McNabb: No regrets on OT gaffe
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb acknowledged that he should have known the overtime rules, but said he did not regret what he said.
McNabb: No regrets on OT gaffe
Daily News Staff
As reporters waited for Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to appear in the NovaCare auditorium for his weekly Wednesday news conference, predictions were offered on how the QB would handle the flap over McNabb not knowing there wouldn't be a second overtime in the Birds' 13-13 tie at Cincinnati.
Some people theorized he would refuse to talk about it. Your Eagletarian felt the way to go would be self-deprecating humor, like Mike Schmidt showing up wearing the funny wig when Phillies fans were mad at him back in the '80s. I figured, you bring the rule book up the podium, pretend to be studying it, remark that there are a lot of neat things in there, etc.
But Donovan, alas, does not do self-deprecating humor. Instead, he went the "victim" route.
Someone asked how McNabb handled the past few days, if he got upset or "laughed at himself."
"Laughed at myself? No. This is 10 years for me. I've been through the down days, the down weeks. I've been through the highs," he said."So I don't let anything like this affect me in any way."
Later, McNabb said: “Should I have known that rule? Yeah. There are lot of rules that those of us don’t know.”
Asked if he regretted not knowing the rule, McNabb said: " No. A hundred percent of everybody in the league knows now,” he said. “If I am a trendsetter then I have set the trend.”
McNabb’s gaffe has gotten national attention and led some observers to call his leadership into question. A number of players, including Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, have come out in support of McNabb since Sunday.
“It did not make me feel bad at all,” McNabb said of the tempest that followed. “I was truly being honest. You see other people starting to say they did not know it, either.”
He said he thought the game would go into a second overtime, but he also seemed to have done some homework on the history of OT rules, referencing some changes that have been made in OT policies.
“I am not talking about it anymore,” McNabb said. “The overtime is over.”
McNabb was not the only Eagles player unaware Sunday that a game could end in a tie. However, as is usually the case, coach Andy Reid took the blame when asked if he planned to call a team meeting to review the rules.
“That’s my responsibility and I’ll learn from it,” Reid said. “The players will learn. We don’t have a lot of time to spend on things that happened in the past. We have to move on to the Ravens. We’ll be aware of the rules that we need to be aware of. That particular rule is irrelevant.”
Reid then cut off a reporter attempting to ask a follow-up question:
“It’s a dead issue. We’re moving on.”
Given an opportunity to make his case to critical fans, to assert that he has the focus and passion fans are questioning, McNabb said: “That (criticism is) unbelievable … I just go out and play football. There is no reason for me to sit up here and try to answer every question people have about me. You’re not going to impress everyone.”
The Eagles are 5-4-1 heading into Sunday's game at Baltimore, with fans and the media wondering where this team stands. Reid left no doubt in again proclaiming that he “has a lot of trust in this team.”
“We have enough talent on our football team to be very successful in this league,” he said.
Reid brushed off those calling for him to lose his job.
“I don’t get into all that. I’m here to do my job,” Reid said. “We are here to win football games. Anything that gets in the way of that I ignore. We’re trying to take care of business and get back on track.”
McNabb said what people say about him does not bother him, but took offense to those criticizing the coaches and his teammates.
“The way that I can try to eliminate that is for us to go out and play football and win football games,” McNabb said. “You’re not going to please everybody. Everybody has their own opinion ...
“People think change is the answer. Andy is a guy that I expect to be here for a long time. I expect to be here for a long time. I’m going out and focusing on what we have to do to win.”
Asked if he was considering lineup changes, Reid did not rule that out as a possibility.
“We’ll see how things work out here,” he said.
INJURY UPDATES
Reid said running back Brian Westbrook, who has been hampered by a high ankle sprain and a knee injury, would be limited in practice this week, if he practices at all.
Asked how much impact Westbrook’s injuries are having on his performance, Reid said: “I’m not going to sit here and tell you that he is 100 percent. If we take care of business around him, he can still function very well.”
Westbrook later said he can make "some cuts" on his right ankle, which he said gets worse during games.
Guard Shawn Andrews could travel back from the West Coast this week. Andrews has been in California since having back surgery late last month. Reid said last week that doctors found some bleeding in Andrews’ back, preventing him from traveling. He has not played since Week 2 against Dallas.
“We’d like to see him first and have [trainer Rick Burkholder] and our doctors see him before I say or do anything,” Reid said.
