Brian Dawkins isn't going to go out like this. He is the one who wants to make the final call. He is the one who wants to leave the game on his terms. Dawkins deserves it, doesn't he? The man has been named to six Pro Bowl teams, has been named the best at his position in the history of the Eagles franchise and helped take the free safety position to a new dimension in the last 12 seasons.

This season, though, has been largely forgettable. Dawkins has battled injuries all year, the latest a sprained foot suffered Sunday in New Orleans. Dawkins left the field during the game in a cart, looking solemn, wondering just how bad the foot injury would prove to be. Fortunately, the injury wasn't as serious as the Eagles may have suspected, and while Dawkins is probably a long shot to play on Sunday in the season finale, he isn't going to have surgery or face a long rehabilitation process.

Still, it makes you wonder. Dawkins has played in only 10 games this season. He missed the spring practices to be with his family during the premature birth of twin daughters. Dawkins was in training camp only a short time before he pulled up with Achilles tendinitis. Recovered from that, Dawkins lasted just two games before suffering a stinger that just wouldn't go away.

Now the foot sprain. The questions, of course, are coming. Is Dawkins considering retirement? How far back can he recover should he decide to play next year? Dawkins, scheduled to have a press conference on Wednesday, instead took treatment for his injury. Head coach Andy Reid answered the Dawkins question, and Reid certainly provided a picture that suggests Dawkins aims to come back for 2008.

"I don't think it makes him ponder next year, I think it drives him crazy right now because he wants to play and he's so competitive," said Reid. "I know he's going to take a few days off after the season, then he's going to start right up and get back into aggressive training and get himself right for next year. As far as I can tell, I don't think he's pondering. I think he knows he can play, it's just a matter of, he had a few distractions, they were good distractions, but a few distractions this off-season. He won't have those this off-season."

Certainly, the Eagles have to guard themselves in the event that Dawkins isn't able to return to his superstar form. While Quintin Mikell and then J.R. Reed have done well in Dawkins' stead this season, they are not in the class of Dawkins at his best. Dawkins at his best is a game-changing player, one whom defensive coordinator Jim Johnson says "can win a game or two by himself each season."

Clearly, though, the Eagles need Dawkins back. He is such an inspirational guy, such a spirit in the locker room and on the team. Have you ever seen any player more out of his mind, yet in the control, as Dawkins is during the course of a game? A quiet and humble man off the field, Dawkins is a jumble of energy when he is on the field, when the competition begins. He is the fire that extinguishes only when the game ends, and then Dawkins has to summon the energy so as not to collapse entirely in the locker room.

Truth be told, I don't think Eagles fans -- much less the Eagles team -- could handle the loss of Dawkins. Not yet. Not before a proper sendoff and celebration is conducted. Not before the fans can thank Dawkins for an incredible career. Not on the heels of losing Jeremiah Trotter prior to this season. That's just too much stress, too much change.

At the same time, Dawkins needs to have a great off-season. This is not a charity case, the NFL. Dawkins, the NFC Defensive Player of the Month last December, has not played at his usual level this season and the injuries are obviously the reason. This defense, emerging with a young front seven coming together and with bright, bright days ahead, needs a playmaker at free safety. The secondary figures to be a focus in the months ahead after a season in which it has clearly not produced enough takeaways nor made the kind of game-altering plays it has produced in the past.

The question is: What can Dawkins do in the off-season to lessen his chances of having injuries next year? The NFL is a violent place, a physically demanding playground. Injuries are as much a luck of the draw as they are a result of anything else. A bad step here, a stray bodyknock there and a player is out for weeks.

We'll see how Dawkins approaches the off-season. As for finishing the season on Sunday, well, there is nothing official. Dawkins didn't practice on Wednesday, so we will see how the rest of the week goes. You have to be rooting for the man, simply because he has to be in agony when he isn't playing. And, besides, from a selfish standpoint, there are few things more enjoyable than watching Dawkins play the game. He has always done it the right way. He has delivered as many memorable moments for Eagles fans as he has given opponents fits with his speed to the ball, his courage, his innate skill to turn a game in the Eagles' favor.

Retirement? Now? I don't know. I hope not. Nothing is official, and Reid said the other day that "he'll be ready to go here. He already has that in his mind of how he's going to handle this whole thing. He's kind of got it mapped out."

Here's to hoping that Dawkins has at least another season remaining. He is signed through 2008 and he has, let's be honest, some obstacles. But when have you ever known Dawkins to back down from a challenge? Hasn't he always made the spotlight his favorite place to be on the football field?

Meanwhile, Dawkins is doing everything he can to get back on the field against Buffalo. See, that's what he is all about. Football is important to Dawkins. Playing for the team means everything.

We all deserve another season of Dawkins greatness. Here's to hoping he has nothing but good luck from this point forward, because the man has gone through a doozy of a football season this year.

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