Five for Five
natehague
Kevin BurkettCan someone please explain to me why the Minnesota Vikings signed Donavan McNabb? The 12-year veteran and former Eagles quarterback is old and washed up and doesn’t have much left in the tank. In fact, since 2003, he’s only played all 16 games twice. You can look for that trend to continue in 2011. The Vikings will have at best, nine games from him, and that’s being generous.
Actually, my prediction is he'll play five games. Five games for No. five just sounds about right.
In my opinion, the guy is way overrated, and he’s simply not a smart player. After being in the league for an entire decade, he didn’t even know an NFL game could end in a tie. I’ve never played a down of professional football but I’ve always known that. How could he not?
His clock management is among the worst I’ve ever seen. Remember his appearance in the Super Bowl against the Patriots? Philly could have won if he had any sense of clock managing skills whatsoever, but he doesn’t and that’s why he’ll one day retire without ever having won the big one.
Between injuries and being benched, the guy is an overpaid athlete taking up space, and Washington fell for it last year, and Minnesota did this year. I just don’t get it. What was the selling point Minnesota? Was it the fact he’s old and he can replace another old quarterback? Is the age minimum to play now 35? Please, somebody shine some light on this issue. Maybe one day it will make sense, but I just don’t see that happening.
Kevin BurkettIf I’m ever proven wrong, that’s great, I’ll admit it, but as of right now, I’ve got as many Super Bowl rings as he does and I’ve always known a game can end in a tie.
This post originally appeared on thehaguesports.com. Check it out for more clever sports commentary.
Reader Comments (6)
I feel bad for McNabb and this is coming from a Giants fan. I have never seen an elite (though not quite Hall of Fame) player get thoroughly disrespected his entire career quite like McNabb has been. From getting booed by Philly fans at the draft, to the Rush Limbaugh comments, to the TO saga, to local philly athletes and politicans questioning his "blackness" to his being dumped to an inter-division rival to the embarrasment he had to suffer last year in Washington...it never ends. This is a guy who graduated college, carried himself with class, never got in trouble off the field for ANYTHING...he gets treated worse than a lepar.
I do think he was a tad overrated, but can we all admit that the Eagles rarely surrounded him with elite talent? One year they got him an elite receiver and he had a monster year in 2004...that is it. He did get this team to 4 other Conference Finals with marginal WR talent.
His clock management was not great but whole fault is that? Andy Reid deserves equal blame for never knowing when to call or hold his timeouts and challenges.
I feel like I have been defending McNabb since I have been born. He was a leader the whole time in Philadelphia. I think CJ was right, the Eagles gave the guy nothing to win with other than a great defense. He was the reason why we have had as much success in the decade as the Patriots in the amount of wins. He dominated the division and rarely had line in front of him that protected him. He played injured, he ran, he threw and he beat Dallas over and over.
Other than Brady and Manning, McNabb has been the most successful quarterback in the 21st century. He is a company man and I wish he would have demanded more from the organization. He deserves a better fate but his personality and determination is still there and should be respected. He competed in one of the toughest football towns in America and he won.
He is the best Eagles quarterback of all time. But you are right, Minnesota seems to be stuck in a time warp and McNabb should not go out like Favre. Good post to get the football started.
As an Eagles fan I can appreciate what McNabb did while he was here. He had years where he was accurate, could move the offense consistently, and his character off the field was admirable. However, it is undeniable that he just lost something towards his later years. He couldn't manage the clock at the end of the game, he had a hard time in the red zone, and he showed just a kind of nervousness during big games. Passes were rushed, thrown short, and he was no longer able to scramble like he did as a younger quarterback. He got crushed by the other teams' blitzes and became injury prone.
I like McNabb's personality, but I'm soooo glad I don't have to watch him any more. Those last few years were painful, because I knew he wasn't going to get much past one or two playoff rounds. Is it all his fault? Probably not. Andy Reid could have helped him out and actually established a run game. Did Belichick cheat during the superbowl? No doubt. But champions overcome these obstacles and get superbowl rings. That year with TO was McNabb's chance and he missed it. No matter how good his stats are, or how good his team is, that's McNabb's legacy that he can't escape. Unfortunately, without the ring, you are not an elite quarterback.
I hope McNabb gets on a good team, pulls an Elway, and gets that late career Superbowl win. Then he can be with the Mannings and Tom Bradys of the world. I'm just glad I don't have to risk seeing him try that path here. I can't watch him lose playoff games in Philly again. The coaching staff knew it was time for a change, and now we have an exciting quarterback to watch in Mike Vick (that's a whole different blog post). Even though his character is nowhere near McNabb's, at least he is fresh for the city and shows improvement instead of decline.
As for best quarterback in Eagles history, McNabb is still number two. Donovan might be the most prolific, but I take "best of all time" to mean the most winning quarterback. The won who reached the pinnacle of the game. It has to be Norm Van Brocklin. By 1960, he moved the team from first place when the Birds were dead last just two seasons before, threw his career high number of touchdowns, won the league MVP, and beat Vince Lombardi and the Packers for the NFL Championship. Talk about clutch and raising the levels of the players around you.
For all his longevity and productivity, I don't think those two things will ever be said with certainty about Donovan McNabb.
The fact is Philly doesn't like McNabb so reasons are invented as to why to not like him. Mostly things that don't even matter. The tie thing has been incredibly overstated. What difference does it make? Do we really need to bring up dumb things Vick has done? And yes McNabb has not won a superbowl. And yet it's completely his fault? Look at westbrooks numbers from that game. Why couldnt the defense make a timely stop? They played the patriots who were in the midst of a dynasty. They made Peyton manning look stupid. To critique mcnabb not being clutch is funny considering Vick threw an interception to end the game. All critiques on mcnabb are completely subjective and are more personal attacks than intelligent arguments. It's conventional wisdom at it's best. I don't know how a guy can be overrated if everyone is bashing him.
You also have as many rings as Marino, Tomlinson, Reid, Rivers, Palmer, Barry Sanders, Vick, Romo etc. If championships are everything than Manning=Dilfer
Good point about having as many rings as Marino and company.....There are so many factors in measuring the success of a quarterback and it's so subjective.