They say you never know what you got till it's gone.
Donovan McNabb has always been a hot topic amongst fans in Philadelphia. I can't remember another athlete who had so many people just plain out hate them. Allen Iverson always said that your going to have a million people love you, and a million people hate you. For him, that probably wasn't true. Iverson, through all of his on and off the court up and downs, was always loved by this town. He was loved for his on the court hustle, and was loved by the youth for his off the court demeanor. While there were people who were not his biggest fan, over all he was loved by this city.
McNabb has never gotten to that level, and I don't understand why.
Philadelphia is a football town. It may have been red for a couple of months, but over the last 10 years, the city has bled nothing but green. Now, I understand that as the quarterback of a team, you open yourself up to the public criticism. But never have I seen one player been so hated after doing so much for this city.
Before we dive into the reasons people want McNabb out of town, lets look at some of the impressive stats that he has accomplished over his time in Philadelphia, excluding his rookie season:
* In 112 regular season games, McNabb has an impressive record of 71-35.
*The second best touchdown to interception ratio (2.1)---ever.
*Led the Eagles to the playoffs in 7 of his 9 years as quarterback
*Has never lost a first round playoff game
*Has more passing yards and touchdowns then any other Eagles quarterback ever
After looking at those numbers, why would people ever want to run him out of town? For years, he has kept the Eagles, the heart and soul of this town, relevant. Remember Bobby Hoying? Doug Peterson? Or, for people with short memories, Kevin Kolb?
People who criticize McNabb point to the same things: accuracy, injuries, his smug attitude, and his inability to win the big game. To those people, I think they need to look closer at McNabb's career a little closer.
* McNabb has started 30 of the last 32 Eagles games, and for his career, has started 85% of Eagles games played (since his was drafted)
*Has completed over 57 percent of his passes every year but 1 (his rookie year).
* McNabb is within 5 percentage points, in terms of career completion percentage, of all of these "elite" quarterbacks : Peyton Manning, Tom. Brady, Eli Manning, Tony Romo, Kurt Warner
* Dan Marino's completion percentage: 59.4. McNabb's? 58.9
* He has a higher career completion percentage then John Elway, and is 41rst overall in career completion percentage, out of 219 players.
* McNabb has only thrown over 10 interceptions in a season 4 times out of his 10 seasons. In contrast, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Mannin, Tony Romo and John Elway have all thrown over 10 interceptions all but 1 of the seasons they played.
* In 14 playoff games, McNabb is 9-5, for a winning percentage of 64. Compared to other quarterbacks, Peyton Manning (46%), Brett Favre (54%), and John Elway (63%), that is an impressive figure.
* Ok, he lost the Super Bowl. But that was 1 game, facing a dynasty team. And he did throw 3 interceptions, but he also threw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns.
So in comparison to other quarterbacks, its not fair to say he is a horribly inaccurate passer, or that he gets hurt all of the time. If he is a horrible passer, at a 58 percent completion, what does that make Elway? An awful passer? What does that make Joe Montana (63% comp.)? A marginal passer? Its not fair to slam McNabb for being inaccurate, then praise Manning, Elway, or Montana for being one of the best passers ever, when there completion numbers are comparable.
Also, to put into perspective how important it is to lead the league in completion percentage, guess who the all time leader is in completion percentage? Chad Pennington.
People will point to the game against the Cardinals, and point to the throws his missed. He did throw behind Hank Baskett on one play, a play in which Joe Buck, watching the replay, felt could have been a touchdown based on the yardage in front of him.
But Baskett still caught the ball.
And maybe if McNabb had the luxury of throwing to Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Plaxico Burress, Hines Ward, or Larry Fitzgerald, that play would not have been stopped just because it was not a perfect ball. People blame that fact that McNabb did not hit Baskett in complete stride, but what about all the bad throws Manning, Brady and Romo can make because of the skills of their receivers? McNabb is not afforded that same luxury. In his 1 season with Owens, McNabb had a completion percentage of 64%.
In terms of his attitude and on field demeanor, I understand that he can get under some peoples skin with laughing on the field. But would you rather have somebody like Eli Manning, who pouts and has the body language of a 5 year old. Ok, McNabb laughs. But did you see Kurt Warner yell at his offensive coordinator this past weekend?