Sooo, no regrets huh Donovan? Sorry Philly fans, but McNabb could care less. He has his hundred million so what does it matter to him whether your team wins or not. Doesn't that dumb grin he shows everytime he misses an important pass tell you something. Even worse, his wrestling and horsing around with Reggie Brown on the sidelines during games. Trade him while you can. One more humiliating loss and subsequent bonehead post game remarks and no team in the league will take him. Lurie should have McNabb's bags packed and on a bus to Minnestota by the weekend. He should then pack up Reed and boot him too by Monday.— dapmman- TO EVERYONE WHO IS DEFENDING MCNABB & REID- DO YOU HONESTLY, AND I MEAN HONESTLY, THINK WE CAN WIN A SUPERBOWL WITH THEM? IF YOU DON'T THEN BACK OFF- FANS ARE ALLOWED TO BE UPSET WITH LOSSES- IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE FANS MCNABB WOULDN'T BE A MILLIONAIRE- HE'D PROBABLY WORK AS A TEST SUBJECT FOR NEW SOUPS; REID WOULDN'T BE A MILLIONAIRE-HE'D BE COACHING HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAMES SOMEWHERE, DESTROYING A FEW TEENAGERS HOPES AND DREAMS, INSTEAD OF A WHOLE CITY'S— justatc1
- Bottom line - no matter what talent is present - we could have Walter Payton, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and the Jay Novachek and without creativity and game adjustments we'd still loose. It's the system - stupid! And Andy's the system. McNabb may also have to go but Andy MUST GO if we're ever going to get to the SuperBowl again.— State-Man
- That starts with me. I gotta do a better job there.— DMC5
- justatc1. You are allowed to get upset over losses as everyone else does, but be careful for what you wish for because we are lucky to have a qb like McNabb over the the last 10 yrs and a coach who actually has won games for us..What Andy needs to do is step down as GM and get McNabb some real weapons like they did in 2004 with TO. Oh yeah that's the year they went to the SB. They have never giving Mcnabb a quality number 1 throughout his 10 years and he still puts up great numbers..Do we even Know if Kobb is good? I have 2 words for you: Bobby Hoying. Just be careful for what we wish for...Look around the NFL there are some bad teams and qbs out there— 14U2C
- McNabb's time is done here in Philly. So is Andy's. I mean when is enough enough? Are we going to have another year of this pain let alone two? Happens all the time in the NFL. Thanks for the memories.— philly66
Comment removed.- nugget, the team took them to the superbowl. mcfatty got tired and couldnt run a 2 minute drill. Mcnabb has a poor attitude and it shows on the field. His goofing off has led to penalties. Remember that time he was goofing with the defensive and faked a hike and they were penalized? that sums up McCLown's career.— Wise_Owl
- Suffering Bengals fan here. Not knowing about a tie wasn't the Eagles' biggest mistake. That came before the OT began. On the coin toss won by the Eagles. Normally you want to get the ball first in sudden death, but with both offenses struggling on a blustery day, it was FAR more important to get the wind than the ball. I saw that as a big mistake at the time. The Philly punter was having a horrible time kicking into the wind. Little by little on exchange of punts in OT the Bengals were getting better field position. With the penalty it gave them the only chance to win the game as time expired. The other big Eagles' mistake was on what was obviously going to be their last viable drive of the OT, the Eagles not going on 4th and one. In effect playing for a tie by punting. Unlike the Bengals who could settle for it, the Eagles season was lost with a tie. They needed a win to have any realistic chance in their tough division. But didn't play it as if their backs were to the wall, IMHO. I put much more blame on their coaches than McNabb. But both are inexcusable, especially when the ref explains exactly how the OT works before the coin toss. Hey, you're one for two in championships. Don't get greedy. (BTW, the Phillies manager is awesome.)— roboteer
- Comment removed.
- This is not one person's fault, there is no I in team. The eagles are not getting it done as a team. You all can blame McNabb all you want but I guarantee he will go to another city with big weapons and WIN!!! Then all of you haters will know how wonderful he really is. Do you think you can just dial up a QB!!! Some of you need to know the rules. Get a grip, I would like McNabb to stay in philly as the QB and not the unknown Kevin Cobb. It will take him at least 32 games to be considered a veteran player. That's another two YEARS!!!! Who wants to waits that long for a championship. Hire some talent to go along with McNabb and we'll have a SUPER BOWL!!!!!— belita
- nugget!! I AGREE WIT U. THESE R SOME DUMB PEEPS ON HERE.— fiddler
- does any of this matter? even if they won the game they'd still only be 6-4 and yet again in last place in the division. looking at the schedule i think they'll go 2-4 to finish and they'll end up 7-8-1. make the tie a win and it's another 8-8 season. sounds about right. the team has no running game, same WRs as last year except for the lone bright spot DJax. D-line is still undersized so we get run over by good teams. and most importantly, the team has no heart. i'd love nothing more than the Eagles to win a SB, but i'm a realist so i'm looking ahead to april's draft. hopefully they actually keep both 1st rounders. but i'll assume they trade out of the 1st again so i'm not disappointed.— sohagan28
- “We have enough talent on our football team to be very successful in this league,” he said." Great observation, Andy. Follow up question: "Then why aren't you?"— RichB
- He's an ignorant. He'll always be an ignorant. Of course he doesn't care or regret anything, that's a trademark of the ignorant. They don't know, they don't WANT to know, they don't have any sense of shame or embarrassment. It's all a part of what makes them ignorant slobs.— ANGRY MEL
