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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Perhaps it is the burden of being the Eagles quarterback, perhaps it is the unique plight of Donovan McNabb, but whenever an issue emerges on the Philadelphia sports scene, no matter the sport, McNabb is asked to weigh in.

So, it came as no surprise when McNabb was asked about Jimmy Rollins' recent comments during the quarterback's news conference Monday at the NovaCare Complex.

You might have read elsewhere that Rollins called the fans "front-runners" and then later said the Phillies could benefit from more support and less booing.

Here was McNabb's take on the situation: “When a question is asked, you answer it and you try to answer it correctly. That’s the way he felt and he expressed that. Some people can’t take it; some people don’t understand what he’s talking about. He has never backed down from what he said. People laughed at him when he said they would win the NL East and then as the season continued on, everybody started getting excited about it. Jimmy is a good friend of mine; it’s sad that he has to go through something like this, but I’m sure he’ll pull himself out of it and they will get that win streak and hopefully be in the World Series.”

Posted by Daily News staff @ 6:57 AM  Permalink | 23 comments
23
Comments   
Posted 06:37 AM, 08/19/2008
lawrence2465
Rollins didn't mean "front runners" he meant we only support our teams when they aren't winning .Not true .We bleed Eagle green phillie red and only boo when we FEEL team not working hard enough or playing smart.That is knowledge of games and how they need to be played and when summon can't lay down a bunt ,or swings at a 2-0 pitch when we need base runners that's selfish and lack of understanding on players part.when relief pitcher comes in with a 2 run lead and walks the first hitter that's just stupid baseball.At 60 years old I'm clear that we are the most knowledgeable fans on the planet who boo when individuals or teams are not playing intelligently. Rollins feels we are hurting his teamates chances by booing and often it's not the indivdual but the manager who we're booing leaving a certain player in when in our opinion he has better on the bench .I like Ruiz and Coste much better hitter so fans boo Ruiz not because they don't like him but Coste whom most of us want in line-up is not playing .It doesn't help that Ruiz is hitting 215 but our venom has usually been saved for coaches such as "goodbye Joe" for old Eagles coach and booing at Eagles games is at offense ,poor play calling ,dropped passes lousy preparation and still getting so close to winning it all. Players like Schmidt ,McNabb ,T.O, Richie Allen,and others have had fans personally dislike their attitudes and Philly fans will always let their opinions known.Rollins needs to say sorry used wrong phrase and as he admitted we are there every game whether winning or losing.LG
Posted 08:06 AM, 08/19/2008
Dierte
so you want him to say "No comment" next time he's interviewed LOL? So you jabronis can bash him even more...get a life. Yea having a degree from Cuse is something to be ashamed of, unlike your degree from RACC.
Posted 08:23 AM, 08/19/2008
lalaw9833
Hey LOL, I think Donovan has enough experience dealing with the idiots in this town - such as yourself - to make an educated comment on the situation. Being that you are not a subjuct-matter expert, you could stand to STFU!!!
Posted 08:30 AM, 08/19/2008
P.H.I
Jimmy said what he said. 1.So what,it's not like he wasn't telling truth. 2.It's old now 3.Move on.
Posted 08:36 AM, 08/19/2008
joedugan
jabronis? What is that?
Posted 08:40 AM, 08/19/2008
Bama
I agree with LOL. McNabb basically just said he agreed with Rollins' very unpopular statement (Some people can't take it...?). So now he expects the fans to warm up to him? He's been negative on the Philly fans himself ever since they booed the '99 draft.
Posted 09:17 AM, 08/19/2008
tuckahoephils
Bama and LOL, it's fans like you that give Philly a bad name. You are that vocal minority that yells loud enough to try and get attention for yourselves, but only embarresses everyone associated with you. Get a life.
Posted 09:20 AM, 08/19/2008
Th@tdude
Bama how has McNabb been negative by keeping it real or by leading us to some of our most memorible moments in recent eagles history. I know we as fans definitely don't want to go back to the way things were before MC and Reid arrived.So speaking on behalf of all philly die hard fans we'll negative comments about our booing just as long as u produce on gameday
Posted 09:30 AM, 08/19/2008
EagleRob
Bama, could it be that the (some) of the Philly fans have been uber negative towards him. They were booing him at training camp. If anyone has the right to criticize the fans... its McNabb.
Posted 09:30 AM, 08/19/2008
EagleRob
