Do Eagles fans owe McNabb an apology?
One national columnist thinks Donovan McNabb had no reason to apologize to the city of Philadelphia. Instead, it should have been Eagles fans apologizing to him.
Do Eagles fans owe McNabb an apology?
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
I had Sportscenter on in the backgrond this morning when I noticed Donovan McNabb's name get mentioned.
Naturally, I turned the volume up just in time to hear ESPN's Rick Reilly criticize Eagles fans for their treatment of the former Birds' quarterback.
I looked for a video clip online, but couldn't find it. If anyone's got a link, please pass it along.
Reilly's piece was on sports apologies. He gave McNabb credit for offering a sincere apology to Philadelphia for not winning a Super Bowl during a recent radio interview, but went on to explain that it should have been the city doing the apologizing:
"That's like Conan apologizing to Jay. Does the salmon apologize to the bear? Ehlo apologizing to Jordan. If anything, Philadelphia oughta apologize to him. This is the city that booed him when he came, never thought he was good enough, never gave him a go-to receiver, until they gave him one he couldn't get away from and then traded him within the division for a little-known quarterback named Kevin Kolb, who in three years has a real chance to be the little-known quarterback Kevin Kolb. This is the way you treat a guy whose been nothing but nice, classy, maybe too classy."
I mentioned previously in this space that I was in D.C. last weekend for a family gathering and fielded many questions from friends and relatives about McNabb. Here are the major points I tried to get across to Redskins fans:
* For the Eagles, the decision to trade McNabb was more about Kolb than anything else. I'm not in the You can't win a Super Bowl with McNabb camp. If the Eagles didn't have Kolb, I truly believe they would have been fine pushing forward with McNabb. I think if you hooked Andy Reid up to a lie detector and asked him if he believed he could win a Super Bowl with McNabb, he'd say yes.
But they do have Kolb, and they've been grooming him for this moment. That's why the Eagles pulled the trigger on the trade.
* And then there's the topic I'm completely bored with, which relates to Reilly's rant: Was McNabb underappreciated here? By some - of course he was. But the notion that the group of fans who booed him when he was drafted represents the attitude of the entire fan base during his 11-year career here is absurd and tired.
And the notion that the fans had anything to do with McNabb not having a go-to receiver until Terrell Owens arrived is equally absurd.
The McNabb discussion is never going to die, but I'm not sure we're going to hear many new angles on the topic until both his and Kolb's careers are over.
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Dear McChoke............VOMIT— jibberjabber- How much money was the guy paid to play a game? How much did Philadelphia fans shell out each week (at home and away) to see him play that game? How many years was he the quarterback in Philadelphia? I'm not in the camp that thought he owed Philly fans an apology for not winning a Super Bowl: he was the key player on a Philadelphia offense that had plenty of success on a team that has had success - but not the ultimate prize - nearly every year he was in Philly. I don't think an apology from him was necessary for what he delivered or failed to deliver. But no one owes McNabb an apology. He's was a well-paid and well-supported player for the Eagles, that's the best he, or any sports performer can expect - more than that can and has been given to sports stars, but should never be expected. Will he be as loved by Philly as Ron Jaworski? In my opinion, no. Jaws never made himself the victim as much as McNabb, and others, have made him out to be. And that's why many people don't respect McNabb the way they respect Jaworski. Now maybe time will dim the memory of the "poor me" attitude McNabb put on too often while the Eagles' QB, but no one owes him anything.— Watching and Waiting
- I will apologize when I get a $120 million dollar contract. The most overrated, inaccurate passer in Eagles history. His numbers are deceptive because of the system he was in. Cant wait to see how well he does in DC. I think Kobb will have comparable numbers to Mcnabb when all is said and done.— Wise_Owl
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
Really. He is the one that was here for so long and could not bring philly a super bowl and Eagles fan supported him and gave him chances to bring philly that ring but he didn't. Joking around in the playoffs and playing an air guitar is not going to cut it. McNabb played around too much last year and thats why he will NEVER win a superbowl with the redskins or any other team. Redskins offensive line and receivers are terrible to start with not to add in there old and slow running backs. Maybee the Redskins get 7 or 8 wins this year if they are lucky because there not winning more than 8 games this year.— briandawkins20- Comment removed.
- McNabb got paid from the Eagles for 11 years, now he is getting paid from the 'skins. End of story.— DJax
In other words, Reiley wants us all to be Ed Rendell and root for the Redskins now....C'mon Eagles fans, let's face it, the Eagles never would have won all those Superbowls without Donovan, and....wait a minute....what exactly did McNabb do for us again and why am I apologizing???- Dear Donovan, I am sorry........that you were not good enough, but blamed everyone else on the team for not winning a Super Bowl.— chucksf
- I must say that I was moved by McNabb's apology. He seemed sincere in saying that he felt responsible for not bringing Philadelphia a championship. To state that type of sentiment takes courage and humility. I will always appreciate McNabb for bringing us a competitive team and tons of excitement over his tenure here. And I, for one, am sorry that we didn't fully show him the appreciation he deserved. I wish him the best in Washington, but not when he is playing our Eagles!
- Dear McWormburner Sorry you didn't get it done— Duck2late
- OK we have Carlos2, fatphilphan and others putting forth an apology to......a man that was paid to take abuse; a man that for 11 years did not do what he was bought here to do and a man that had all the skills and tools needed to win in 2004 and blew it....er, blew chunks!!! That's all you need to know about Donowhine McNagg. Apologize to him? I'd rather apologize to my neighbors for cheering him on all these many years for nothing and disturbing their peace! Now, where are the other McSoup apologists with their apologies to him? (TheKolbMachine.., DavezMental, etc....)
- Can the media give the McNabb subject a rest? Seriously. He is a decent QB and while in Philly never quite seemed to capitalize on the opportunities to clinch big games and cement his status as BEST EVER. No question: he gave his all for the Eagles. Was everyone his fan? No. Thats life: not everyone appreciates McNabb. He is a Redskin now. Eagles decided to go in a different direction. May the media follow McNabb to Washington DC...— Smashmouth
I agree that there are a small percentage of fans that have their own personal agenda, other than football, when criticizing McNabb. And I'll never understand that, and wish they didn't cheer the same team as me, but why should I apologize for them? I can see someone saying that those agenda fans owe McNabb an apology, (and maybe an apology to society in general), but again, in football terms, no apology is owed to anyone. Not from the fans, or from McNabb...and more importantly- Why doesn't ESPN just cut to the chase and create their own Anti-Philly Fan section on their website? They can hire Marcus Hayes as their regional coverage guy.
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