Into the first real football practice of the summer he roared, pads clattering, helmet cracking. Darren Howard had been waiting for this day for a long time, for years really, desperate to have a new start, a new team, a new attitude.
And now he finally had it with the Philadelphia Eagles, two bitter final seasons in New Orleans behind him. And on this first day, in the first drill, they were pitting him against William Thomas, the team's towering left tackle, a giant of a man with three pro bowls to his name and a reputation for flattening pass rushers.
Try to get past him Darren, let's see what you got. Then the whistle blew. And all the losing and contract fights with the Saints exploded inside him. The defensive end lurched from his crouch and shoved past the startled Thomas. In an instant, he was gone.
For a moment, there was silence on the practice fields at Lehigh University. The Eagles were not used to this kind of thing happening, not to the most cherished of their offensive linemen. Then came the shouts, the whoops, the howls of hope across the morning.
"He beat me sooo bad," Thomas later moaned as he walked off the field.
They all better notice around here, because Howard might just be the best chance the Eagles have if they're going to find a way past the Redskins, Giants and Cowboys in the NFC East. For all the talk about Donovan McNabb and whether this team can throw the ball or find the right mix of running backs, the real story of Philadelphia's comeback is tied to its defense. The team that tied for second in the league in points allowed in 2004 fell to 27th last year. It didn't matter if Terrell Owens was around to carry the offense or not, because the NFL's most aggressive defense couldn't stop anybody.
There were many reasons for that, but in the end it was determined the Eagles could not stop the big play because they couldn't generate a pass rush, and because the pass rush is the crux of what defensive coordinator Jim Johnson does best, they realized they needed to do something.
So on the first weekend of free agency, the Eagles set up a meeting with Howard, hopeful of getting their hands on his 44.5 sacks from the past six seasons. It turns out they barely had to sell themselves. By the end of the weekend, Howard had canceled visits to Kansas City and Seattle and signed a six-year, $30 million contract with Philadelphia.
As much as the Eagles wanted him, he wanted them.
He had been thinking about this place for a long time, ever since the Saints first placed their franchise tag on him in 2004, keeping him from becoming a free agent, then further angered him by naming him their franchise player last season as well.
"My next team was already in the back of my mind," he said.
It's really a perfect fit. Last season, the Eagles' other top pass rusher, Jevon Kearse, was double-teamed by offensive lines who never worried much about who the team was sending on the opposite side. Howard is the one who can take those away, releasing Kearse to be himself.
This is something Kearse undoubtedly noticed as he watched Howard make Thomas look like a human revolving door.
"It's tremendous to me," Kearse said.
Johnson added: "We just didn't get the rush we've been getting [before last year]. . . . We think we've improved that with Darren Howard."
Of course, Howard was supposed to be the perfect fit in New Orleans, too. He came out of Kansas State as a second-round pick in 2000 with a mountain of potential, a powerful pass rusher who would work wonderfully with Saints coach Jim Haslett, who loved aggressive defenses. But there were problems in New Orleans. Howard had 25 sacks his first three years, then dislocated his right wrist in the first game of the 2003 season and missed eight games. The next year, the team made him its franchise player and the bitterness set in.
Last season he played only 12 games and had just 3.5 sacks. The Saints didn't even bother with the franchise tag. Not that Howard cared. He was ready to leave.
"I'd say this is a dreamy situation for myself," he said. "I was on a franchise the last two years that didn't commit completely to me. [The Eagles] gave me an opportunity to play six years here. They have to give me a commitment here and I have to give them that same commitment."
Howard does not hide his wounds from New Orleans. He still is openly bitter about being franchised his last two years with the Saints and remains somewhat shellshocked by the team's nomadic 2005 season after it was forced from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. All of this makes him better, he said.
"Everyone around here is complaining they were 6-10. We went through Katrina and were 3-13," he said. "Someone once told me, 'You don't know how sweet the sweet is until you taste the sour.' And there was nothing more sour than last year."
For now, Howard loves the Eagles. He sees stability here even as most people still shake their heads at the season-long earthquake that was Owens last year. He sees this as the ultimate winning organization, even though the Eagles finished last in the NFC East last season and might well be in the same place this fall.
And on the first day of training camp, he showed everyone how much he wanted to be here by making the team's best offensive lineman look very, very ordinary. Which had to be good news for a team desperate to have something positive.
After all, Howard might just be the best reason the Eagles have for hope.
