We Have Always Hated Donovan McNabb, and Oceania

For no good reason at all, I watched the ex-Eagle QB's introductory press conference in DC. So, it seems, did the rest of Philadelphia, all of whom were seeming to do so to mine it for reasons to get their hate on. Here are some takeaways...

> If, as rumored, McNabb forced a trade to DC over Buffalo and Oakland by threatening retirement and refusing to accept the deal, then I desperately want to play poker with Andy Reid. The idea that a 33-year-old QB would not take an seven figure annual salary for a year, in the hopes of driving an eight figure annual salary in the subsequent year, because he didn't like the new laundry... well, Cap'n Andy may be many things, but too dumb to breathe isn't one of them. Philly Fan loves his conspiracies and really wants to hate on McNabb now, but players do not force the teams they are traded to, any more than you or I force an employer that fires us to say nice things about us to our next gigmaster.

> On the podium, Don looked, well, big... and if I were a Skins fan, I'd be a little worried about that. I don't know about you, Dear Reader, but keeping the weight off has not gotten easier with age, and while you aren't expecting a middle-aged QB to burn you with his wheels to the tune of 400 yards a year, it's still going to be important for him to avoid the pass rush. And lo, there will be a pass rush for McNabb next year. The Skins OL will make him long for Winston Justice.

> To the Philly sports media (mostly the ever-odious Howard Eskin, who should list his occupation on his tax return as "Irritant") who took McNabb to task for talking about the winners in the room with him in DC... look, athletes *have* to lie to themselves, and everyone else, on things like that. You'd do the same thing in his shoes. Standing in front of a room full of people that you need to inspire confidence in, especially for a franchise that has been the division doormat for most of the new century, you are going to tell them that you are going to win. You also aren't going to tell them that it's going to be all on you. That's life, and football.

> To the idea that Philadelphia did McNabb wrong by kicking him to the curb after 11 years and the best era in their history... well, of course they did. But no more than teams do every day, because the business is a relentless meritocracy, and that rule of thumb is true even for the most coddled QB. There are tens of thousands of able-bodied men in this country who would stab their own mother with a rusty fork to play football for a living, and a larger number of less than able-bodied men who would stab Mom with the previously stabbed Mom if it meant that they got to coach or GM. The fact that Michael Vick is employed to play football, rather than break rocks, is proof enough that winning trumps niceness.

Playing QB is a priviledge, not a right, and what you did for the team a week, month or year ago does not factor into that equation. The Eagles have determined, and not without cause, that their best chance for winning a Super Bowl involves a QB not named McNabb. So they got rid of the man regardless of the 11 years, five NFC championship game runs, and 65% winning percentage. That doesn't make them heartless, and anyone who tells you differently is selling a soap opera. They won't go broke doing that, but I'll stick with the game, thanks.

> To the DC media clowns that actually asked what laundry McNabb would wear in Canton... way to live in the moment, morons. And good on McNabb for ducking the question. We can revisit this in five years, assuming McNabb is still in the NFL, and has won some playoff games for his new laundry.

> There was, however, one moment from yesterday's presser that made me snort a little; the moment when McNabb tweaked Andy Reid for his lack of commitment to the running game. Keep that in mind for next year, when the Skins lose a game where the Whiter Rat Mike Shanahan runs it a lot and loses, and the QB wants to avoid full blame from the suddenly aroused media. Chucking the ball all over the yard with a mostly positive offensive line (and in the second half of his career, plus wideouts) might have put more pressure on McNabb than was warranted, and might have even helped cost the team wins from time to time. But it didn't particularly hurt the career of the guy on the podium yesterday. Numbers matter, and this system helped McNabb achieve them. No one with McNabb on their fantasy team was real happy that he landed in DC.

> Oh, and a small note for the Eagles. Nice job moving the old QB to a media market that *borders* this one. As if the new QB isn't going to have enough on him when he turns the ball over, he'll also have that constant comparison to the old guy, just a longish car ride away. The only place worse would have been New York.

> Finally, there's this. Being the QB of the Washington Redskins is a role that means you could cure cancer, fix the hole in the ozone layer and provided universal employment while erasing the national debt... and you'd still be one of the three worst people in the world for Philly Fan, ranking only behind Giant QB and Cowboy QB. That's just the gig, really, and nothing that McNabb says or does can change that.

But I will offer up this, before time passes and we get into the full Favrification of hating what many of us once loved: when it comes to rooting for an NFC East team to lose next year, Dallas and New York will be higher up on my list. (And that's not just because the Skins still look like the same big-name train wreck that they've been for years.)

Because at the end of the day, Donovan McNabb is the best QB in franchise history, a good family guy, a solid interview, a graduate of my college, a decent enough human being, and the face of the franchise when they turned around years of cover-your-eyes football... and that still wasn't enough to win a Super Bowl.

And people wonder why Eagle Fan is bitter?