Wrapping Up McNabb Trade Week
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Wrapping Up McNabb Trade Week
Les Bowen
Some final thoughts from the week the Eagles traded Donovan McNabb:
*I expect Donovan to start out gangbusters with the Redskins. He doesn’t want to admit it, but the fans’ frustrations and his own frustrations were an anvil around his neck these past several seasons, really ever since the Jeff Garcia year, an unsettled situation that morphed into the drafting of Kevin Kolb. Don needed this change as much as the Eagles did.
You might have noticed the way he threw himself into the ‘Skins offseason conditioning program. He only participated in that here if he was rehabbing a serious injury from the season before. His batteries are recharged; Donovan’s first month of the season is going to be lights out. After that, the reality of the Redskins’ wifty o-line and the fact that he really isn’t quite what he was five years ago – especially in sensing and sidestepping pass rush pressure -- will have a leveling effect. But brace yourself for a slew of premature boy-the-Eagles-sure-screwed-up stories from the national media.
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*If the Eagles do end up trading or releasing Michael Vick in the coming weeks, I would not be at all surprised to see Jeff Garcia return for a third stint in midnight green. I know he's tossed his helmet into the ring. Ideal guy to mentor Kolb.
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*I don’t put much credence into that “blocking Sam Bradford going to Washington” business, as a reason why the Birds traded with the Redskins. It comes from other GMs theorizing what the Eagles might have been thinking. Big leap from there to “this must have been what happened.” In this internet age, lots of media folks are eager to be Bob Beamon, if it helps their “brand.”
What I think happened: There weren’t that many really good offers, as April rolled around. The Redskins’ bid was pretty good, and Donovan liked the idea of going there. Other considerations might have dovetailed, but those were the two elements driving the deal, along with the fact that the Birds had decided they absolutely, positively needed to move on. I’m not sure they were quite at that point earlier in the offseason.
Speaking of which, very interesting and potentially damning to see an Andy Reid ally like Mike Holmgren imply the Eagles could have gotten more earlier in the process, before some of the suitors made other QB arrangements, based on indications the Birds initially wanted more than a second-rounder this year and something for later. But again: If Kolb leads the Eagles to a Super Bowl title, nobody will care what they got for McNabb.
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*Got a long, thoughtful email from a fan, contrasting Roy Kolb’s statements in my Thursday story with Sam McNabb’s talk this week of Donovan being resurrected on Easter, etc. The letter-writer felt Roy was a breath of fresh air.
I think Roy and Sam are good people. Both fathers did an excellent job raising their sons to be decent, responsible human beings. They are in different situations right now. If a time comes when the Eagles trade away Kevin Kolb, I doubt Roy will be any happier than Sam was.
In the toxic atmosphere that developed around Donovan here, Sam and Wilma took a fair amount of heat. I never thought they really deserved it. There is nothing obnoxious about appearing in a soup commerical, campaigning to raise funds to fight diabetes, or wanting to help young African-American quarterbacks; they are still a tiny minority in an NFL otherwise dominated by African-Americans. I think the McNabbs have always seen themselves as cultural warriors, and I think they mostly have fought the good fight.
That doesn’t mean they couldn’t be hard to take at times, such as with the Easter analogy. Sam delivered it to a national reporter Tuesday, after stiff-arming the Philadelphia media at the Redskins’ press conference introducing Donovan.
Covering the team, I didn’t find the McNabbs so overbearing – remember, I covered Eric Lindros’ entire career in Philadelphia, I know from overbearing. But I wish they could have been a little less tightly focused on fighting that cultural war, could have loosened up a little. (The same wish goes for their younger son.) It was frustrating that they weren't a little more discerning about who in the local media tried to be fair, and who just rode the tide of popular opinion. In their eyes, I think we were all the same malevolent, middle-aged white guy, intent on tearing down Donovan. They were not much for nuance. If somebody somewhere at your media outlet wrote or said or drew something they felt was a cheap shot, that was it for you. (In that sense, come to think of it, they WERE like the Lindros family.)
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*Rich Hofmann already wrote this, but I really don’t see why the Eagles are going to be terrible this year, as some folks seem to assume. I don’t think the 2010 Kolb is going to be a huge step down from the 2009 McNabb. If the o-line and defensive secondary come together, I would expect a winning season. Not the Super Bowl, but a winning season. In the NFL, youthful talent might make you erratic, but it shouldn’t make you incompetent.
That same sense of relief I expect to buoy McNabb in Washington will echo here; I think that was really what DeSean Jackson was trying to say the other day. I don’t believe he necessarily wanted Donovan gone, but I know he wanted this uncertain mess to be settled, once and for all. Lots of people did, yours truly included.
