Posted: Monday, January 26, 2009, 11:24 PM | 54 comments |
 

Banner: We can win with Reid, McNabb
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Following the Eagles' NFC championship loss to the Cardinals, Joe Banner raised some eyebrows with his comments about Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid.

"What do they say? If you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result, you're kind of kidding yourself," Banner told Comcast SportsNet's Derrick Gunn after the game.

Today, in an interview with CSN's Michael Barkann, Banner clarified his comments.

"I still think my answer was unambiguous but for the first time in all the years I’m here, somebody interpreting differently than I meant (laugh), so we thought that it was important to clarify it because you don’t want those things to take on a life," Banner said. "And the reality is my view and our view is unambiguous. We can win a championship with those people and they will be back and I’ve gone on to say we believe we’re very lucky to have them."

Banner was also asked about McNabb's desire to sit down with management in the offseason and possibly discuss a contract extension.

"We’re not gonna -- as we have always done -- talk about what we’re gonna do and not do publicly with contracts," Banner said. "But we’re obviously more than happy to sit down with Donovan and discuss or address any issue he wants. That’s not unusual. It’s probably unusual that he discussed it publicly but it’s not unusual for Andy to talk to Donovan or us to talk to Donovan. He’s a special player and been a huge part of our success and more than happy to do that."

Banner was asked a follow-up question about the perception that McNabb can't get over the hump and doesn't come through in clutch situations.

"We all know the only way we can end that conversation is to win the Super Bowl. And that’s legitimate," Banner said. "It’s a fair criticism. It’s a fair question, but until we win a Super Bowl...we know that’s what we gotta do. My own view is that to have even gotten to where we’ve gotten to, we had to win an awful lot of big games and I don’t care if he scores on the last drive of the game and that’s how we win or he scored on the first three drives of the game and that’s how we won. To me it doesn’t matter. We have to have won an awful lot of games. He had to have played well in a lot of important games. Andy had to have coached well in a lot of important games for us to have gotten to this many games. But our ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl. Their ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl. And they know the only way to prove that that criticism is isolated but inaccurate is to get on the field and prove it."
Posted by Sheil Kapadia @ 11:24 PM  Permalink | 54 comments
54
Comments   
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:16 AM, 01/27/2009
    Three stooges! Laurie, Banner and Reid
    — losteagle
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:26 AM, 01/27/2009
    Banner.......10 years no super bowl win, how do you rate success!
    — denver2006
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:25 AM, 01/27/2009
    imagine some executive in 1990's Denver saying "i dont care if Elway scores on the last drive of the game."
    — jb99
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:36 AM, 01/27/2009
    If Elway had the defense McNabb had, he would have won multiple super bowls in the late 80s and early 90s.
    — psu05
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:26 AM, 01/27/2009
    Lurie is a GREAT owner...we are lucky to have him!
    — JBP
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:42 AM, 01/27/2009
    Banner's answer to the "clutch situations" question about McNabb is actually pretty revealing. He calls it "legitimate" and a "fair question" that McNabb can only answer by winning a Super Bowl. I take that to mean that those of us who have questioned McNabb's ability to win the big one have been right -- Banner does, too.
    — Dave Clemens
  • Comment removed.
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:12 AM, 01/27/2009
    "We can win a championship with those people...". Ok - I give, when will that happen?
    — urkidnmepal
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:13 AM, 01/27/2009
    The racist strikes again! Give McNabb some weapons, and the Eagles will win, and we won't have to read remarks from George Wallace - I mean - lonewolf.
    — madaboutit
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:15 AM, 01/27/2009
    In other words Elway choked so much because he did not have Mcnabb's defense.
    — mongoS
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:19 AM, 01/27/2009
    Can you say get TJ Whosyomomma????? and re-sign and use Buck a little more?
    — nizzies
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:30 AM, 01/27/2009
    Mc Softie is the only QB in the league with 10 years exp that is not capable of ever leading his team on a game winning drive in the last 3 minutes of a half or game. Its a joke. I saw Matt Cassel score 2 TD at the end of each half at the NY Jets late in the season with less than 30 sec each time and this is his first year starting since he was in high school. Wake up people!
    — blancohawke


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About Sheil Kapadia
Sheil Kapadia is in his fourth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with his Dad. He's not a beat writer or an Insider, but is here to discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or by clicking here

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