting New York Giants. Dawkins is expected to address the fans from the field. Dawkins, who ended his career with 37 interceptions and eight Pro Bowl selections , is in his first year of retirement after playing for the Eagles from 1996 to 2008 and the last three seasons with the Denver Broncos. "It's going to be electric," Dawkins said of the ceremony.

Brian Dawkins posed a simple question: If all those fans who wear No. 20 to Eagles games could play one football game, how would they play? How would they react? "Would you do a flip? Would you crawl? Would you do those things?" Dawkins said. "Probably so. Because you're so excited to play those games. " That was Dawkins' approach when he played safety for the Eagles from 1996 to 2008 - 13 seasons in which he delivered ferocious hits and inspirational locker room speeches and became one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes the city has ever cheered.

Brian Dawkins posed a simple question: If all those fans who wear No. 20 to Eagles games could play one football game, how would they play? How would they react? "Would you do a flip? Would you crawl? Would you do those things?" Dawkins said. "Probably so. Because you're so excited to play those games. " That was Dawkins' approach when he played safety for the Eagles from 1996 to 2008 - 13 seasons in which he delivered ferocious hits and inspirational locker room speeches and became one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes the city has ever cheered.

SOME MEN ARE meant to lead. They are meant to nurture, to take the first steps so others may follow. Brian Dawkins always was such a man. When the Eagles retire his No. 20 jersey Sunday night they will honor 13 seasons of class and character, of a well of talent and integrity exploited to its final drop. Seldom do athletes merit this sort of honor. Consider some of the group that Dawkins joins. There is No. 15, running back Steve Van Buren; a champion, a finisher, perhaps the greatest of all Eagles; a man whose death in August reminded us of the quality of his play and the depth of his character.

FROM HIS vantage point on the Eagles' sideline that Sunday at Three Rivers Stadium in 2000, Ike Reese could see the play unfold. A big hole opened up in the Pittsburgh offensive line and into it rumbled Jerome Bettis, the 5-11, 252-pound running back who was affectionately known as "The Bus. " Reese was certain Bettis would pick up 15 or 20 yards. But Brian Dawkins charged up from his safety position, launched into the air and stopped Bettis cold. Reese remembers that it was "one of the loudest hits I have ever heard.

THE EAGLES WILL retire Brian Dawkins' No. 20 jersey at a ceremony on Sunday night when they play the rival New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field. The safety played 16 years in the NFL, the first 13 years with the Eagles. He was a second-round pick of the Eagles in the 1996 draft. He played college ball at Clemson. He was not re-signed by the Eagles after the 2008 season. On Feb. 28, 2009, Dawkins signed a 5-year, $17 million contract with the Denver Broncos. Former Eagles president Joe Banner said the handling of Dawkins was one of his biggest regrets.

It holds a strange place in Eagles history, this silver spaceship in the desert. It is called University of Phoenix Stadium. It is the site of the last game played by Brian Dawkins, among others, in an Eagles uniform. It is where Jim Johnson coached his final game. It is the place the Eagles' last deep playoff run ended as the four previous runs had - in disappointment and disbelief. For all that, the place and that game don't stand out as sharply as you might expect for fans who take every Eagles win and loss personally.