The semi-candid Donovan McNabb interview posted on ESPN is notable for one major revelation:
Apparently it didn't show him enough. He's not saying "I need to prove myself to my distrusting teammates," is he? He's saying "There's nothing wrong with me or my game, it's just that my teammates are jealous of my contract." Furthermore, he denies being "tired" in the Super Bowl, which he clearly was for some as-yet undisclosed reason.
He's not fooling anyone with this I'm-a-big-boy crap... no more than the guy with the Snickers toupee fooled his coworkers. His teammates saw exactly what the rest of us saw: their leader, hunched over and dry heaving in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl. His teammates had the Eagles poised to at least try to tie the game, doing everything they could up to that point, only to watch their leader fail for some oh-so-secret reason. If this secret reason were any good, a) it wouldn't be a secret and b) his teammates would have stood by him, which nobody did. If it were ridiculous, undeserved, or whatever, wouldn't someone have had his back? Yes. So there's gotta be something else going on under the covers.
Whatever it is, it's clear that Donovan's teammates are pissed with him. Teams who dislike their quarterbacks, or who don't trust or follow their QBs on the field, always underachieve. This is a theme that plays itself out year after year... most notably in Indianapolis with Peyton Manning, but also in New England (Bledsoe), Pittsburgh (Kordell Stewart), Miami (Marino), and apparently Philadelphia. Drew Bledsoe's benching, contract and star status be damned, is the biggest reason the Pats won their Super Bowls. The other quarterbacks on that list haven't won jack shit. Because after a while, when you don't respect a guy AND he doesn't get it done, it starts getting really old. That's when something like the 2005 Eagles happens. And the only answer is to force a paradigm shift.
I think the Eagles need to just cut ties and move on. Trade him to Arizona for Larry Fitzgerald. Do an even-up swap for Daunte Culpepper. Trade him to Green Bay for their #1 and #2. But something, anything, to get him out of Philly, so everyone can start over... because this same soap opera will happen again, for some other reason, if he stays.
• Did McNabb take his teammates' showing support for Owens as a stab in the back?
"It put something in the back of my mind that you really learn a lot about people when things aren't going good. Comments, answers to questions, reactions -- you learn about people... That nobody really came to my defense, that showed me a lot. That nobody came out to say he's wrong in the media when somebody asks you a question, it was like, 'That's his situation, that's been them, his contract, I think Donovan has handled it well…' Come out and say, 'It should not have happened. That was wrong. This is Donovan's team.' Again, I'll always remember what happened."
Apparently it didn't show him enough. He's not saying "I need to prove myself to my distrusting teammates," is he? He's saying "There's nothing wrong with me or my game, it's just that my teammates are jealous of my contract." Furthermore, he denies being "tired" in the Super Bowl, which he clearly was for some as-yet undisclosed reason.
He's not fooling anyone with this I'm-a-big-boy crap... no more than the guy with the Snickers toupee fooled his coworkers. His teammates saw exactly what the rest of us saw: their leader, hunched over and dry heaving in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl. His teammates had the Eagles poised to at least try to tie the game, doing everything they could up to that point, only to watch their leader fail for some oh-so-secret reason. If this secret reason were any good, a) it wouldn't be a secret and b) his teammates would have stood by him, which nobody did. If it were ridiculous, undeserved, or whatever, wouldn't someone have had his back? Yes. So there's gotta be something else going on under the covers.
Whatever it is, it's clear that Donovan's teammates are pissed with him. Teams who dislike their quarterbacks, or who don't trust or follow their QBs on the field, always underachieve. This is a theme that plays itself out year after year... most notably in Indianapolis with Peyton Manning, but also in New England (Bledsoe), Pittsburgh (Kordell Stewart), Miami (Marino), and apparently Philadelphia. Drew Bledsoe's benching, contract and star status be damned, is the biggest reason the Pats won their Super Bowls. The other quarterbacks on that list haven't won jack shit. Because after a while, when you don't respect a guy AND he doesn't get it done, it starts getting really old. That's when something like the 2005 Eagles happens. And the only answer is to force a paradigm shift.
I think the Eagles need to just cut ties and move on. Trade him to Arizona for Larry Fitzgerald. Do an even-up swap for Daunte Culpepper. Trade him to Green Bay for their #1 and #2. But something, anything, to get him out of Philly, so everyone can start over... because this same soap opera will happen again, for some other reason, if he stays.
posted by Jeff at
6:21 PM
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