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*Maybe next week I can start thinking about the draft again?
no way redskins win superbowl,his performance in big games has diminished.eagles will win division this yr.so stop your whinning,your all beginning to sound like donny mac.its over,time for kolb get used to it.— merc22- Les thank for setting up the right expectations for Kolb and Eagles in 2010. Winning 11-5 team can not go to a loosing season with a 4th year QB. If they do, it will imply a mistake and if it continues for another year, a blunder has been made.— Seed
- Les: It would be very interesting to know if any other NFL HOF had similar background, HS and 2nd tier College career, like Kolb. Kolb's record of zero big wins at any stage of his career thus far make him part of a unique group of Romo and few other. Romo had no career as successfull QB until Cows groomed him and turned him into a fairly good QB at later part of his life (from NFL age perspective). I am aware of Warner, Young, Mooon, but they had success in early age and they could not find the right team in NFL until later in playing life. But Kolb, Romo, etc came into NFL with Zero success and now they are carrying a heavy load in NFL.— Seed
- First two predictions are good. Expect McNabb to come out great, then level off a little bit, but have a good season considering his line. If Vick is traded, Garcia is a real possibility. Not too interested in the elder Kolbs or McNabbs. Eagles won't be terrible, but the OL will probably be average and the D may be average, and that adds up to something between 6-10 and 10-6. Yeah, we have great skill players on offense. No one knows better than Andy Reid, who thought last year he'd set up a great OL, that skill players alone won't cut it. Injuries again will be a major factor, but even if healthy the remnants of 2009 injuries for guys like Stewart Bradley and Stacey Andrews will limit the Eagles. We won't be all that good. 2011, maybe.— tacklinjoe
- Excuse me, You say in this article..."There is nothing wrong with wanting to help young African-American quarterbacks; they are still a tiny minority in an NFL otherwise dominated by African-Americans". There is something very wrong with the notion of applying racial bias to these situations. There can never be real racial equality until people like you and others in the white media stop believing that any sort of racial bias is acceptable.
- Les, thanks for the insight, I always enjoy your articles and those of Paul and Rich, but where do we go to cast our gong to oust S.A. Smith?— bonnerlou
- Don't worry, readers. We're sure to be served next week with another round of daily, unrelenting McNabb stories from the Department of the Inane and Mundane (aka, Philly.com sportswriters). Like bugs to a light, they just can't save themselves.— birdseed
- there is lots of misinfo on fraud wolfs comments...1980 MVP was Brian Sipe, not Jaws..nice try..1980 was his best year of a very mediocre career...career numbers..28000 passing yards, 179 tds, 164 ints and an impressive 53.1% completion percentage...get it right agenda wolf..my man— Lonewolf10
- les, eric lindros parents were worst parents in sports history..never hire family as your agent...mcnabbs may have been annoying at times but nowhere near as coddling and disruptive as Lindros mom and dad...my man,— Lonewolf10
- Mcnabb winning a super bowl? I guess people like warpath85niraq forget how well he plays in big games. Now he has to do it with one of the worst O lines in football, a backfield that has three aging and underperforming veterns who haven't contributed to better teams with better o lines in two years and a WR corps that is a tenth as talented as the one he had in Philly. But it's ok national media and Redskins fans. Keep predicting big things. Reality will set in and you will all see what we've seen the last 10 years. Disapointment.— ynot716
- The only sad part in all of this is we'll continue to read about McNabb in philly papers for the next 5 years. He'll never go away... and Angelo will rant about him for the next 5 years... (HTML deleted)— Grazman
- Mcnabb will never win a super bowl.— eaglesman1
- I M Jim, McNabb was never the joke of the NFL. He was a great quarterback who basically stopped running after he broke his ankle and tore up his knee. He was great, but it was time for him to go since he just could not get it done here. don't discount what he did. Lonewolf, you are hysterical and insane. I cannot believe that you jumped off the Kolb bandwagon before he even has taken a snap as the starter. You are probably already looking for high schoolers who are playing, so after you cry about not drafting Tebow for the next 4 years until he finally gets a starting job and fails, you have someone else to immediately hitch your wagon to. you are a loon.
- You mean the McNabbs didn't trust white people? What a shame!!! You mean they were not willing to reach out to the evil white press that spreads lying filth to the public everyday??? What a discovery. Heres hoping that 5 does well with the Blackskins. Even against the Eagles.— philadelphiachild51
- yeah, if the OL and Secondary come together the Eagles will be good. I agree that QB is an upgrade, but it's a bit absurd to say they'll be better if they can upgrade OL and Secondary. You are talking about 3 cover guys and 3-4 lineman. And no depth in positions where injuries are certain. The draft is the long term salve, but hardly the 2010 cure.— jb99
