After Howie Roseman, Joe Banner, and Andy Reid delivered free agents left and right and added a lot of star power, the comparisons to 2004 were rampant. That makes plenty of sense. Back in 2004 the Eagles added elite players Terrell Owens and Jevon Kearse. The 1st round pick was a RG who was projected to start (Shawn Andrews). There are some serious parallels in the 2 seasons.

I think there is an even better comparison…1995.

The 2004 team was pretty stable overall. The year before we had the best record in the NFC. There were no major changes in the coaching staff. It was a matter of adding a few special pieces to put the team over the top.

1995 could not have been more different. First, I have to say that 1995 is one of my favorite Eagles teams of all time. I completely bought into the hype that year. Ray Rhodes was coming over from San Francisco where he’d just been the Defensive Coordinator of the Super Bowl champion 49ers. He was going to lead us to redemption after the Kotite era.

“I looked up and saw a horse whose color was green. Its rider was named Rhodes, and his companion was Change.”

Rhodes was bringing the West Coast Offense to Philly. That was music to my ears after watching the dysfunctional attack of the Ryan/Kotite era. Rhodes learned from Bill Walsh and was going to bring some structure in. Unlike Buddy Ryan, Rhodes didn’t look down at the offense. He appreciated that side of the ball. The coaching staff was going to be all new. As much as I hated to see the Buddy Ryan/Bud Carson defensive system go, I bought into change because we had struggled so much in the postseason.

1995 presented a roster shakeup unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Rhodes started with some big time acquisitions. He brought RB Ricky Watters with him from SF. Combining him with Charlie Garner, Randall Cunningham, and Fred Barnett gave me hope that the offense could be something special…if they could overcome the rookie Offensive Coordinator Jon Gruden.

I was curious, but optimistic about the defense. We were all very excited about Mike Mamula, our 1st round pick. His Combine numbers were eye-popping. He wasn’t accused of being a workout warrior back then because that didn’t really exist. Mamula sort of created that monster. I bought into Rhodes’ hype that Mamula was going to be our Charles Haley. We still had William Fuller, Andy Harmon, Bill Romanowski, Willie T., Mike Zordich, and Greg Jackson as the core of the defense.

Rhodes literally tried to sign 2/3 of the people on planet Earth. He succeeded with a lot of them:

QB Rodney Peete

RB Ricky Watters

FB Kevin Turner

FB James Saxon

TE Reggie Johnson

TE Ed West

WR Art Monk

WR Rob Carpenter

WR Kevlin Martin

OG Guy McIntyre

OG Harry Boatswain

OC Raleigh McKenzie

OT Mohammed Elewonibi

DT Kevin Johnson

DT Ronnie Dixon

DT Mark Gunn

DT Rhett Hall

DE Daniel Stubbs

LB Kurt Gouviea

LB James Willis

S Barry Wilburn

S Dave Whitmore

CB Jerome Henderson

The most interesting player Rhodes lost out on was WR Sterling Sharpe. Rhodes did a good sales job, but Sharpe had a neck injury and the doctors wouldn’t sign off on the deal.

Set aside the sheer number of players added. The stories behind them is crazy. Stubbs was out of the league in 1994. Ronnie Dixon was driving a cement truck in NC. Kevin Johnson worked at his parents liquor store. Art Monk was hanging on to his career for dear life. Barry Wilburn had last played in 1992. PK Gary Anderson came over from the Steelers, where he’d been for 13 years. This was not your standard offseason. Heck, it seemed like many of the new players were older than the coaches Rhodes hired.

I loved the season because of how it played out. Cunningham stunk and the team got off to a 1-3 start. Peete took over at QB and the team went 9-3. The ’95 Eagles won the most amazing Wildcard game I’ve ever seen, beating Detroit 58-37. The season came to a sudden stop in Dallas the next week. Reality did in fact bite.

That Eagles team felt like a group out of a movie. Just think of any action movie where some guy rounds up all the misfits and they go take on a crazy challenge. That was the 1995 Eagles. It also helped that I watched many of the games at a sports bar with friends. Dan found the doom in every situation. I was the eternal optimist. Jen was just an enthusiastic fan. That made for a good combo and we had a lot of fun that Fall (and in 1996).

Back to the 2011 team. I think the comparison to 1995 makes a lot of sense. There are coaching changes and new systems for the players to learn. There are some big name acquisitions, but guys like Jarrad Page, Evan Mathis, Anthony Hargrove, Derek Landri, Donald Lee, and Ryan Harris remind me of 1995 a heck of a lot more than 2004.

The 2004 team needed to get over the hump. The current team needs to get to the hump, as well as over it.

The big difference in 1995 and 2011 is that we do already have a good QB in place, a returning head coach, and very good infrastructure. Rhodes was trying to change the culture, the roster, and anything else he could. Reid is making serious changes, but this isn’t a fire sale where “everything must go”. 2011 is selective change, and all by choice.

The 2004 team started 7-0 and made it clear early on they were going to be special.

The 1995 team had to bottom out. That allowed Rhodes to bench Cunningham and then to make some other changes (Bobby Taylor took over at RCB for instance). The team responded very well to the changes.

I’m really interested to see how the 2011 Eagles start the year. Will the team look special right away or will there be a period where the team is awkward due to all the new faces? Obviously the most important thing is seeing how the team plays down the stretch. For now I’ll settle for a good showing in Week 3 of the preseason.