Dawkins on McNabb/T.O. spat: I tried
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Dawkins on McNabb/T.O. spat: I tried
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
With the start of the 2012 season about three months away, Donovan McNabb is still without a team. And with each passing day, at 35 years old, retirement seems like it might be the only option.
Terrell Owens, meanwhile, last caught a pass in the NFL in 2010. Last week, he managed to get himself kicked off of an IFL roster.
It was eight years ago that the pair teamed up to deliver the most memorable Eagles season of the Andy Reid era. McNabb completed 64 percent of his passes, while tossing 31 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. Owens caught 77 balls for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns, returning from injury and delivering a nine-catch, 122-yard performance in the Super Bowl.
But we all know what happened after that: One of the most famous break-ups in Philadelphia sports history. And Eagles great Brian Dawkins had a front-row seat.
Talking to Rich Eisen on his NFL Network podcast, Dawkins opened up about the McNabb-Owens spat. One of the greatest leaders in franchise history, he confirmed that he tried to play the role of mediator, but could never get through to both guys.
"I was in a place at that time that it didn't matter what it was," Dawkins said. "If it was something that was detrimental to the team, I wanted to be involved in it. If my hand was needed in it, I was going to be in it.
"What I tried to do was pull guys to the side, away from everybody, and just have conversations with them. 'What's going on? What's the deal? What can I do to help? This is what we need to do to get back on the winning track, and if I can assist in any way, let me know. Even if you don't let me know, this is what I'm willing to do. This is what we need to do in order for us to get this thing going in the right direction.'"
But apparently, Dawkins' words fell on deaf ears.
"The thing that you always want to do is get everybody in the room at the same time," he said. "That was never able to be done."
While Dawkins said he's at peace with his decision to retire, he admitted that his biggest disappointment was not winning a title for Philadelphia.
"At the end of the day, I knew what we needed to win football games, and we needed those two dudes to be on the same page," he said. "It was never able to get back there."
Asked if the spat tore the team apart, Dawkins said yes, to a degree.
"It's just division. Once you start having people questioning the direction of the team period, if everybody's not going in the same direction for whatever reason, there's going to be division, and you don't want division because you already got things going on with other teams."
Looking ahead, Dawkins did not sound surprised with the direction Owens' career has headed.
"I really hate the fact that it's continuing to go down this path because of other things that have come out previously about T.O.," he said. "One of the things that I always said is that when his talent was no longer of use to people, that the way that he treated some individuals could come back to haunt him. And hopefully it's not 100 percent going down that path, but it really is looking that way."
As for McNabb, Dawkins gave his former teammate a strong vote of support, recommending that a team take a chance on him one more time as a starting quarterback.
"With what he's doing this offseason, I believe it'll pay dividends," Dawkins said, adding that he was surprised by reports criticizing McNabb's work ethic with the Redskins and the Vikings.
"I've worked out with him," Dawkins said. "I would go down to Arizona and we would work out. Even during the season, when we were in Philadelphia, there would be a couple times a week when he was not doing his quarterback duties... that he would come in there and work out with myself, Trot. We would go in there and really get some good work in. And so, for anybody to question his work ethic, that surprised the heck out of me."
Discussing McNabb's weight gain, Dawkins said, "Donovan was always a guy whose weight was going to fluctuate from time to time. He's one of those individuals who can pick up weight like that, so he has to stay on top of things. I would see his weight fluctuate during the season from time to time, but it was no big deal."
Dawkins added that he understands the criticism of McNabb, but said now is the time to take a chance on him.
"For him to go into those two situations and come out the way that it came out, I see why everybody would question that. I see that," he said. "If there is a year that he's going to be able to show what he can truly do on the football field with a chip on his shoulder, it'll be this year. If a team was going to take a chance, it would be this year because of what he's doing off the field. If not, then, it is what it is."
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"If there is a year that he's going to be able to show what he can truly do on the football field with a chip on his shoulder, it'll be this year. " I seem to remember reading about that chip when he was traded by the Eagles. And that chip reappeared when he went to Minnesota. McNabbs run out of chips. Not one contending team wanted him at the end of last year, even though they needed a QB because of injuries. Devin Hester of Chicago basically said we don't want you. He wore out his welcome with his continued criticism of Mike Shanahan, a respected coach in the league, instead of just letting it go. NFL head coaches are a fraternity, and McNabb did wrong in his comments.