Bama, could it be that the (some) of the Philly fans have been uber negative towards him. They were booing him at training camp. If anyone has the right to criticize the fans... its McNabb.
Posted 09:37 AM, 08/19/2008
chgtown
I think that the booing does get out of hand at times;but with that said I think Philly fans appreciate effort. We just want to feel that players,coaches and management wants to win as badly as we want them to win. If you look at recent Philadelphia sports history;that doesn't seem to be the case. I think the booing is frustration.
Posted 09:50 AM, 08/19/2008
coatesvillain
Really? People are getting riled over this? He's basically saying that Jimmy said what he feels and people jumping on him can't relate to where Jimmy's coming from. People are looking for a 'no comment'? Donovan answered this like a politician with an absolute non answer.
Posted 09:53 AM, 08/19/2008
G$Money
Maybe Rollins is that wide receiver the Eagles have been looking for??
Posted 10:07 AM, 08/19/2008
ACBaughman
When was the last time we were in front in anything? How can we be front runners when we are never up front?
Posted 10:12 AM, 08/19/2008
EagleRob
People have booed J-Roll, because he seems to have dogged it on plays. How about Dmac? Does he seem to not give "effort" while on the field. Nothing about him makes me believe he deosn't give 100 percent on out there, and yet he is still booed.
Posted 10:45 AM, 08/19/2008
LongtimeFan3
For the record: I am huge McNabb fan. with that said...Hey #5....worry about football
Posted 11:38 AM, 08/19/2008
lakebill
McNabb should know about people who can't take it. He has to look in the mirror every day!
Posted 01:19 PM, 08/19/2008
Ted Washington
Are you guys REALLY as petty as you pretend to be? STFU? Grow up. You want to be able to speak YOUR mind, but if one of our athletes who works pretty hard at supporting our teams and trying to bring a CHAMPIONSHIP to Philly speaks his...he just gets DEFECATED on. Way to go FANS!!!!
Posted 02:19 PM, 08/19/2008
stop2think
"It's sad that he has to go through something like this"? Yea, I hate when people pull the string at the back of my neck and speak for me when my mouth opens. Happens all the time. Whoa is me.
Posted 05:31 PM, 08/19/2008
tornadoh
Remember the game during the 06 season when the Iggles lost by 2 points, I think it was the Titans, and McNabb made a stupid pass to LJ Smith and he was tackled at the one yard line as time expired in the 1st half so they ended up with zero points when they should have at least got 3 and maybe won the game? Am I suppossed to cheer the wasted time outs that led to that, or the idoocy of not throwing into the end zone or throwing it away so a field goal could be salvaged? Either we as die hard fans get to express our dissatisfaction with inferior effort, lack of discipline, etc. or they might as well not keep score and just give participation trophies to all the players so their feelings don't get hurt like they do with 6 year old T-ballers.
Posted 03:26 AM, 08/20/2008
JimG
It's sad that the sports media has gotten to the point where we all spend more time talking about what athletes say off the field than what they do on the field. Why is McNabb even being asked this question? Who cares? The sports media goes around asking athletes these stupid, loaded questions trying to create controversies and then they run home and write ridiculous articles where they painstakingly overanalyze every word that was said and they "read between the lines". They create an entire "story" out of a one line quote. Who the heck cares? I wouldn't mind if athletes just said "no comment" or "that's a stupid question, I'm not answering it" to these nonsense questions. Give them a Bill Parcels response when they ask these stupid questions. Then, maybe they'd actually start doing some research and writing some real stories about the teams and athletes.
Posted 10:45 AM, 08/20/2008
crustymcd
McNabb is the most intelligent and classy guy in the league, in addition to being the best QB we ever had. Rollins was trying to be insightful but ended up saying something stupid. If there are any fans that are not "frontrunners" it is Philly fans. We have supported our losing teams more than other cities have supported winning teams. Rollins is having a tough year and he said something stupid out of frustration.
Posted 10:48 AM, 08/20/2008
crustymcd
McNabb is the most intelligent and classy guy in the league, in addition to being the best QB we ever had. Rollins was trying to be insightful but ended up saying something stupid. If there are any fans that are not "frontrunners" it is Philly fans. We have supported our losing teams more than other cities have supported winning teams. Rollins is having a tough year and he said something stupid out of frustration.
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Les BowenLes Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.

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Paul DomowitchPaul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.