No, you're eyes were not deceiving you during the latest installment of "Football Fridays" at www.timesherald.com. For the astute among you, that was a No. 11 black Eagles jersey I was wearing.
And it was in honor of the Jewish New Year, as it was a Jeremy Bloom jersey. For those of you who simply chose to forget, Bloom (technically half-Jewish, though reportedly now a born-again Christian in his post-athletic career as a high-end real estate agent and college football analyst) was among the final cuts from the Eagles preseason roster a few years back. The result was disastrous on two fronts. My dream of seeing one of my brethren playing for my favorite team -- let alone at a skill position -- was shattered. And the Eagles were left without a punt returner for the season-opener in Green Bay. The forgettable Greg Lewis fumbled one punt that led to a touchdown and, with no faith in Lewis, safety J.R. Reed fumbled another punt that set the Packers up for a game-winning field goal.
Bloom, an Olympic skier who had flashed as a receiver and returner at Colorado before giving up football before the Eagles drafted him, failed to show the hops in the preseason that the Eagles had hoped. However, he showed solid hands and would not have dropped either punt in that painful loss.
With the Eagles about to open the current season against Green Bay, and with the high holy days upon us, the jersey seemed appropriate -- at least in this warped thing above my shoulders that I call a head.
As for the jersey worn in Week 1, that was my vintage No. 31 Wilbert Montgomery shirt (circa 1980, the year the star running back led the Eagles to a Super Bowl loss to Oakland) that I received from the better half for Chrismanukkah (Christmas/Hanukkah) two years ago. While a beautiful jersey -- with stitched numbers, as opposed to iron-on -- the Eagles are 0-4 with me wearing it on game day.
Since I have no high expectations for this season anyway -- it's one of those years where a step back will hopefully lead to two steps forward down the road -- I plan to let my Montgomery jersey to see enough game action to break the jinx.