Vick Gets Keys to Dallas, Rumors Plague Philly

This weekend, everyone thought there would be some controversy or big story surrounding one of the two parties that Vick was allegedly hosting for the big game. Both turned out to be untrue, as the Commish said Vick couldn't be involved in the revelry, and yet there still managed to be controversy surrounding Philly's (do it already!) soon-to-be-franchised quarterback. Like a magician, the fickle finger of bad PR had you looking at the parties for a fight or a gun, only to strike where you least expected: Dallas' city council. City councilman and mayor pro temp Dwaine Caraway decided to give Vick the keys to the city. I'll say that again: the mayor pro temp of Dallas gave the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles the keys to the city. You'll note the key words. That's a lot like Vice President Spiro Agnew giving Soviet Premier Khrushchev the Presidential Freedom Medal. Just to head off any outrage, I'm not equating Vick with a Soviet dictator or Councilman Caraway with an embezzler, I'm just trying to show the authority he had to give out the keys to the city and the effect it will have on morale in both Dallas and Philly. This is pretty much the sentiment of Dallas' actual mayor, who says the ceremony isn't official. Personally, I'm pretty happy about it. I think Vick should bring that brass ring home to Philly and hang it from the goalpost every time we play the Cowboys. On the other hand, at this point all this bad press is officially no longer Vick's fault, and even he has to get a good chuckle out of this one.

In other news, there was a big Facebook/Twitter rumor uproar that Jon Gruden was in town and set to replace Big Red as the Eagles' head coach. Predictably, this turned out to be an overblown rumor, but when social networking is involved, everything's a federal case. As this rumor dies, so, it seems, do the chances of a Kolb/Fitzgerald trade with Arizona.

Now that the dust has begun to settle on the Juan Castillo decision, Reid put the finishing touches on the coaching staff, hiring Johnnie Lynn to be the new secondary/cornerbacks coach, Mike Zordich to secondary/safeties coach, and Mike Caldwell to be linebackers coach. The hirings came along with other title/position shifts of existing staff and the addition of two former Eagles. Pre-McNabb and post-Hoying QB Doug Pederson is the new quarterbacks coach, and needs-no-introduction Duce Staley is the special teams quality control coach. I guess internships do turn into full-time jobs after all. Duuuuuuuuce!

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