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Dak vs. Wentz: Let’s End the Debate

Will Connell   |  

Jun 12, 2020

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Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz: it’s a tale as old as time.

The two were drafted the same year by two of the biggest division rivals in the sport and have gone neck-and-neck for the division title each year they have been at the helm.

Both quarterbacks are lucky to boast elite offensive lines that indubitably have aided in their dominance as players. What sets them apart is how they perform without their best pieces.

Photo: USA TODAY Sports, Getty Images

In the last two years the Eagles have been one of the most injury-prone teams in the league. Nevertheless, they have found a playoff berth each year, even beating the Bears on the double-doink. Meanwhile, Dak has struggled to accumulate wins, going 3-3 in the short stint without Ezekiel Elliott. With Amari Cooper, Elliott, Jason Witten, and one of the league’s best offensive lines, Prescott is 1-2 in the playoffs and has just one division title in what was last season’s worst division.

Case closed. Wentz is a superior quarterback. He has done more with less. Anyone who thinks Prescott is better, needs to watch a football game.

While we are educating ourselves, how about some honest self-reflection on the city of Philadelphia.

We have another parallel with Dallas that is something to be less proud of: bombing civilians.

A shamefully oft-overlooked piece of Philadelphia history turns 35-years-old last month. On May 13, 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department committed the first police-sanctioned bombing of civilians on American soil, a violent act only repeated once by… the Dallas Police Department.

Whether you’re an aging fan who lived through the Broad Street bullies, a youngster whose fandom is founded on the confetti of Super Bowl LII, or anywhere in between, take time and reflect on your — rather, our — city’s history.

MOVE was and is a black liberation organization founded in Philadelphia by John Africa and UPenn Grad Donald Glassey. The group’s namesake comes from their commitment to justice for all things that move (that is, all things living). In 1985 the group was housed at 6221 Osage Avenue, just a stone’s throw from Spruce Street in West Philly.

Photo: AP

That same year Mayor Wilson Goode, in conjunction with Chief of Police George Sambor, classified MOVE as a terrorist organization, and the city issued warrants for the arrest of multiple members. That Monday morning police evacuated neighboring homes with the promise that they could return within 24 hours. An army of 500 police officers arrived on the block, led by Sambor who demanded the 13 activists turn themselves into no avail. Tear gas, a chemical weapon banned in international conflict according to the Geneva Convention, was then lobbed into the home by police officers. Refusing to leave, MOVE members exchanged gunfire with police for 90-minutes. While MOVE was armed with a couple of shotguns, a rifle, and zero automatic weapons, the 500 police officers fired over 10,000 rounds of ammunition into the home, so much so that they needed to return to the Police Department to get more.

Finally, Chief Sambor ordered the citizens to be bombed. The Police flew a helicopter over the building and dropped two military-grade explosives commonly used in the Vietnam War onto a home on Osage Ave.

Phot: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

The explosion set off an enormous fire that engulfed the entire block. Firefighters could do little to stop it from spreading, finally halting the burn after 53 homes were destroyed and 61 razed. Just two of the thirteen MOVE members were able to escape, the other eleven found dead in the destruction. Among them, five children.

In the aftermath, Mayor Goode stated that ”there was no way to avoid it. No way to extract ourselves from that situation except by armed confrontation.” 250 people became homeless, and 11 people, including 6 children, were killed, all at the hands of police who swore to “protect and serve.” The incident has cost taxpayers $45 million, though the loss of life is an immeasurable point of suffering. To suggest there was “no way to avoid it” is an insult to the community, the city, and most importantly the deceased.

There is an ignorance many white folks, myself included, often have of racism as a uniquely Southern mechanism that, at worst, is a fleeting thing in the “woke” North. I am telling this story as a reminder that police brutality and racial injustices a universal phenomenon in America, and Philadelphia, for all of its rights, is just as wrong on these issues as any other city.

This history lesson is by no means exhaustive, but as this nation faces its policing problem head-on, it is more important than ever to understand the relationship between Philadelphia and its police department. Our city’s history is marred by the same violence and injustice that exists throughout America, not as an ugly misstep by an otherwise righteous nation, but as an example of the violence, this country is built upon. We must understand and own our history if we do not wish to repeat it.

Long story short, Wentz > Dak

Click here to donate to the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund.

Featured Image: Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports

By Will Connell

I was at the game Aaron Rowand broke his face. Writer, comedian, activist, chef, avid mini golfer. Taller than ... More about Will Connell

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