Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb mentoring Florida State's EJ Manuel

Enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card by picking the first round of the NFL Draft: Play the Daily News' Draft Challenge. (Use promo code F73W.)

NEW YORK- E.J. Manuel met his idol, Donovan McNabb, 2 years ago through quarterback guru George Whitfield. McNabb, a versatile, star quarterback long ago at Syracuse, counseled Manuel on focusing on development at Florida State.

Manuel dined with McNabb on Tuesday night in New York, 2 days before Manuel will be drafted. McNabb advised Manuel on the challenges that await in the coming months and years.

Perhaps no player in draft history was welcomed to the NFL more rudely than McNabb, whose selection was roundly booed by two busloads of Eagles fans insistent that the team instead select troubled running back Ricky Williams. Perhaps no player in draft history proved as vocal a group of misguided fans wrong.

The Eagles may drop from the No. 4 slot and select Manuel. New Eagles coach Chip Kelly recruited him to play at Oregon, and the Birds worked him out at Florida State. Like McNabb, Manuel is an option QB who enters the league burdened with preconceptions about his abilities and limitations.

Thanks in part to McNabb's development, the abilities and limitations concerning Manuel generally are perceived to be colorblind some 14 years down the line, although Manuel sees things differently.

"They try to fit us all into the same category, as African-American quarterbacks," Manuel said, standing 30 yards from Geno Smith, who also is black and also carries questions about his suitability for a typical NFL attack. "We're always going to be compared to players similar to us. Donovan did a really good job. Cam Newton's having a great career. If people are going to continue to compare me to those guys, I'm doing something right."

The Eagles are intrigued by Manuel's 6-5, 237-pound frame, arm strength and athleticism, which recalls the Panthers' Newton and Colin Kaepernick, the mixed-race passer who took the 49ers to the Super Bowl. However, the question asked Wednesday pertained only to accuracy, footwork and familiarity with pro offenses - McNabb's bugaboos as a rookie, and beyond. Manuel introduced race into the conversation.

Yes, Manuel heard from McNabb about that unfortunate afternoon in 1999, when McNabb's mother cried at her son's embarrassment. "He said he still had a good time," Manuel said. "You don't want to let those things ruin your night."