Dawkins on McNabb/T.O. spat: I tried
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Dawkins on McNabb/T.O. spat: I tried
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Eagles great Brian Dawkins said he tried to mediate the Donovan McNabb/Terrell Owens spat. (Yong Kim/Staff file photo)
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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Comments (63)
McNabb's ego couldn't take a return trip to Philadelphia.— DAME- @bust6711- Jeff Garcia, really? You comment explains the prefix to your name, its a bust try again.— realtruth
- @mebphila- I made similar comments on another page. Some of these idiots needs to stop hating on McNabb the guy did the most he could with what was put around him at the time. If this kind of offensive grouping was put around him early in his career this team would have had numerous SBs, look what he did with less talent 5 NFC Championship appearances and 1 SB appearance. He was doing this while the likes of P. Manning was sitting home watching with the abundance of talent he was given. I agree with DAWK, if Philly could and would I say bring him back, its the only smart thing for them to do.— realtruth
- Forget McNabb as a backup; turn the page! If we need a better backup for an injury prone Vick-and I agree that we do-we'd be much better off with Jeff Garcia.— bust6711
- Why don't we bring back Rich Kotite too. These people have to be KNUCKLEHEAD Giants Fans. No way they are Eagles Fans writing these things. NO MORE THROW UP!!— chilenos
- --Charlie – “Did the Eagles forget to send you an Andy Reid action bobble-head doll or something?” Cause… this obsession you have with the man has manifested into a daily sickezoidal tick that you seem not to be able to kick.
Good luck with that dude – I know it’s got to be painful –A!
— Laughingaloud123 - I don't know why my previous post was removed but I'm going to continue to say that Donowhine McSlobb is an old fat has been! If we had TO and The Mike Vick Experience at the same time instead of having McNagg, a Super Bowl championship would be in the Eagles trophy case right now. BET ON IT!— Panthro2011
- Cant wait for Dawkins to come back to Philly as a coach!
Class guy— rpr333 - Until we get a depend. backup QB, (like Donovan) our season is 1 play short of a disaster. Why the birds spend so much on the team and refuse to find a quality backup is beyond me. We haven't had a decent one since Garcia.— MJSI
- Amazing how many people forget or simply ignore the fact that T.O. didn't play in the playoff games due to injury leading up to the superbow. But I'm always amazed to hear how many ex-players stand up for TO when anywhere he's played for more than one year he's blown up the team with selfish comments and actions. How is it Mcnabb's fault the way TO acted the second year, McNabb didn't sign T.O.'s contract or act as his agent? Westbrook was just as important or more important to the the team as T.O. or McNabb, and him being healthy for that playoff run vs previous years where he was hurt was one of the main reasons the Eagles made it to the Superbowl.— airbuzz
- The fact that the Eagles prefer anyone doesnt have the weight you think it should. Most of our team consists of guys were obtained through free agency. In other words yes we have a few guys that we drafted but most of our picks turn into BUSTS. So we over spend for players usually. A lighter mcnabb is a better option than both of these guys. I think his weight was a big issue and i personally always questioned his heart because he smilled a lot and every football player that i know never smiles during a game. I still dont understand why the Eagles didnt keep Garcia after that playoff run.— Yes_General
- Still sad to me that our leaders: Dawk, Trot, Runyon didn't kill TO every day in practice. Donovan turned into a baby a few years after that, but he was a star then without any receivers around him like we have now, He carried the team. They should have protected their man, TO was just a mercenary— Blue Hens Rule
- 2ndlong, thats the point. If your QB is struggling with throwing the ball, why would you make him throw the ball 55 times. resulting in 3 interceptions. You RUN THE BALL THERE and probably win the game, if they ran the ball. Thats on Reid and McNabb. But McNabb isnt calling for himself to throw an incomplete and run for his life every down, thats on Andy. So yes, it is on Andy, to the most critical degree, and its why he will NEVER, EVER win a Superbowl. NEVER. He will be lucky to win 1 playoff game as he stil has not won one playoff game since Jim Johnson died. GENIUS.— CharlieGarner25
- Kioto, I see what you are posting, but, I have to tell you, I never hear or read about quarterbacks who happen to be caucasian wonderlic scores given as a reason as to why they are not good at the position (fail). Matter of fact, I never hear about a caucasian football players wonderlic score brought up as a reason why they do not play football well outside of athletic prowess.— Eaglehaslanded
- The fact that the Eagles prefer Kafka and Edwards to back up Vick, and not McNabb, ought to be a hint to Donovan. OTOH I can't believe that, even in 2012, McNabb isn't a better option than either of those guys.
