Brian Dawkins may not have won a Super Bowl as a player, but he does have a ring. During the 2017 season, Dawkins was working in a front-office job with his longtime team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and got to experience their stunning run firsthand. Now, he's back at the site of the Super Bowl, which you can stream here on CBSSports.com for a different reason.

On Thursday, in a phone call with CBS Sports from Radio Row, Dawkins talked about his role in the Eagles' title run, why he stepped down from his job with the team and his life since. But he also gave his reasoning as to why Tom Brady, who he says "has to be one of the top one or two quarterbacks" of all time, is so great.

"I know a lot of that has to stem from having the same head coach and the same philosophy, but there's parts of Tom that Tom did, too -- his ability to take care of his body. That's allowing him to have better mental clarity," Dawkins said. "I know he's lost his fair share, but you have to give this dude more credit than some people are giving him."

Dawkins himself got to see Brady's magic in February 2005, when the Patriots quarterback took down Dawkins' Eagles to win his third of what would be five Super Bowl titles (and counting?).

Fast-forward 13 years: The longtime safety was two seasons into an executive job in the Eagles' front office and contemplating a possible future as an NFL general manager when Philly won it all. And Dawkins admired his job as much as he did representing Philadelphia on the field, where his "Weapon X" alter ego made him one of the NFL's most feared safeties. During the team's 2017 Super Bowl run, he was tasked with holding key players accountable.

"They lost a lot of close games in the fourth quarter the first year Doug (Pederson) was head coach, so each coach had to have tough conversations about themselves, and I was blessed to have those conversations with some of the players," he said. "They grew up. And then, when some of the adversity came the next year, they were better able to handle those things."

Handle adversity, they did. After letting a lead slip away early in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII following Brady's engineering of three straight touchdown drives to go up 33-32, the Eagles buckled down on defense, kept the Patriots from scoring a single point more and took a final lead with less than three minutes to go for their first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.

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Now Dawkins has a championship ring, which eluded him during his 16-year playing career. Once one of football's hardest hitters, the nine-time Pro Bowler has since retreated into quieter endeavors, even if his last big moment in the spotlight -- a fiery Hall of Fame induction speech in August -- contained plenty of his trademark charisma.

After stepping down from his full-time position with the team three months after celebrating Philly's title, Dawkins explained Thursday why both sides went their separate ways.

"I want to bless people with increase -- mentally, spiritually and physically," he said. "God had me stop being an executive for the Philadelphia Eagles to start my own foundation to bless people, to give people hope. That's a giving thing. And as a man of God, that's what I'm supposed to be doing."

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Brian Dawkins Getty Images

Dawkins is now onsite in Atlanta because he's auctioning a handful of game-worn jerseys, including his 1996 Clemson Gator Bowl uniform. Proceeds from those sales, which are part of an 11th annual Hunt Auctions-NFL Auction partnership that'll kick off the day before the Super Bowl, will benefit the foundation, which is in the final stages of development. Specifically, the nonprofit is geared to help "single moms, single parents who have gone through traumatic circumstances," as well as children in affected households.

That doesn't mean the 45-year-old Dawkins isn't completely removed from the game. He keeps up with the Eagles, saying they still have "some grit in that locker room" after an improbable 2018 playoff run. But like the late Reggie White, a fellow Hall of Famer and Eagles icon whose personal collection will also benefit charities through the Hunt-NFL Auction, Dawkins' biggest interests now extend beyond football and into the community.

"I've been given gifts, and I want to exercise them," he says. "I want to see how much I can do with them on this side of Heaven."

And while a lot has changed for Dawkins in the last 12 months, he insists he hasn't. The forthcoming Brian Dawkins Foundation may be new. Ditto for his role outside the Eagles organization. But if you looked closely enough, Dawkins says, you would have found traces of this all along the way -- in his trademark passion on the field and his infectious personality off it.

"That's the premise of who I am," he says, recalling his screams of "Hallelujah!" and "Thank you, Jesus!" the night he received his Hall of Fame jacket. "That's the foundation of it. Whether somebody wants to give my faith credit for that or not, I know where it's coming from."