Former Philadelphia Eagles star Ike Reese dishes on Malcolm Jenkins

If you need the skinny on a Philadelphia Eagles star, listen to another one.

Here’s a quote that some of you may find interesting, and it comes from British author J.K. Rowling. “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals”. Now, over time, people have come up with their own versions of that same idea. For instance, one might say “If you really want to know what a man is like, ask his wife”. Here’s one for the Philadelphia Eagles fan in all of us. “If you’re curious about any of these ‘Birds’ and what they’re like, ask one of their teammates”.

Let’s start with Malcolm Jenkins and one of the most respected voices in Philly sports radio, Ike Reese. Recently, the latter was asked about how he felt about the former. Reese took a few moments to reflect on something that seems crazy to state now, whether or not he was even the guy the Eagles should have acquired when there were a couple of other options that were available.

Here’s some of what he had to say.

"This one I’m happy I was wrong about. Obviously, spending years trying to find an acceptable replacement for Brian Dawkins after he departed. I thought that free-agency year, I thought we’d have a great opportunity to do that. I was a Jairus Byrd guy, coming out of Buffalo. I thought he can be the playmaker that could fit in our defense. If it wouldn’t be Byrd, I wanted T.J. Ward. Ward actually turned out to be a good player."

The man who formerly wore the number 58 for the “Birds” complimented Jenkins on not only the potential he walked into Philly’s locker room possessing but the legend that he grew into. Here’s more.

"Malcolm Jenkins, I was not very high on, just because I thought he was a cornerback trying to make a transition to safety and I just thought he wasn’t a physical player. To watch him play here during his career, I never imagined he would be the player that he was. I think Malcolm even surprised the Eagles with the type of player than he became. To me, he deserves to be in the Eagles Hall Of Fame. I don’t know if we win the Super Bowl without Malcolm Jenkins. He turned into one of the best Eagles of all-time and I certainly didn’t see that coming"

No one can speak to the guy someone is better than the guys who have first-hand knowledge of them or their team. Ike Reese is an Eagle through an through. He’s been in the Eagles locker room and around it, so when he speaks, it’s worth a listen.

Like we said earlier, if you’re curious about any of these ‘Birds’ and what they’re like, ask one of their teammates. Ike Reese and Malcolm Jenkins may have never shared the field with one another, but they share an attachment to an NFL team. That means they’re still connected in some unique way.

They’re a part of a family. No, they’re a part of two families, the NFL family and the Eagles family. These guys know things about each other and each other’s games that we’ll never know, so here’s something to chew on.

if Emmitt Smith says Walter Payton is the greatest running back of all time, we believe that. If Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice say Deion Sanders is the greatest cover guy they ever faced, we can trust those opinions over the opinions of anyone else, and yes, if former Eagles, excluding Orlando Scandrick, have anything to say about Jenkins, our ears are wide open. After all, Ike Reese has proven on several occasions that he knows what he’s talking about.