Philadelphia Athletes You Forgot Were a Thing

Published August 12, 2018

Some players achieved such a level of greatness that fans remember them for decades. These guys didn’t.

- Dorsey Levens: The longtime Packers running back was only ever an Eagle thanks to the perennially injured Correll Buckhalter, who blew out his knee during minicamp, leading the Eagles to employ Levens during the 2002 season. After going to the Giants for 2003, Levens came back to the Eagles for 2004 after (surprise) Buckhalter blew out his knee. His overall totals over two seasons as an Eagle were a respectable 821 yards on 169 carries with 5 touchdowns. He also had one carry in Super Bowl XXXIX, which I’m sure you remembered.

- Brian Savage: After the NHL’s year-long lockout finally ended in 2005, the Flyers looked around and said to themselves, “You know what this team needs? A 34-year old winger who MIGHT get us 20 goals if a bunch of stuff goes right”. But not much did. He had some bad luck (8.8 shooting %), but luck or not, his final totals were 9 goals and 5 assists in 66 games. Ugly. And a plus/minus rating of -18. He managed one goal in the Flyers’ first round playoff loss, then he hung up his skates and called it a career.

- Jason Smith: Coming to the Flyers via trade during the 2007 offseason, the hard-nosed veteran defenseman was named team captain for the upcoming year. He was just as advertised. Never one to provide much offense from the blueline, Smith managed just a single goal and 9 assists in 77 games, but provided his trademark steady defense and leadership. The Flyers also made sure not to overexpose him, as he often played on the third pairing, seeing 3 or 4 minutes less of ice time per night than he had during his 7+ seasons with Edmonton that came before his Flyers stint. After the season, he left as a free agent, playing one year with Ottawa before retiring.

- Jason Smith: Not a typo. The other Jason Smith was taken by the Miami Heat in the 2007 NBA draft and then immediately traded to the Sixers. He went on to average 4.5 points per game in his rookie year seeing minutes off the bench. Then, he pulled a Buckhalter and missed his entire second season with a knee injury. Returning to the Sixers for the 2009-10 season, he averaged 3.4 points over 56 games. The following offseason, he was traded to New Orleans. Apparently he still plays in the NBA this day, which was news to me.

- Shavlik Randolph: A predecessor of Jason Smith, Randolph came to the Sixers in 2005 after going undrafted out of Duke. He appeared in 57 games his rookie year. During the next season, he snapped his ankle in practice and missed the rest of the year. He then played in just ten games in his third season, and I don’t know if that’s because of another injury or what, because it really didn’t matter. After 79 games over three seasons (and a whole 197 points), he left the Sixers for greener pastures in Portland. He’d later play in China and Puerto Rico before coming back to the NBA, where he lasted until 2015.

- Jeremy Giambi: Jason’s younger but equally steroid-y brother came to the Phillies in a 2002 trade with Oakland in exchange for Delaware’s own John Mabry. In 82 games with the Phillies that year, he hit .244 with 12 home runs and 28 RBI whilst splitting time pinch hitting, playing first base and the outfield. After the year, the Phils sent him to the Red Sox, where he spent one horribly unproductive year. He was released following that season, never appearing in MLB again.

- David Coggin: His entire major league career consisted of 60 appearances (29 starts) for the Phillies from 2000 to 2002. He compiled a 10-12 record with a 4.52 ERA. As a hitter, he went 2 for 48 lifetime. He was so nondescript that the only line aside from this basic info on his Wikipedia page is that he “lives with his wife Joanna and their golden retriever ‘Huey Lewis’ in Rancho Cucamonga, California”. The only thing notable about Coggin’s MLB career, in fact, is that Dan Plesac pretended to punch him in the face on at least two occasions while horsing around in the bullpen. Check the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yonQ4rDk2Rw

- Keith Adams: After he was cut by the Cowboys during the 2002 season, the Eagles picked up Adams and made him a mainstay of their special teams unit. They had to bid adieu to Quinton Caver to pick him up, though. What a loss. Anyway, Adams played well for two more seasons on special teams, seeing only sporadic duty at linebacker. But that all changed when he was named the starter over Mark Simoneau for the 2005 season. I don’t remember if he was good, bad or somewhere in between because that year was a disaster, so it didn’t really matter. He left after that season and played two more years elsewhere before retiring from the NFL.

Published January 16, 2019

Some players achieved such a level of greatness that fans remember them for decades. These guys didn’t.

