Bill Conlin: Oh what should the Eagles do about Donovan McNabb?

WELCOME TO THE rubble of what Donovan McNabb considers an "outstanding" Eagles season. Hard hats are mandatory. Try to imagine the level of outrage if the phoniest 11-6 record in franchise history had been deemed "lousy" by the veteran quarterback with the upper body of Jeremiah Trotter and the accuracy of a Revolutionary War musket.

Three days after the

Baltimore Ravens proved you can pass for less than 100 yards and still blow out a team that never had lost a playoff game on its own frozen turf, 3 days after Kurt Warner, Aaron Rodgers and a bunch of trained seals masquerading as pass receivers put on a pitch-catch show for the ages, the thousands of blowout-numbed and morose loyalists who eat, sleep and bleed Eagles green are left with . . .

What? Anger? Yep. Incandescent, white hot, phone line-melting fury. The level of resentment stirred by the Eagles' bookend blowouts by a Cowboys team that was scarily better will linger through this cruel winter and deep into months that will feature another Andy Reid draft, minicamps and, finally, another steaming day when the lads unload their Escalades and Humvees and check into their Lehigh University Resort for another go at an NFL title they have not won since 1960, just after JFK became president. If you were born after Dec. 26 that year, you're well into middle age.

At noon Monday, Andy Reid presented his 17th and final serving of lukewarm, indigestible Father's Oats. Gag us with a Dave Spadaro apology.

It was not necessary for the winningest coach in Eagles history to field questions about his own future; that was assured by a 3-year contract extension bestowed by owner Jeffrey Lurie back when it appeared this flawed team might actually run deep into the playoffs.

But the hottest of many hot-button questions Reid must resolve - a white phosphorous issue right now and for a long while - is whether it is time to draw the curtain on the Donovan McNabb era?

Andy reiterated Monday that McNabb will be his quarterback next season. He did not, however, say he will be his starting quarterback. He pointed at the number of teams around the NFL who would be thrilled to have a Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb lining up behind center. McNabb, Vick and Kolb are under contract for 2010 and all are, therefore, tradeable.

So what do you do? Shop both Vick and McNabb? With all the crummy QBs populating the NFL's backwaters, it should not be terribly difficult to move one or both for a second- or third-round pick, or, perhaps better yet, package one with what will be the late-round Birds No. 1 pick and try to move more toward the middle of the draft, where linebackers and safeties could be had.

Do I think McNabb can still play? My answer is a qualified yes, the qualification being he needs to be in a system that can buy him more time than he received in the two Cowboys humiliations. The guy is just too big to have the escapeability he had weighing 225 and with more speed than Reid's halfbacks. What team needs a QB who can bench 450 pounds when an official NFL football weighs just 15 ounces?

Because Andy Reid always has insinuated that his version of the West Coast offense can be successful without great players at the skill positions, McNabb has never been what I call a "Troika quarterback." And what's a Troika QB?

Well, the San Francisco 49ers had Montana, Rice and Taylor. The Baltimore Colts of yore had Unitas, Berry and Orr. The Indianapolis Colts have had P. Manning, Wayne and Harrison. The Packers who won Super Bowl I had Starr, McGee and Dowler. The Eagles who won that long-ago 1960 title had Van Brocklin, McDonald and Retzlaff. The St. Louis Rams had Warner, Bruce and Holt. The Arizona Cardinals have Warner, Fitzgerald and Boldin.

You can go on and on with that. Most of the great Hall of Fame-level QBs of NFL history have had at least a tandem of brilliant receivers. When Paul Brown revolutionized football with the pro set featuring two wide receivers, Mac Speedie and Dante Lavelli made Otto Graham a household name.

In the Andy Reid era, the Eagles' QB Troika consists of . . . ? Go ahead, I'm waiting . . . OK, McNabb and Terrell Owens in the Super Bowl year?

Maybe DeSean Twocatch and Jeremy Maclin would have been that dynamite duo had they come along a few seasons earlier, when McNabb was still making his reads quickly and getting rid of the football. Maybe they will be the solid playmakers who carry the next guy to a Promised Land that has been as elusive for this franchise as it was for Moses.

Andy Reid has been wading through mounting unpopularity for years. He has commanded the town's respect for his work ethic and consistent records. But now, if the level of diatribe crackling over the airwaves is to be believed, the hurtful words arrowing through the blogisphere, Reid has stirred the level of discontent to the point where he will be to this generation of fans what Joe Kuharich was to the Jerry Wolman years, and what Rich Kotite was to the Norman Braman years.

That is some big-time rancor.

The Eagles have become a $1 billion industry since those sad-sacks were relieved of command. And no matter what perceived indignities this ownership inflicts, no matter who plays QB or coaches the team, you're not going anywhere. You are not burning your array of jerseys and other midnight green-and-white apparel.

They have put the hook in you forever. They can double the ticket price, but you'll still find a way to pay. You see, it's more than eight home games and two exhibitions and the tailgating experience and the road trips.

You are in their army now and they will never let you stop marching.

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