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In 1999, Reid, the Eagles' rookie coach whose top experience was as quarterbacks coach of the Green Bay Packers, had options about choosing his own Brett Favre.
While the expansion Cleveland Browns had the first overall pick and took Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch, every indication is that the Birds got just whom they wanted at No. 2 in McNabb, who had starred at Syracuse University.
It was the right choice.
From a quarterback class that had been compared to the great Elway-Marino-Kelly Class of 1983, only McNabb has lived up to expectations.
Still, in all honesty, for all of its decadelong success, it looked as if the Reid/McNabb era would end without that final golden stamp on the resume.
When the Eagles slumped to 5-5-1 after that disastrous loss on Nov. 23 in Baltimore, lowlighted by Reid's benching of McNabb in favor of heir apparent Kevin Kolb, it seemed the final cord had been cut.
It hadn't.
"I would like to address the quarterback situation right off," Reid said the next day, ending speculation on McNabb's immediate future. "Donovan McNabb will be our starting quarterback for the Arizona game on Thursday.
"I mentioned this yesterday, that sometimes you have to take a step back to step forward in a positive way, and Donovan will do that.
"He'll work through this. I have confidence that he'll work through it."
Rarely has a public admission of trust been so greatly rewarded.
Since returning from the infamous benching, McNabb has played as well as any quarterback in the NFL.
His elevated play helped the Eagles to a 4-1 finish and a miracle postseason bid. And now, after victories at Minnesota and the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, Reid and McNabb are back at a familiar precipice - a fifth NFC Championship Game.
Legacies and possibly football immortality in Canton, Ohio, are at stake for Reid and McNabb if they can take this improbable journey to the ultimate conclusion.
Nothing makes a Hall of Fame resume shine brighter than the title of "Super Bowl champion" - it is the bright, red A-plus at the top of the paper.
From the "modern era of football," defined as players who played primarily after 1946, 23 quarterbacks are in the Hall.
Only seven - Dan Fouts, Sonny Jurgensen, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton and Y.A. Tittle - did not win championships as starting quarterbacks in the NFL or American Football League.
Becoming a champion could be the deciding point in whether McNabb makes the Hall of Fame.
With a little less than 30,000 career passing yards and 194 touchdowns through the first 10 years of his career, McNabb will not likely accumulate the crazy statistics that earned Marino (61,361 yards, 420 touchdowns), Fouts (43,040 yards, 254 TDs), Moon (49,325 yards, 291 TDs) or Tarkenton (47,003 yards, 342 TDs) induction.
But add a Super Bowl ring and suddenly a quarterback with nice career statistics turns into a Hall of Famer.
If you took away their Super Bowl rings, Troy Aikman (32,942 yards, 165 TDs), Joe Namath (27,663 yards, 173 TDs, 220 interceptions) and Steve Young (33,124 yards, 232 TDs) have borderline credentials to be in Canton.
That's where McNabb stands - on the borderline.
When he becomes eligible, McNabb will be compared mostly with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, and both those quarterbacks won Super Bowls.
McNabb could end up like Kelly (35,467 yards, 237 TDs) or Jurgensen (32,224 yards, 255 TDs), whose intangibles offset their lack of a ring.
But the championship makes things so much clearer.
Grading Hall of Fame coaches is a bit trickier.
Reid has a career record of 107-68-1, including playoffs, and has made the playoffs in seven of his 10 seasons as a head coach.
With the exceptions of Don Shula (347 wins), Tom Landry (270) and Chuck Noll (209), Reid is within striking distance of every modern-era coach in the Hall.
Reid already has more wins than any coach in Eagles history, including Hall of Famer Earle "Greasy" Neale.
But Neale won back-to-back NFL titles in 1948 and '49, and of the 21 coaches in the Hall, only George Allen, Bud Grant and Marv Levy did not win NFL or AFL titles.
Of the contemporary coaches seemingly destined for the Hall of Fame, Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, Bill Cowher, Tom Coughlin, Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan have won Super Bowls.
Reid, Marty Schottenheimer, Dan Reeves and Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher are the most prominent potential Hall of Famers who have not won a Super Bowl.
In the end, both Reid and McNabb could be inducted into the Hall of Fame without winning a championship.
Still, the path to Canton is much surer with a Super Bowl ring. To the surprise of many, Reid and McNabb still have the opportunity to win a championship together. *
Send e-mail to smallwj@phillynews.com.
For recent columns, go to http://go.philly.com/smallwood.
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