- Rashard Cook: A defensive back who lurked at the fringes of the Eagles roster for four seasons, Cook recorded 2 interceptions and 3 sacks during the entirety of his NFL career. But Andy Reid must have seen something he liked in the guy, as his stint with the Eagles from 1999-2002 was all of the NFL action he ever saw. After the Eagles took both Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown in the 2002 draft, Cook was completely expendable.

- Grady Sizemore: A three-time All-Star in Cleveland, Sizemore ran into a whole host of injury issues, causing him to miss the entirety of the 2012 and 2013 seasons. But the Red Sox took a gamble on him with a one-year contract for 2014. By mid-June, they had seen enough and released him. That’s when the Phillies pounced. He was decent enough over the second half of the season that the Phils made him a part of their plans for 2015, giving him a $2 million contract. He was even the opening day right fielder (in an 8-0 loss to the Red Sox). By June 1, however, with the Phillies already ten games out of first place and Sizemore hitting .245 with no home runs and 6 measly RBI in over 100 plate appearances, they cut him loose. He was picked up by the Rays two weeks later, playing out the rest of that season in the Sunshine State before calling it a career.

- Ryan Moats: The Eagles reached for the short but sturdy running back in the third round of the 2005 NFL draft, although they probably never would have even taken him if Correll Buckhalter could have stayed healthy for once. At any rate, Moats racked up all of 347 yards rushing over two seasons in Philadelphia before breaking his ankle the next preseason. That was it for him as an Eagle, as he went on to two uneventful years for the Texans after that. He now plays rugby in Texas. Seriously, he does.

- Jesse Boulerice: One of the gooniest guys to ever pull on a Flyers uniform, Boulerice was a 1996 draft pick. Two years later, before he had even made the NHL yet, he faced an assault charge for swinging his stick at an opponent during a game. Undeterred, he kept moving up the ladder before finally playing three games for the Flyers in 2001. That was it for his time in the NHL that season, as the Flyers sent him down, and then later traded him the next year. For the next half-decade, he would goon it up for a number of different clubs before the Flyers brought him back right before the start of the 2007-08 season for some reason. In just his second game back with the team that had drafted him, Boulerice cross-checked another player in the face, earning an ejection and a 25-game suspension. Once the suspension lapsed in December, the Flyers then sent him back to the Phantoms, and he wouldn’t dress again for the Flyers until late February that season. He’d get into two more games after that one, and that was all for his Flyers career. He’d play two games for the Oilers the following season to finish his time as an NHL player. His Flyers totals: 8 games played, zero points, 34 penalty minutes, 4:02 average time on ice per game. In between his two stints in Philly, Boulerice DID score 8 career goals while playing in 150 games with Carolina. Two of them were against the Flyers.

- Jodie Meeks: I admit I’m not the most knowledgeable Sixers guy, but I can at least remember when a guy is on the team for multiple seasons. That’s why I was shocked to find out that Meeks played 159 games for the team from 2010-12. Far from a blip on the radar. He’d sign with the Lakers after that before bouncing around the league for several years. In late 2018, he was cut by the Bucks after serving a league-mandated suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program. So he’s still out there, maybe the Sixers should bring him back! The Flyers certainly would.

- Ben Eager: While we’re on a Flyers goon kick, let’s discuss Eager. Debuting with the Flyers in 2005, Eager would go on to lead the league in penalty minutes the following season, racking up 233 of them. That total was 45 more than second place finisher Josh Gratton, another goon who was between stints with the Flyers! The Flyers would trade Eager during the next season to Chicago. Two years later, Eager would win a Stanley Cup ring while with the Blackhawks. At the Flyers’ expense, of course.

- Jose Hernandez/Randall Simon: I’m doing a joint entry here, as both of these guys had a cup of coffee with the Phillies in 2006, and it was the end of the line for both of them for their major league careers. Hernandez came aboard on August 22. He would go on to hit one home run and drive in seven runs while posting a .250 average over 32 at bats seeing spot duty down the stretch. He also struck out 11 times, which was a big theme for his major league career, and he played four different positions during his short time with the team. And this was over a decade before Gabe Kapler! Meanwhile, Simon came to the Phillies ten days after Hernandez, and he managed a .238 average over 21 at bats. He never saw the field, with every single one of his at bats as a Phil coming as a pinch hitter. Still, it was the end of an eventful career for Simon, one that saw him be the target of John Rocker’s racist comments when he was his teammate in Atlanta and then later see him turn into a bad guy when Simon swung a bat at a woman dressed in a sausage costume.

I say it every time, but you can’t make this stuff up.