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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RICK REILLY?- I thought he retired? he is the moral majority of the Sports world- Rick- you jumped the sheark about 5 years ago....— Manny Trillo- Rick Reilly is a sissy looking for a reason to whine about a "victim". The vast majority of Eagles fans, myself included, greatly appreciated McNabb. Should I apologize for buying McNabb's Jersey?
Comment removed.- Tell you what....I'll apologize to McNabb after he apologizes to all his receivers for the balls thrown in the dirt, for the game ending/season ending interceptions, for the "we showed our youth" comment, for going out to Arizona every off season when he should have been in Philly working with his teammates. I could go on and on. To say a city should apologize to him after nearly everyone in tit and their mother bought a McNabb jersey is absurd. I'm more likely to apologize to water every time I'm about to drink it than I am to apologize to McNabb. The city was great to him for 11 years. Get over it. P.S. Let's see some more articles about Kolb killing wild boar with his bare hands and a knife.— rawl
- It will only take 3yrs to tell if #4 or #5 was the right choice for the superbowl job. I remember St. Louis running Kurt Warner out of town for Marc Bulger. See how that turned out huh? Hope we don't repeat that mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In short, yes, the fans should apologize for his treatment. You can make excuses and say that the fans who booed him on draft day represented a minority, but those fans are the face of Philadelphia fans. Until the supposed silent majority speaks up in condemnation of such boorish behavior, the fans here will continue to get a black eye, a probably deserved one.- Nobody owes anyone an apology. McNabb played his heart here for a decade and those that truly understand the game of football appreciate him for his effort. However, the vast majority of clowns that post here don't get it, blame him for the losses (sure, I could see how it could ALL be #5's fault) and probably won't ever understand how good we had it for 10 years until the Birds don't make the playoffs for 2 years. That being said, I think it was time to move on and I hope Kolb can be as good as McNabb was for as long.— jonnyb0916
- Why would anyone owe anybody an apology? DM was very well compensated for his time in Philly.— Rod72
- Move on, I say- move on. He is no longer an Eagle, so deal with it. Didn't win squat with him, might not win squat without him. Subconciously throws his teammates under the bus (read between the lines at his press conferences) yet poor, poor pitiful me.— mrjarn
- Comment removed.
- The sportsmedia misses the point. Eagles performed well in the McNabb era, but it wasn't just McNabb's team as they so often said. Off the field McNabb was a clown at best, and often a jerk. Always complaining and pointing fingers at everyone but himself. He never appreciated Andy's loyal support and complained bitterly when he was taken out for a half game. Regardless of whether Kolb performs well, its good he is gone.— ras#2
Sure make the "Dirty 30" (oh, and Rendell, who agreed with them) apologize for the draft booing. Make the morons who call into sports radio shows and spout hatred at McNabb apologize. The other million plus McNabb fans have no need. And by the way, players get traded. In the NFL, if is not an affront to get traded; it's the way the business works.— verve
"We" as passionate Iggles fans do not owe Donovan anything, nor he us. But smarmy WIPers-- especially Angela Cataldi, who organized a metaphorical lynch mob in 1999, and recently has spent hours on-air after Donovan was traded gloating as if he (Angela) was "right" all along-- should offer an apology to real Philly fans for polluting our airwaves almost every minute of every day they spew their frontrunning bile, which I feel reached its nadir with the way McNabb was treated by "them"(610), not us. Good luck Donovan, better luck Iggles!!!— Tempmike- Please give me $50 million dollars. In return I will take all the booes and snide comments. Heck I'll even wash your car while you call me a classless SOB. And in the end I will promise not to expect an apology.— MasterOFunk
- Dear Donovan, I am so so sorry.— Carlos2
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