Eagles' McGlynn talks about spitting as motivation

LANDOVER, Md. - Motivation comes in many forms for a professional football player. According to Eagles center Mike McGlynn, after his team's 59-28 dismantling of the Washington Redskins, the main motivation wore two burgundy-colored uniforms last night: No. 30 and No. 5.

No. 30 is safety LaRon Landry. McGlynn said it was Landry's attempt to intimidate Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson that prompted a pregame skirmish between the teams. He also says that Landry spit in his face during the game, twice. For his part, Landry denied the spitting.

And even before that, he said that it was Donovan McNabb's televised assertion after the last Eagles-Redskins game - that the Eagles made a mistake by trading him away - that lit a fire beneath No. 5's old teammates.

Where to begin?

With the expectoration.

"He spit in my face, and that really fired us all up," McGlynn said. "We were really looking to put the afterburners on them. It's good to see. We came out and scored 60 points, almost . . . We want to play the game with all the respect in the world. When people come out and disrespect you like that . . . I think there just has to be more respect for the game than that. That's just a terrible thing.

"We just looked at it as, 'Hey, keep pouring it on them,' " McGlynn said.

McGlynn said the first time Landry spit in his face, it was on the extra point that made it 21-0 in the first quarter. The second time, McGlynn said, came when the Eagles were running out the clock in the final 4 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Again, Landry denied it.

"When I would ever be in touch with the center?" he said. "I never blitz the 'A' gap. Still in all, when would I ever be in the 'A' gap? Extra points, I'm at the end. With that said, that's your answer.

"I don't know if they're trying to elevate a problem with no reason. The center, I keep my mouth shut about him."

Hours earlier, the Eagles already had noted Landry's number. It was because of what McGlynn saw as an attempt to intimidate Jackson - who, to be honest, said he was a friend of Landry's and didn't take it seriously. Landry said, "Me and DeSean was just talking. After we talked, I walked off and then I seen the whole crowd. We just talked. We always do that. Me and DJax, we [tight]."

That might be the case, but the rest of the Eagles team did not take it so lightly. And when Jackson burned Landry on the first play of the game for an 88-yard touchdown, McGlynn said there was a special delight.

"Basically, the guy came over and tried to intimidate us - it was 30 again," McGlynn said. "He said some things to our star player that he shouldn't have said. He got his. It's fine - he got his. He said it to DJack and you could see on that first play: He got his . . .

"He started it right there in the middle of the field. He came out when we were walking off. He was standing there with his helmet off, trying to taunt us and talk a little bit of junk to us. It was nice to put him in his place."

Finally, there was McNabb. After he received the game ball following the Redskins' win over the Eagles, a camera caught him saying, "Everybody makes mistakes in their lifetime and they made one."

"We got fired up," McGlynn said. "Donovan had said some things after they beat us that fired us up, saying how [the Eagles] made a terrible decision and everybody makes mistakes. I think we're happy where we are right now.

"He said some things after he beat us that were broadcast in Philadelphia, and I think that fueled the fire under us a little bit. We came out with a purpose tonight. It was good to see. It was good to see the way we played against him. It looked like we had a purpose out there."