Akers leaves Eagles past behind

IT'S ALL about moving forward for former Eagles kicker David Akers, and certainly not just when it concerns his football career.

The makeup of any kicker has to include a short memory. If they hang on to missed field-goal attempts for too long, suitcase packing can become second nature.

Planting your tees in the same city for very long is not a common occurrence for kickers these days in the "win now" NFL. But for 12 years, Akers poked ball after ball through the uprights for the midnight green, establishing a team-record 1,323 points.

More than that, though, Akers rooted his family here. He envisioned ending his career in Philly, but that fell apart after his dismal performance in the playoff loss to Green Bay last season and when the Eagles drafted Alex Henery with a fourth-round pick.

Akers, 7-for-7 this season, will return to Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday when he and his new team, the San Francisco 49ers, will look to prolong the Eagles' early slump. No matter if you're a fan or not of Akers - and it's hard to find haters - it will certainly be strange to see the leftfooter blasting away for another team.

"I just realized from the start of the season that I'm a 49er and this is just going to be another game," said Akers, almost convincingly, in a conference call yesterday. "Obviously I'm going to where my house is and my family is and all that. Spending 12 years there you just can't erase that. But it's another game as of right now. Put the emotions away and realize that I'm no long going to be on the sidelines where the Eagles are."

Almost immediately following the playoff loss to the Packers, in which he missed two makeable field goals, Akers spoke as if he knew he wasn't going to be back for season 13. Days later it was revealed that the Friday before the game, Akers learned that his 6-year-old daughter, Halley, would have to have a cyst removed from her left ovary. The tumor turned out to be malignant.

"I was able to see all the different areas of Children's Hospital [during appearances] and all the things that they do, but it's a gut-check when you go there with your own child," Akers said. "There are certain floors that you don't want to be on and the Friday before that playoff game we ended up on the oncology floor, and that's something that changes your life. This is something that changes your life."

So, being released by your employer of 12 years is a lot easier to handle. And the Eagles' loss certainly has become a welcomed gain for San Francisco.

"I've seen a lot of leadership from David in the locker room," said 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh. "I knew he was a great guy and a high-character guy, but I didn't anticipate what kind of a leader he was and what kind of impact he'd have on our team. I don't know if I've ever seen a kicker be as much of a leader as David has been. He's just an interesting guy. He works, he loves his family, he trains dogs. There's a lot to him. He takes the time and works to get to know the other players on the team. I can't say enough about him. A class act all the way."

Akers' wife and three daughters maintain their residence in South Jersey while he does his job cross-country. So indebted was Akers toward Eagles fans that he bought a billboard on I-95 near the stadium, thanking them. There will be many friends on the opposing team Sunday, but his job will come first. Though he might not search out coach Andy Reid, the man who made the decision to release Akers, he certainly won't avoid him, either.

"I assume its OK," he said of his relationship with Reid. "We haven't really talked very much. When management makes their decision, I just assume we just kind of go and I do my thing and he does his thing. They have their idea of how they wanted their roster to look and I wasn't a part of it. You can't beat yourself up about why and what happened. You've seen it happen to so many guys throughout the league. You're not something special. You're just part of the game and that's part of the business. I've accepted this and moved on."

Akers has done it exceptionally well.

"Philadelphia has been a huge blessing in my life," he said. "I've spent a third of my life there. Two of my children were born there; all three of them have been raised there. My residence is in New Jersey. Can't say enough for the organization for the way they gave me the opportunity to make it in the NFL. People ask if I'm bitter about this. No, it's part of the business, you come, you go. That's where my home is. I will always be grateful and I'll be back after the season. I feel like it was a blessing from God spending all those years there."

As for Halley, Akers said, "This is something that we'll be dealing with for years and years to come. I thank God that we were able to find [the tumor], the way that the doctors were able to perform surgery and the way that we've been able to have the treatment going forward."