Eagles need to teach Jackson a lesson after gaffe

‘ ‘ ‘ I don’t know what I’d do to DeSean Jackson if I were Andy Reid. ‘ ‘ ‘ Yell at him? Fine… ‘ ‘ ‘ I don’t know what I’d do to DeSean Jackson if I were Andy Reid. ‘ ‘ ‘ Yell at him? Fine him? Make him run the stadium 10 times over? ‘ ‘ ‘ It’s hard to know what would work on the rookie speedster. Here’s a guy so talented, yet so infatuated with himself, he apparently doesn’t need to have the ball to score a touchdown and improvise an embarrassing end zone dance. ‘ ‘ ‘ For those who haven’t watched ESPN in the last three days, Jackson caught a 61-yard pass from Donovan McNabb against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. He would have had a touchdown. But he let go of the ball before he crossed the goal line. Didn’t ‘fumble,’ per se, just let it go, like missing a gimme putt because you tried to do it with your eyes closed. ‘ ‘ ‘ Lucky for him, Brian Westbrook covered for him and got the six on the next play. But I kind of wish he hadn’t. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Philadelphia Eagles took Jackson in the second round of last year’s draft, even though he was talented enough to go in the first ‘mdash; high in the first. Many teams passed on him, though, because of his cocky attitude. ‘ ‘ ‘ It’s not like this is a one-time problem. ESPN also showed a clip of Jackson in high school, on a national stage in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, doing a swan dive into the end zone from the 5-yard line. He landed on the 1. Oops! ‘ ‘ ‘ Many might say that’s his style and that cockiness is not a crime. After all, Terrell Owens isn’t exactly humble, and he’s doing pretty well. Well, T.O. can be cocky because he does his job first. He celebrates after he scores touchdowns. Not before. ‘ ‘ ‘ All right, Jackson had 110 yards and didn’t cost his team the game, but he easily could have. And it didn’t really seem like he thought he did anything wrong ‘- like the referees were the wrong ones in ruling he fumbled. ‘ ‘ ‘ Jackson can’t afford to squander his talent, as several NFL could-have-been stars have. He needs to wake up and realize it’s not just about him. That kind of arrogance can cost his whole team. Reid needs to make sure it doesn’t. ‘ ‘ ‘ Hit me! ‘ ‘ ‘ -I’m sure you already know, but the new Dallas Cowboys stadium is costing $1.3 billion. Sounds like a lot, I know. But figure it this way: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is worth $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.com. I am worth around $1,500, according to my bank statement. So actually, proportional to net worth, Jerry Jones building that stadium is like me buying a flashy new laptop, when my current laptop works perfectly. Is it humble? Probably not. Is it necessary? Absolutely not. -Do you think Syracuse had anything to do with the making and release of ‘The Express: The Ernie Davis Story,’ about the legendary ‘Cuse back? I mean, just to remind everyone that Syracuse football wasn’t always crap? -P.S. ‘mdash; ‘The Hawk: The Tony Dorsett Story,’ coming next fall. -Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis says he’s in no hurry to have surgery on his mangled knee. He’s probably in it for the Rascal. -One of my fantasy teams scored 184 points this week. All I needed was 43. I would have put in my backups after the 4:15 games, but they don’t let you do that. Said Joe Gibbs about my team: ‘I don’t know of a weakness that they have.’ -He actually said that about the Patriots after they pulped his Redskins, 52-7, last season. I knew I should have just named my team The Pats. … Get it? ‘ -I forgot the Pirates were still playing until Juan Pierre hit a home run off them. His 13th … in eight seasons. Here I thought the season already ended. It might as well have. -This week’s Heisman Trophy dark horse: Rey Maualuga. If Brian Hartline can’t tackle you, who can? -LeBron James cried when watching the documentary made about him. I know I’ll cry during mine. -In honor of the ‘Clash at the Coliseum,’ I’d like to name this week’s Pitt vs. Iowa epic. How about these: The Brush in the ‘Burgh, The North Shore War, The Mob Hit at Pitt, Between the Lines at Heinz, The Yellow Seat Beatdown. Don’t like them? E-mail Pat at pmitsch@gmail.com.