PHILADELPHIA - Troy Vincent was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame Monday night with long-time ticket manager Leo Carlin.
The five-time Pro Bowl cornerback barely had thanked everyone for the honor and kidded Carlin about not coming through with some tickets before showing his game face.
Clearly, Vincent feels the pain of these struggling Eagles, who these days send statisticians to the record books searching for worse teams.
When Vincent looks at these Eagles he sees his 1998 team that went 3-13 in Ray Rhodes' last year as head coach.
"We knew there was going to be change," Vincent said. "As a player you have to embrace that change. It's out of your control who's going to coach you next. It's not a good time. You walk out there for the kickoffs and people are booing. The bags are out.
"They knocked down my mailbox in Bucks County. We were living in Yardley. They must have vandalized my house every single day until we had to put up a brick mailbox. Once change was made, we won some football games and the city embraced us."
The 42-year-old Vincent never has looked back partly because his life always seems to have so much adventure ahead. Vincent's entrepreneurial skills revitalized his birthplace of Trenton, N.J.
Vincent was honored as the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year award and serves as the NFL's vice president of player engagement.
One of these days Vincent wants to own an NFL franchise. If, of course, the owners let the ultra-competitive businessman in.
Rewinding to the state of the current Eagles, Vincent senses an abject lack of leadership. He also took a shot at the team's foray into free agency. Vincent, you may recall, became the highest-paid Eagle when the Miami Dolphins declined to match an offer for him. He hinted the recent signees probably didn't do enough homework.
"I was once one of those individuals out there that was booing," Vincent, who was born in Trenton and attended Pennsbury High School said of Eagles fans. "If I didn't like what I saw, I let people know it. But I knew this was the city that it's about production, not about potential. If you don't produce and you're the highest-paid player coming in, you will be held accountable. So that's something that I think each free-agent acquisition should really take a long hard look at. If you can't balance the two it will be difficult to play here."
It's been difficult for Eagles free agent additions Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin and even Cullen Jenkins. All face uncertain futures.
And it's been equally rough for Eagles head coach Andy Reid, whom Vincent applauded from afar without going overboard.
"I think his legacy speaks for itself," Vincent said. "He's the winningest coach in the history of the franchise. He never brought the Lombardi Trophy home, but he gave us some quality football."
Carlin, in his 52nd year with the Eagles, remembered season tickets priced at $35 for a seven-game season.
Now tickets are $750 and $950.
But his favorite season ticket story dates back to the Eagles days at Franklin Field on the Penn campus.
"I liked the father and son deal," Carlin said. "The father and the son would come, and one ticket would be half-priced. And quite often the father would be 32 and the son would be 28 ... True story."
The Eagles deactivated Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, Chris Polk, Greg Salas, Nate Menkin, Phillip Hunt and Jason Avant.
Rookie Nick Foles started his second straight game at quarterback, rookie Bryce Brown his first at running back.
Veteran Jake Scott started again at right guard.
The Panthers scratched Jimmy Clausen, David Gettis, D.J. Campbell, James Dockery, Jason Williams, Bruce Campbell and the best of them all, injured defensive Antwan Applewhite.
The Eagles captains were Stanley Havili, Mychal Kendricks and Colt Anderson.
ESPN play-by-play man Mike Tirico took an impact test with the Eagles.
Vick and McCoy must pass the lengthy computerized tests before being cleared to return from concussions.