I'm not going all Warren Sapp or Michael Strahan on the Philadelphia fans. I know that their are a lot of people who want McNabb to stay. And the people who don't, its fair to have your opinion on McNabb. I'm just saying, if you look at the facts and numbers, and what he has accomplished, there is no reason to want him to leave. None.
So to everyone who wants McNabb gone, have fun next season with Kevin Kolb at the helm. Have fun watching the Eagles win 4 maybe 5 games. Have fun watching Westbrook continue to wilt away, and have probably the last productive season ever mean absolutely nothing. But especially have fun watching McNabb light it up in Minnesota, Chicago, or wherever he ends up.
Because, like they say, you never know what you got till its gone.
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3 comments:
It's hard to argue with those #'s, and while there are a fair amount of people who will never like Mcnabb for a variety of reasons, for the most part I think the majority of fans in Philly do appreciate Donovan. Look if Donovan could ever put the friggin draft day episode behind him once and for all, even he would have to admit that for the first five years here in Philly, that guy could've run for mayor in this town. EVERYONE absolutely adored him. He single handedly put the team on his back and won alot of big games. He was loved as much as any player in this town in that time period.Now has he under performed in some big spots, SURE. Has he had alot of injury plagued seasons over the second half of his career here, YES. Unfortunately in the world of sports you are remembered for your most recent performances. And while there is plenty of blame to go around on this team, fair or unfair the Coach and the QB will always take the lions share when you lose big games. The only point i'll make is this: Philadelphia, contrary to popular belief, is not that difficult a city to play for. These fans relish toughness,tenacity emotion and effort. They want an athlete who wants to win worse than you want him to win, and they want to see emotion on the field! Ecstatic when you win and ready to bust some heads when you lose. Simply put a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. And there have been athlete's who will be beloved forever in this city because they had and have that general makeup. Guys like Larry Bowa. Pete Rose, Allen Iverson, Lenny Dykstra, Brian Dawkins, Seth Joyner, Charles Barkley. Great athlete's like Mike Schmidt and Donovan lead by example. They try and have tried to lead, but from the fans perspevtive have always remained somewhat of an enigma. Those 2 careers, Schmidt and Mcnabb, parallel one anothers pretty well. Schmidt finally has gotten his due since he's retired, but he had a long similiar struggle in this city. By the way Mcnabb's body language is not much better than Mannings when he's losing.He looks like he's sulking. A little more fire and emotion from Donovan would go a long way in this city embracing him. Quit taking the high road so much. If something pisses you off SAY SO. Take your share of the blame when things go wrong. That's what leaders do.Even when it's not your fault. And finally, hang around a little longer, cause your day is coming in Philly,Donovan and when it finally does comes and you do win that championship, the love that will finally be bestowed on you, from this city, will be like nothing you've ever experienced. You'll forget all about the draft. FINALLY!!
The NFL is a "what have you done for me lately" league.
So listing McNabb's career completetion percentage does nothing for me. Or how many wins he has? Or that he's never lost a 1st round playoff game.
I know what he is. He is a good, but not great QB who cannot get it done with the game on the line.
So what's the solution? I want to keep him because he is better than what we have on the bench, but it's on the coaches to surround him with better players, because after 10 years, his skills are maxed out. He can't do it alone or with average guys.
When he starts throwing the worm balls or throwing up or giggling while time ticks off the game clock, we need other players to step up around him and get us over the hump.
Bottom line: He's my QB, but he's only a piece of the puzzle, he's not the total answer.
Quarterbacks don't do it alone though. Everyone great QB has had a great WR. Unitas had Berry, Bradshaw had Stallworth and Swan, Montana had Rice, Young had Rice and TO, Aikman had Irvin, Manning has Harrison and Wayne. Marino never had an all time great at WR and he never won a Superbowl. Brady even before getting Moss still had Pro Bowlers in Deion Branch and Troy Brown. The point has been made and McNabb has carried this team offensively to the brink of greatness consistently... but they keep falling just short. No kidding! If Reid and Banner would just splurge and get him that legit #1 receiver Philly would have its ring by now. You can't expect McNabb to completely do everything himself. He needs some help. Look at Elway, he did it all himself but couldn't win the big one til he got a running game. Give #5 some tools to play with. We are so close, just make the all out effort to get this down Andy Reid.
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