As for T.nO. -- pfffft. He and Jamal Lewis can bunk together and tell each other stories about what it's like to be ex-rich.— paolibulldog - cg25...I agree with you most of the time but it wasn't AR's game plan that lost the SB. McNabb had his career worst game and the Birds lost because of it. It was a typical McNabb gag.— 2ndNlong
- @mx55-You got to be kidding me. McNabb rarely ran the WC offense to perfection. He ran his way out of many missed reads. He was unable to grasp the offense in Washington. The truth about intelligence is that there are many very smart white AND black people and many black AND white people that very intellectually challenged. But in our politically correct country, there are only dumb white people.— Kioto
- "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."
no worries Dawk. The fans here are used to the teams not winning titles.
They will raise their Kool-Aid glasses high & toast you as "one of the best ever" and a "sure Hall of Famer".
Having never seen a team win a title, they think a division championship of a loss in the conference championship is the hallmark of a great team.
— ekw555 - McSlob is finished...get over it people...too fat, too slow, too inaccurate, too dumb, has been wanna be hanger on— SkipinWV
- If by "mediate" he means telling TO to STFU and play, then yes, he should've mediated that conflict. But I remember Trotter, for example, siding with T.O. and Dawkins acting as if McNabb and TO were equally to blame for the situation, which clearly wasn't the case. That entire situation was created by TO.— p-diddy
- I have to hand it to the fans who hate McNabb: it is pure, passionate hatred. So pure and passionate, in fact, that they can put McNabb a few rungs below an utter, cancerous tool like TO.— terp
- It is not hatred, just a reaction from the overhype of his skills. WHen he was young and ran the ball, he was like the 11th and 12th player on the field. Opposing defenses had to stay in man and McNabb reacted to whomever got open. WHen he stopped running and defenses could mix it up, McNabb's weaknesses were readilly visible. He had trouble reading zone coverages, throwing slant and timing routes and had poor touch on the ball. He was great when he was a running threat, below average in the pocket. Take away the screen passes, and his completion percentage probably would have been around 40%-50%. I for one got tired of hearing how great he was, especially later in his career when anyone watching the games knew otherwise. — chris_r
- T.O.: he's te best WR if he walked on the eagles now. Imagine if he played with Vick.— Tyrone Biggums
- As usual, Charlie Garner is an "expert." What an idiot. Rather than post basically the same thing again and again, why not go take a class in basic English grammar? It's brutal to watch you butcher the English language every time you post. There is never a positive word, either. You are a sad and pathetic person.— phillyinsd
- if the Eagles need anything to go right,it is to leave past ghosts,in the past.somewhat,i don't feel this team going backwards,but maybe..maybe McNabb,can be a second to Vick...didn't they try that??lol...T.O,i think his time is up.but he might a young team,trying to get a wideout,he could backup for a team.he just has too much baggage for the eagles to chance. would the front office even think of bringing these two back?....hmmm..lol..think about that one fans!— t_darb_56
- What's discussed in the locker room should remain in the locker room.— Dexter
- I hate to say I agree but I do...McNabb would be worth a look as our backup...— soalivetoday
- Why don't we just bring Rich Kotite back too, heck lets bring back fredEX while we are at it. I DON'T WANT TO SEE AN EAGLE THROW UP ON ANY FIELD ON LIVE TV ANY MORE!
— chilenos - I'll take BDawk's word on all of it!— JBinPA
- The real reason the Eagles made it to the SUPERBOWL was not because of T.O. It was because the opposing QB was Mike Vick.— Geno D
- Your comment should have been, "How I want to take the blame off of Vick for his poor play and blame Jackson." Look kid, when I was in college Journalism majors were the second dumbest students, barely ahead of the jocks, so how do you plan on fooling us. All great receivers have dropped balls, Even Jerry Rice. I still have the videos. The biggest impact on the 2011 Eagles was the 36 turnover by the offense, the 18 interception by Vick and the giving the other team six extra drives a game, whicxh no defense can overcome.. The killing part was when Reid sat Vick down for the hardest part of the schedule when Vick only had bruised rib. Roma played with broken ribs that punctured lungs and so did Brady. Reid knew if Vick had played and lost to the Giants, Pats amnd Seahawks both he and Vick would be done in philly. But with Vick on the bench, he could blame Young as if to say Vick could have beaten either of these teams. Everyone but Lurie knows that's a lie. We need a new owner.— mario1239
- the team played well. the coaches gameplan was stupid. it was a winnable game, Reid almost could have beaten bellichek maybe the only time of his career because he had the strongest team he had ever fielded that season, and he STILLS SCREWED IT UP. 55 passhes to 12 rushes. 55 to 12. Bellichek was around 50/50. probably 25-30 rushes. to Andys 55/12 80/20 predictable all-pass garbage that has never won a single superbowl in the history of PLANET EARTH. NEVER. HE SHOULD BE FIRED WITHIN 3 DAYS OF THE 2012 SEASON ENDING AFTER HE BLOWS ANOTHER PLAYOFF GAME OR ENTIRE SEASON. EITHER WAY HE WILL BE A LOSER AT THE END, LIKE ALWAYS. NEVER.— CharlieGarner25