— watsonmr- Can we now all admit that the Eagles made a mistake when they traded McNabb. That he wasn't the sole reason that the Eagles didn't win the Superbowl. That it would have been better to sign McNabb for three years, and instead traded Vick and Kolb and drafted a QB instaed of Graham. And this year,with a real qb of the future and McNabb as back up, with a rebuilt defenses and some weapons on offense, we might have some hope for the future. Only flaw, andy's still here.— angrybear
- The only guy that T.O. will be on the same page with is IVERSON. Huge wastes of TALENT and MONEY. SAD.— phillygtown
- It never was about McNabb in a physical sense. He was sturdy, mobile, and had a strong arm. The real problem was with the intangibles. I suspect that the difficulties inherent in his low wonderlic score plagued his career. So it likely won't matter how good shape he gets in out in Arizona.— Kioto
- His low wonderlic? Are you kidding me?! McNabb has always been an intelligent QB - ran the West Coast offense to perfection, knew all the checks, and could read defenses. Some question his ability to get it done in the 4th quarter (I'm not one of those (and not interested in re-hashing that argument for the millionth time either), but I'm just saying), but that's not what the wonderlic measures. I'm sure Tim Couch, Cade McNown, and Akili Smith had great wonderlics - I can't believe you wrote that. — mx55
- this has to be the most moronic thing i ever heard about mcnabb. in fact marino (16) and mcnabb (14) both were held up as examples that the wonderlic isn't always indicative of a QB's field generalmanship. I guess you forgot about Marino huh??? Anyway Mcnabb's issue was never smarts and I'm not gonna rehash his talents in running the west-coast because it looks like (mx55) already spelled it out for you. Mcnabb's issue was not being 2-minute drill prepped, and throwing to a spot -which is a trust issue with your receiver talent. Funny how when T.O. got here Mcnabb at least attempted to do it, but 1 season with a receiver that is talented enough to be at that spot when you throw it does not a great QB make. I mean Reid and the various GMs fell down on the job by not drafting solid receivers (they didn't have to be stars) that had hands AND could run routes until Jason Avant -so SAD!!! — arrowmg
- people do have short memories. i can't stand T O,,,but i will admit that he was a major factor in getting the eagles to a 13 and 1 record before he was injured. just his presence on the field opened up lots of space for westbrook et al..thats what the writer meant. it didn't take a genius to see the eagles offence played at a higher level when he was in the line up. to bad he turned out to be a weirdo. the superbowl was lost because they left points on the field in the first half. and the d could not shut in down it the second half. or the patriots had good sideline video to use.— shmeds1
- and by the way.. the eagles played atlanta and minnesota, to get to the super bowl, and the offense including mcnabb was terrible without T O in the lineup, the defense won those two games against two average opponents. and mcnabb went home with a bucketfull of worms.— shmeds1
- Yeah great. Revisiting what was a pure media event 8 years ago, and giving it new meaningless life because Dawk is back with true locker room confessions. Great journalism. Keep it up. ENQUIRER beckons.— retzlaff
- shmeds...perfect. T.O's presence finally gave McNabb an NFL elite receiver and look how he responded. Unfortunately the childishness ensued and the team self destructed. Ratboy surely had something to do with that. It's long over though so rueing the past does not good except encourage ulcers.
Hindsight, you almost had an adult post there but as usual the childish finish ruined an otherwise intelligent remark. So close.— tpizza - @SheilKapada You are becoming as cynical as the rest of these losers at the National Inquirer yes and that is what this rag is becoming a gossip ridden, negative, vindictive trash can. I hope you are proud, you wonder why this rag went bankrupt before? Because of trash like this. I thought you and Tamri were journalist I see you are no different than the rest.— Blessed8251
- @SheilKapada You are becoming as cynical as the rest of these losers at the National Inquirer yes and that is what this rag is becoming a gossip ridden, negative, vindictive trash can. I hope you are proud, you wonder why this rag went bankrupt before? Because of trash like this. I thought you and Tamri were journalist I see you are no different than the rest.— Blessed8251
- T.O. was the Eagles best player in the Super Bowl -- if the rest of the team had played as well as him, they would have won— warbiscuit
- I'm reading a little revisionist history on this board. TO was absolutely the reason that offense was dominant in 2004. Remember our WR corp in '01, '02, and '03? How no one could get open during any of the playoff games? When TO went down, the Birds were 13-1. They didn't need him in either NFC playoff game...the defense handled the Vikings and Falcons with ease. And, his performance (while injured) in the SB was legendary. The guy was a horse's you-know-what, but for that one season, he was unfrigginstoppable.— vdstrading
- With Vick being so fragile it may not be a bad option Edwards and Kaflack I'am not sure, please no Vince Young.— angrywhtguy
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