excerpt:
Smith striving for two good halves
By REUBEN FRANK
phillyBurbs.com
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Six games in, he was unstoppable. Six games into the 2005 season, L.J. Smith was among the top tight ends in the NFL with 34 catches for 350 yards.
It looked like Smith had finally elevated himself into the elite, right up there with Antonio Gates, Jason Witten, Jermaine Wiggins and Jeremy Shockey.
The Eagles were cruising along at 4-2 and averaging 24 points per game, and Smith was on pace for 90 catches and nearly 1,000 yards.
“I don't want to jinx him,” Donovan McNabb said that week. “But if he continues doing what he's doing, I'd certainly put him in the Pro Bowl.”
Jinx?
You know what happened next.
McNabb's sports hernia grew worse and eventually ended his season. Terrell Owens was suspended. The Eagles began losing. Mike McMahon, Smith's teammate at Rutgers, struggled after replacing McNabb.
The last 10 games, the Eagles went 2-8 and Smith caught just 27 passes for 332 yards.
That's 5 1/2 catches for 58 yards the first six games.
And just over 2 1/2 catches for 33 yards the rest of the year.
What began as such a promising season finished in disappointment both for Smith and the Eagles.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...06-687875.html