- I wxpected Dawk to be totally honest and tell us the reason T.O. gave up on McNabb. His awful plaay in the laszt minute and 30 seconds of ther suoerbowl, which continued in 2005. Reid knew this but hped McNabb would get better. He didn't and he was force to trade McNabb after the 24-0 pasting in Dallas. But Dawk just played the party line, protecting McNabb.— mario1239
- With Vick being so fragile it may not be a bad option Edwards and Kaflack I'am not sure, please no Vince Young.— angrywhtguy
- 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
- 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
- @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
- 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 - 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- The only guy that T.O. will be on the same page with is IVERSON. Huge wastes of TALENT and MONEY. SAD.— phillygtown
- 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
- "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 - Bring back Donnie Mac!!! Perfect for the backup role!!— komplex2005
- come on, stop IT! — chilenos
- no Donkey. thats not really accurate. I was at the first game of the T.O. era...they crushed the Giants...he had like 3 touchdowns...he opened up everything in the offense similiar to how people always claim that Djax does, except he was 6'2 had size and strength and caught the tough catches as well. So if you think djax opens up anything T.O was x5. He made the entire offense and team better. Plus he had a swagger that rubbed off on a relatively boring team and gave them confidence. He was ONE OF THE BIGGEST REASONS they had the success they had that year flat out. and without him Adny Reid never had a season as good again, before, or after. Him missing two easy playoff games is inconsequential as they had the #2 defense as well. With him on the field they were possibly the best team in the league. But Andy screwed it up as usual with horrible playcalling and Bellichek got a 3rd superbowl. Andy is like 0-5 vs Bellichek. .380 vs all winning teams. total garbage.— CharlieGarner25
- Character is the important X factor after talent. Dawk had it and the other two didn't.— sacharok
- How can T.O. be the big reason the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl, when he missed the last two games of the regular season and all of the playoffs with a severe ankle sprain? He returned before expected to play a good game in the Super Bowl, but you got it backwards the Eagles got T.O. to the Super Bowl.— Donkey Punch
- Right, and, I might add they tended to cater to Owens ego by calling more plays intended to get him the ball and thus head off any possible verbal repercussions from him. They were just plain scared of, and intimidated by, Owens' belligerent persona. Prior to his return, they were purring along like the proverbial fine-tuned engine. — essell
- You haven't seen everything, The One - we still need to win a Super Bowl!— Mike in LA
Comment removed.- McNabb can step in but TO was a big reseason we made it to the superbowl. He's not an option for this team so who can Vick or McNabb throw the ball too and be confident they will step up. Plaxico is still out there not sure why the eagles are still waiting for him to sign somewhere else.— Yes_General
- The Eagles never won a playoff game that T.O. played in. So to say TO was a big reason why they got to the superbowl is a little off. TO didn't play in any playoff games besides the superbowl. The eagles team was very good that year, had like 12 pro bowlers, thats why they got to the superbowl. They would have been in the playoffs anyway if they didnt get him and he didnt play in the playoffs so conventional wisdom suggests that the eagles would have gone to the superbowl anyway.
That said, they should have gone to two more superbowls with or without TO. and if people checked their ego's at the door there's at at least one parade down broad street.— mundiff - I agree 101% with that statement mundiff. they beat both the Vikings and the Falcons in the playoffs WITHOUT Owens and had developed chemistry with Westbrook, Mitchell, Chad Lewis, L> J. Smith, and Lewis (Greg)who, ironically, broke his ankle catching a pass. Owens went down in week 15 after being horse-collared by that idiot Roy Williams. Mitchell (and his hands ) was doing just fine and in fact, delivered two (2) touchdowns receptions vs the Vikes during the playoffs. The return of the master egotist, Owens broke that chemistry and they couldn't pull off the SB wind vs the Patriots. I'll always believe that Reid's succumbing to Owens' egotistical belligerence contributed as much as anything to the Eagles defeat because, during Owens' absence, the Eagles tended to spread the ball around more thus getting valuable contributions from more players. — essell
- What meb?! Just because what you say makes sense..? Ummm... your right - lol... but not from me. I'll go a step further, our season goes well, but one of are safeties gets injured, what do we do, what do we do..?! Beautiful Sunday - enjoy all..!— highfive
- I know I'll get flambeed for this: McNabb is a brilliant option for the 2012 Eagles - as their backup QB. If he's in shape and Vick goes down for a lengthy stretch- I believe McNabb, knowing this offense, could step in- and be very effective. More so than Edwads or Kafka...just a thought, I know it won't happen, but it does make sense.— mebphila
- I think it makes sense. But I don't think McNabb accepts that his only option is a backup.
And unless he accepts that role, he will be a distraction to the team.— fmMD - stop it. — chilenos
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Sheil Kapadia is in his fifth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest
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