On Saturday, the Philadelphia Eagles re-signed Reno Mahe, special teams contributor and fourth-string running back, to a one-year restricted free agent contract worth just over $700,000.

The NFL Network did not do a special report. 

Despite the fact that Mahe was the league's leading punt returner last season, his signing was not prominently featured on SportsCenter. 

The Philadelphia Inquirer gave him two sentences to share with the team's other transaction that day: "The Eagles re-signed RB Reno Mahe and S Quintin Mikell to one-year contracts. Both had been restricted free agents..."

Reno Mahe is my favorite Philadelphia Eagle.

*   *   *

Mahe joined the Eagles as an undrafted rookie free agent before the 2003 season.  In college, Mahe was an all-MWC performer at wide receiver for Brigham Young University, the alma mater of Eagles coach Andy Reid.  During training camp, the Eagles asked the 5-foot-10-inch Mahe how he would feel about switching from receiver to running back, his original college position. 

Mahe responded that he would "volunteer to do the laundry" if it meant he could keep his roster spot. 

He made the switch and made the team.

*   *   *

For the most part, Mahe has had an inconsequential career.  In three seasons he has appeared in 28 games, rushing 43 times for 178 yards and catching 27 passes for 196 yards.  He has yet to score his first touchdown.

Mahe made his biggest impact in 2005, when injuries on both sides of the ball made him the team's primary punt returner.  He responded with a league-best 12.8 yard return average, including four returns over 20 yards. 

Eagles special teams coordinator John Harbaugh said of Mahe: "To me, he's just one of those guys that is a football player. You look at him and say that he's not quite big enough or he's not quite fast enough, but all of a sudden you put him on the field and he does a good job. You like having him out there because you can trust him."

At the 2003 scouting combine, Mahe ran the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds. 

*   *   *

Like many professional athletes, Mahe first achieved notoriety for his activities off the field. 

After his first season in the NFL, Mahe spent four days a week in Philadelphia participating in the team's off-season conditioning program.  To keep himself busy while in town, he worked part-time as a host at Chickie's & Pete's Cafe in South Philadelphia.  Mahe pulled down seven bucks an hour greeting guests and cleaning tables.

Pete Ciarrocci, the owner of Chickie's & Pete's, loved having Mahe on staff.  "I don't know if there are many people like Reno in the world...  My place gets pretty busy and it's impressive to people to be greeted by an Eagle football player who is so friendly and will sign autographs and make himself available."

When reporters questioned Mahe about his moonlighting, his response was simple: "Diapers aren't free, bro."  He also said: "You should always be working; you should always be doing something."

*   *   *

A few weeks ago I received the following email from my brother down in Houston:

Subject: Reno Mahe

Two of these guys in the office played basketball against him on Tuesday.  He introduced himself to their friend as Reno... said he was a "substitute teacher in Spring Cypress" when asked what he did. 

His introduction was technically true.  In the off-season, Mahe continues to split his time between Houston and Philadelphia.  Many weeks he returns to Texas on Thursday night and on Fridays he works as a substitute teacher. 

Of course, he neglected to mention what he does on Sundays.

Put yourself in his shoes for a minute.  You're a little-known professional football player sharing a sweat with a bunch of weekend warriors.  Fame and glory are not exactly your constant companions.  If someone asked, would you be able to resist the urge to off-handedly mention that you played in the NFL? 

I wouldn't. 

I've moved around a fair amount since college.  Whenever I end up on a new softball team in one of these places, it takes me, on average, less than three innings to find an excuse to buy a little street cred by mentioning my experience playing varsity baseball in high school. 

I generally leave out the part about losing my starting job senior year to the guy who was also the quarterback of the football team. 

*   *   *

The worst part of the 2005 Eagles season was not the team's dismal second half performance, as injuries to key players and the ongoing Terrell Owens situation fractured a once proud and unified franchise.  The worst part was the relatively more successful early portion of the season, when I was attempting to root for the team while simultaneously loathing its most talented player.

The TO situation in Philadelphia has not exactly been under-reported, so I won't write much about it here.  But it's worth thinking about the difference between Owens and Mahe. 

It's hardly fair to ask why someone like TO can't be more down-to-earth and humble like Mahe.  Their situations couldn't be more different.  If TO slips up on the playing field it might be the difference between winning and losing.  If Mahe blows an assignment on special teams, not too many people are going to notice.  TO can't work out in his driveway without pulling in four television crews.  Mahe could probably run the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in his birthday suit and not get noticed. 

They play the same game, but they exist in different worlds. 

And yet, for all that he has accomplished in the game of football, Owens remains a prisoner of his insecurities, convinced that no matter how much adulation he receives, his true worth is not being properly recognized by someone, somewhere. 

He could learn a thing or two from Mahe, the player whose career numbers look like a good two-game stretch for Owens.

*   *   *

Guys like Mahe understand that every training camp means a new competition to hang onto a roster spot.  This year, the Eagles drafted Olympic heartthrob Jeremy Bloom in the fifth round to work out on special teams and eventually become the team's primary return man.  J.R. Reed, a 2004 draft choice and the team's former kick returner, is working his way back from a freak nerve injury in his knee that nearly ended his career.  He is playing with a special brace and is doing what he can to get back on the football field.

One of these years, there may not be a spot for Reno.  Maybe he'll catch on with another team, or perhaps he'll move on to something else, like coaching high school football in Texas, as he has said he wants to do when his career is over.  When the end comes, it's likely few people will notice. 

