Brian Dawkins

IT'S A BIG DEAL, this retiring as an Eagle. Brian Dawkins, worn out and regal, did it. Brian Westbrook, bless his heart, took his knees out of the game in green, too. In fact, at the ceremony to officially mark the end of Tra Thomas' career, the running joke was: "When is Donovan's retirement as an Eagle going to come?" Sooner than later, it appears. The NFL Network announced Wednesday that McNabb will join the network this season. As an analyst. Not as a quarterback.

  Week 1, Sept. 9 at CLEVELAND BROWNS, 1 p.m. (Fox29) The opener is teed up for the Eagles. Brandon Weeden will be making his first career start at quarterback.   Week 2, Sept. 16 vs. BALTIMORE RAVENS, 1 p.m. (CBS3) The Ravens will be a potential barometer of the Eagles' prospects. Michael Vick will see it all against one of the best defenses in the NFL over the last decade.   Week 3, Sept. 23 at ARIZONA CARDINALS, 4:05 p.m. (Fox29) Who would have thought that when the Eagles traded Kevin Kolb to the Cardinals last July that he wouldn't be the starting quarterback the next two times the teams met?

Former Eagles Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins will join ESPN as an NFL analyst, the network will announce on Wednesday. Dawkins, a nine-time Pro Bowler and a fan favorite with the Eagles, will appear on studio programs throughout the year, such as SportsCenter, NFL Live, Audibles and NFL32 . He makes his debut on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m., when he will appear alongside former NFL standouts Jerry Rice, Keyshawn Johnson and Marcellus Wiley on Audibles . Dawkins spent 13 years in Philadelphia and played in 18 playoff games, the most in team history.

If it's more blessed to give than receive, Donovan McNabb is now blessed. He's joined the NFL Network as an analyst, enabling him to dish out the kind of criticism he endured for years, mostly while amasssing all sorts of records as the Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback. But once again local fans are sure to make cracks about his accuracy. The six-time Pro Bowler and former Chunky Soup pitchman will join Sterling Sharpe and Brian Baldinger on Playbook , which has its NFC editions at 8 p.m. Fridays followed by its AFC roundup at 9 p.m., according to NFL Network writer Marc Sessler.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Vinny Curry talks to his right forearm. Etched on the underside of the limb, just below the bend in his arm, is a tattoo of his mother. Linda "Cissy" Jackson died last Oct. 10 at the age of 50 after a battle with liver cancer, and Curry said that he talks to the tattoo of his mother when he needs soothing. "I talked to it last night," the Eagles defensive end said Tuesday. "Yesterday I felt like I could have had a better day, and I just read the Bible, prayed, and talked to my mom. 'Just watch over me and let me come out here and have a better day.' And I believe I took a step forward.

This time, Jeffrey Lurie was all smiles. Painting brick walls bright colors Wednesday at Comegys Elementary School in West Philadelphia, there was little reason for anything less. All around, Eagles players joined Lurie as part of the team's annual playground-building event, a point of civic pride for the organization and their owner. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Chad Hall grooved with children dancing to hip-hop beats. Jason Kelce let young students paint his massive beard pink.

Nnamdi Asomugha couldn't believe that Philadelphia didn't wrap its arms around Charles Barkley. "You would think that Philly would gravitate to that - toward those types of brash athletes," said the nowhere-near-as-brash Eagles cornerback. So what about Allen Iverson, the longtime L.A. Lakers fan asked - did the city wholly embrace him? Nope, Asomugha was told. Iverson was beloved by many 76ers fans for his effort on the court, but he also was just as polarizing. "Wow," Asomugha said.

BRIAN DAWKINS did not limp into retirement. There were lots of things the Eagles' all-time greatest safety expressed gratitude for Saturday at the NovaCare auditorium, and that accomplishment was near the top of the list. "I know I'm shedding tears because I'm thinking back and reminiscing, but this is a happy time for me. I chose to walk out the way that I'm walking out," Dawkins told a group that included about 15 former teammates, a bunch of Eagles employees from all levels of the organization, team chairman Jeffrey Lurie, dozens of reporters, fans from the season-ticket advisory board, his wife, Connie, and their four children.

The first quarterback drafted by Andy Reid went down the corridor one way at the NovaCare Complex on Saturday as the most recent one was headed in the other direction. If Donovan McNabb took note of Nick Foles, a 6-foot-5 doorstop from Austin, Texas, and the University of Arizona, who is kind of hard to miss, that note went unrecorded. "I saw Donovan in the hallway but didn't have a chance to speak to him," Foles said. McNabb was in the building to lend his presence to the retirement news conference of Brian Dawkins.

Sometimes, coaches can exaggerate about players they've just drafted. But Andy Reid wasn't kidding when he said defensive end Vinny Curry "might be the biggest Eagles fan ever. " When the second-round pick from Neptune, N.J., met reporters Saturday, he displayed all the emotion, passion, sense of history and pride of the thousands he'll soon play in front of at the Linc. His eyes welled as he talked about meeting Brian Dawkins and Mike Vick. He name-checked Randall Cunningham and Troy Vincent, and insisted that it was Freddie Mitchell who originated the championship belt celebration.