Connor Barwin Chips In On Evan Mathis Release
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Connor Barwin wore the fluorescent orange vest and hard hat of a construction worker Friday morning to aid an NRG House Solar crew place some panels on someone's roof in Cherry Hill on Friday. The Eagles' Pro Bowl linebacker wanted to keep the gear on when Barwin was approached about Evan Mathis being cut on Thursday by Eagles' coach Chip Kelly.
"I was surprised, of course," Barwin said. "You knew something was going to eventually happen whenever you see these sort of things start to happen. It's usually a bad ending, and of course, it's usually a bad ending for everybody. I wish Evan the best. He was a great teammate for two years, but I'm very confident in the guys that have been here all summer. (Matt) Tobin, (Andrew) Gardner, Dennis Kelly, Allen Barbre, those guys have all had a good off-season and they've been here every single day, so we're moving forward. I'm excited about who we have and obviously Evan is moving forward and good luck to him in the future."
Asked whether or not if was a matter of Mathis not buying into Kelly's program, Barwin said, "I don't know if it's buying in or not buying in. From the football part of it, Evan was bought in. It's just that contracts are a whole different animal that you don't really get into. You have your own and that's it. Once you're in the locker room, none of that stuff matters and it shouldn't matter. It only matters outside the locker room. So whatever happened, I know none of the details. But obviously, it didn't work out for either side. Both sides again will move forward and hopefully it's good for everybody. I don't analyze guard contracts and what they're supposed to make and not supposed to make, so I'm not the right person to know whether (Mathis) was being greedy or not.
"There's so many parts to this and so many levels to this. Everything comes into account. You talk to younger guys about everything that matters. Everything matters the way you carry yourself off the field. Obviously what's most important is what you do in the field; the way you carry yourself in the locker room; how you do your social media; how you talk to fans; how you talk to the owner, I mean everything matters."
When asked if Kelly runs a tight ship, Barwin, still donning the hard hat shook his head, "Yea, yea."
Jabbar Graham was the recipient of Barwin's work. Originally from North Philly and works for Temple, Graham is a lifelong Eagles fan who played football for Mastbaum High School.
Mathis' release "did come as a shock to me," Graham said. "Now it's grown to the point where I don't understand what's going on. Evan Mathis is one of the best guards in the National Football League. I think Chip Kelly is pulling the trigger way too fast with some things. By him having all of the power that he has, no one else can jump in the middle of his decisions. There is a fear that we've lost some of our fan base. I really do believe some of the moves that were made, like Thursday's, has done that."