Daniels always in the right place

Daniels always in right place
Sunday, November 09, 2008
BY JOHN NALBONE
PHILADELPHIA -- Free safety Brian Dawkins has put in 13 years of hard labor with the Eagles and is still searching.
Right tackle Jon Runyan will run his streak of consecutive regular season starts to 185 tonight against the NFC East-leading Giants at Lincoln Financial Field, while quarterback Donovan McNabb has attempted 4,020 passes since being drafted second overall in 1999.
Left tackle Tra Thomas has protected McNabb's blindside for nearly all of those throws, yet he has not reached the pinnacle in a sport often judged by just one thing when all is said and done.
Winning a Super Bowl.
Torrance "Tank" Daniels must be living pretty darn good.
Let go by the Eagles following the 2006 season after appearing in just six games, the backup linebacker and special teams performer was picked up by the Giants, whose newly-hired defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, was familiar with Daniels' work when both men were employed by Andy Reid.
Comparable to his brief stint with the Eagles, who originally signed Daniels as an undrafted free agent before affording him the opportunity to become the first player from Division II Harding University to play in the NFL, Daniels spent most of the 2007 season on the Giants' practice squad.
Lighting struck for the 26-year-old Daniels in Week 13 of the regular season, when he was moved to the active roster.
Although he appears nowhere in any statistical category over the final four regular-season games with New York, Daniels showed enough intangibles to stick around for the playoffs.
To make a long story short, Daniels forced a fumble in the NFC wild-card game against Tampa Bay and, a few weeks later, found him self on the field celebrating with the Giants after they stunned the unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
"I just feel so fortunate to be in the league only three years and have a Super Bowl ring," Daniels said. "Not only that, I have been to the playoffs every year. To be a Super Bowl champ, it took a long, long, long time even after winning to have it kind of sink in. Then I came back here to Philadelphia (in September), seeing great, I mean great players that are 10 times bet ter than I am, who still don't have what I have. It's pretty humbling."
To recap, an undrafted free agent from a Division II college that has spent the majority of his career on the practice squads of two teams -- whose most notable contribution in the NFL was a forcing a kick return out of the hands of the Buccaneers' Michael Spur lock early in last season's playoff run -- has made the playoffs each year he has been in the league and returned to the Eagles (5-3) a champion after being let go by the Giants (7-1).
Bad stuff happens to good people all the time.
But so do good things.
So when men such as Daniels can find time to visit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center before he and his Big Blue teammates were feted at the White House, there is hope for Dawkins, McNabb, Runyan, Thomas and every other member of the Eagles still in search of the NFL's Holy Grail.
That seemingly endless journey continues tonight against the defending champs in a game the Eagles, who are winless in the divi sion, must have.
"The guys in here work so hard," said Daniels, one of only three Eagles with Super Bowl rings.
Cornerback Asante Samuel (2/ Patriots) and Dan Klecko (3/ Patriots and Colts) are the others.
"They deserve to experience what I was lucky enough to experience last year," he said. "It's not easy, obviously. Every year, every week it's something different in the NFL. It's a beast, but once you taste it a little bit, you want more and I believe this team can be a champion."
Contact John Nalbone at jnalbo ne@njtimes.com

Tank Signs with the Eagles

Tank Daniels returns to Eagles
By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer
Tank Daniels thought he had done enough in training camp to remain a member of the New York Giants.
The Giants didn't agree.
Daniels thought he was about to become a member of the Miami Dolphins.
Didn't happen.
Daniels is back with the Eagles.
"I was very surprised," the third-year linebacker said during a conference call yesterday. "I felt like I had a great camp with the Giants, and then I get a wake-up call [Saturday] telling me I was cut. My agent started talking to the Dolphins, and I figured, if anything, I was going to go down to Miami. The Giants wanted me to stay and be on their practice squad, and I had signed the papers. Then my agent called and said, 'You're going to Philadelphia.' I was like, OK. I was really caught off guard by it."
In what amounted to an exchange of released players, the Eagles claimed Daniels after he was released by the Giants just a few hours after the Giants had signed defensive end Jerome McDougle, who had been released by the Eagles on Saturday.
"It was so ironic," Daniels said. "I'm watching TV, and I see J. Mac signs with the Giants. I was like, 'What?' We're just flip-flopping. This is a weird deal. I've only been in the NFL three years, and every year I'm like, 'Whoa, where did that come from?' "
To make room on the 53-man roster for Daniels, the Eagles released veteran linebacker Rocky Boiman, who had signed a one-year deal as a free agent in the off-season.
Daniels, the first NFL player from Harding University in Searcy, Ark., is returning to the Eagles after taking a magical journey to a Super Bowl title with the Giants earlier this year.
"It was an amazing ride to win 11 straight road games," Daniels said. "To go into the playoffs and win at Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay, then beat a team as a 13-point underdog . . . and now I can say I'm a world champion. There are guys who are way bigger and better than me - some really great athletes - who still don't have what I have now."
The Eagles signed Daniels as an undrafted free agent in 2006, and he opened the season as a member of their practice squad. When quarterback Donovan McNabb went down in the 10th game against Tennessee with a season-ending knee injury, the Eagles used his roster spot to promote Daniels from the practice squad.
He played in the team's final six games that year and also was part of the special-teams units during the Eagles' two playoff games.
After being released at the end of training camp last summer, Daniels signed with the Giants' practice squad and again made his way onto the 53-man roster. He played in the Giants' final four regular-season games and all four postseason games, including their stunning upset of New England in Super Bowl XLII.
His biggest postseason moment came at the start of the second half of the Giants' wild-card victory in Tampa Bay when he forced a Michael Spurlock fumble while playing on the kickoff coverage team. The ball was recovered by Corey Webster and led to a New York field goal.
"That was huge," Daniels said. "We came out after halftime, and all the leaders on the team were talking. [Michael] Strahan says, 'Special teams, you're up first. You guys go out and make a play.' He smacked me on my helmet and said, 'Make a play, Tank. You can do it.' Nobody blocked me, and I hit the guy and the ball came out. It's one of my biggest plays that I can remember."
Now he'll get another chance to make big plays on special teams with the Eagles.
"Honestly, I feel so much smarter, stronger and faster," he said. "Coach [John] Harbaugh was the best special-teams coach I ever had, and he taught me so much stuff my rookie year. Now I have fine-tuned that, and I want to be that special-teams guy that teams say, 'We have to block this guy, and we have to look out for him because he's making game-changing plays.' I just see more of the big picture on special teams."
As for going back and forth from the Eagles and Giants, Daniels said there is one thing he loves equally about both teams.
"They both hate Dallas," he said. "Even though I'm from Arkansas, I grew up hating the Cowboys, and I'm fortunate that I can still hate them."