But I'll be sad to see him go.  And I'll have to find a new favorite Eagle. 

Miami, FL (May 29, 2006) - And then there was one. 

Barry Bonds finally passed Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list tonight with a prodigious ninth-inning blast that came two innings after a bizarre incident in which the future Hall-of-Famer appeared to use a gun he had concealed in his elbow protector to shoot Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis in the leg after Willis intentionally walked Bonds in three straight plate appearances. 

It was the 20^th intentional free pass issued to Bonds this season and the first of the more than 600 he has received in his career to provoke such a violent response.

After the game a defiant Bonds muttered only a terse, "Maybe now they'll pitch to me," before exiting the locker room, brushing past 68-year-old St. Petersburg resident Jim Tran, who came to watch Bonds try to pass Ruth and got more than he expected when he emerged from a 20-person scrum with the legendary home run hitter's shell casing. 

While most people seemed shocked by the incident, a few individuals were quick to come to Bonds' defense.  Joe Morgan, who now does commentary for ESPN, conceded that the star slugger's actions were "technically illegal," but argued that this should have no bearing on his standing in the game since Major League Baseball did not have a rule specifically prohibiting the shooting of another player at the time of the alleged incident.

Morgan added, "If he's this violent now that testing has shown he's clean, how come he never tried to kill anyone back when you claim he was on the juice?"

Wes Powell, a writer for the online sports site Foxsports.com pointed out that Babe Ruth would have faced no repercussions if he had shot someone during his career, writing, "[N]one of your racist ancestors really cared if a black man got shot back in the 1920s and, besides, pitchers from that era pitched so often that they could barely lift their arms in the morning - none of them would have wasted four precious pitches on an intentional walk."

Because the alleged incident took place during a Florida Marlins home game, police have had trouble locating any witnesses.  No arrest warrants have yet been issued, but officials hope to gain a clearer picture of the night's events after watching next week's episode of "Bonds on Bonds."

Willis was kept overnight at Jackson Memorial Hospital for observation and is expected to make a full recovery.  The Giants won the game 5-3. 

# # #

So there I was, enjoying my lunch-time peanut butter and jelly sandwich, poking around the Internet for some football news, when I came across this teeny, tiny, insignificant little item: 

If Notre Dame has a huge year and Bill Parcells leaves, then I would expect the Cowboys to call Charlie Weis and gauge his interest.
--Dallas Morning News

I froze.

Immediately the rationalizations came pouring out.  Of course the Cowboys would contact Weis.  Every team with a coaching opening - and probably some without - would go after him.  He's got a hand full of rings, he molded the best quarterback in the league, and if he can revive Notre Dame he's a miracle worker. 

This is just off-season filler.  Meaningless.  Nothing-to-see-here-so-let's-move-along.

Didn't work.

You see, Charlie Weis is the best play-caller I've ever seen.  He knows your tendencies, his tendencies, and how to short-circuit both.  He's not just one step ahead.  He's six or seven.  He's Kasparov with a clipboard. 

For Pete's sake, he called back-to-back screen passes in Super Bowl XXXIX against a very good screen defense and they BOTH WORKED. 

I used to think Mike Shanahan was the league's best play-caller.  Jon Gruden had a pretty good run the year Tampa Bay won it all.  And Norv Turner was something to behold back in the (sickening) glory days of the Cowboys.  Although subsequent events suggest that overwhelming offensive talent might have been primarily responsible for Turner's seeming mastery of the play sheet.

None of these guys can match Weis.  A good play-caller knows his strengths and protects his weaknesses.  He keeps the defense off-balance with a nice mix of run and pass.  He exploits mismatches as long as they're around and knows when to go for the jugular. 

But a truly great play-caller operates on another plane.  He makes you think, damn, I would never have thought of that, it seems completely counter-intuitive ... but of course it makes perfect sense.  It's inspired. 

Charlie Weis has that.  Dude manipulates his surroundings like he's frickin' Neo. 

And that makes the thought of him coaching in the NFC East absolutely terrifying.  I happen to think - and would argue with anyone who cares to stop by - that Andy Reid is the second-best coach in the league.  He transformed a joke franchise into a smooth-running machine that replenishes its talent annually and should be a Super Bowl threat for at least as long as Donovan McNabb remains upright.

The problem is that Reid may just be the straightest arrow in the league.  Everything is by the book.  You do it his way, the right way, every time.  Execution is paramount.  Rabbits may look flashy but the tortoise wins the race.  It's been an incredibly successful philosophy. 

There's just one glaring weakness.  When the Eagles go up against a gambler, someone who pulls stuff out of left field and goes with his gut, they struggle.  They lose the initiative. Their consistency becomes predictability.  That's when someone like Weis comes along and leaves them grasping at air.

Which isn't to say the Eagles can't beat a Weis-coached team.  They can.  The problem is that when teams play in the same division, they start to get very, very familiar with each other.  The resulting contempt leads to some incredibly entertaining football.  But it also gives a tremendous advantage to the coach who figures out a way to be unpredictably unpredictable.  That would be Weis.

I can see Jerry Jones now, sitting in his skybox, counting his money and plotting his moves for the post-Parcells era.  Weis has to be at the top of his wish list.  We might even see the first $10 million a year NFL coach...

Anybody want half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?