The news came across the wire last week that Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins, for the 32nd pick in the 2nd round of this year's NFL draft, and a third or fourth round pick next year. This means that Donovan will be the starting quarterback of the Washington Redskins, with Jason Campbell backing him up (if he's not traded), and leaving the Philadelphia Eagles with Kevin Kolb as the starting QB and Michael Vick slotted in as the backup.
And I couldn't be happier.
Mind you, I'm not a fan of either team. While my father is a big Redskins fan, I'm a fan of the Patriots. Neither of these teams are competitors of my team or rivals or anything. That said, I have been a fan of McNabb for many years. I think he embodies what you want as a franchise QB. He's a very good to great quarterback, and as a person he's a wonderful asset to any team's locker room. And I'm ecstatic that he's finally shuffled loose his mortal coil that is the Philadelphia Eagles fans.
Ever since he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles back in 1999 as the second overall pick, he has been unappreciated and flat out disrespected by the fans, who actually booed him at the NFL Draft since they all wanted Texas running back Ricky Williams.
How'd Ricky's career turn out, huh?
McNabb faced down boos, and derisive comments from the very fans who you would expect to support him, and what had he done for the Eagles? Well, all he did was help give the Eagles fans four straight NFC East Conference Championships, helped take them to five NFC title games, and a Super Bowl appearance against the New England Patriots, the entire time rarely having anyone closely resembling a top shelf wide receiver.
McNabb set Eagles records for the most passing yards, most passing touchdowns, most single season completions, most single season yards, and most NFC championship appearances.
He has also set numerous NFL records including the fact that he is the LEAST intercepted QB (per pass attempts) of all time, and is one of only six QB's in NFL history to have over 25,000 passing yards and 3000 rushing yards, having the second best touchdown to interception ratio of all time (behind Tom Brady) and currently has the third highest winning percentage among active QB's (behind Peyton Manning and Tom Brady).
And in the face of all that, they boo McNabb mercilessly, and show him an astounding lack of respect or appreciation.
It's things like this that led me to realize that the Eagles fans don't deserve to have a future Hall of Fame QB like Donovan McNabb. McNabb is too good for them. They deserve to have Kevin freaking Kolb as their QB. They deserve to have some no-name QB who has barely had a cup of coffee in the NFL take over their team, with only Michael Vick, who is just getting his NFL career back as their backup.
And to be clear, all the Eagles fans aren't like that. There are some very good fans out there who are respectful and who are able to see things for how they are. Unfortunately those rational fans are the minority in Philly. The fans there are known as the "Philly Boo Birds" for a reason.
They booed Santa Clause, and cheered Michael Irvin's scary injury in which he was carried off the field on a stretcher with a neckbrace on.
The latest act of civic embarrassment unfolded during the Philadelphia Eagles' 13-10 victory over the Cowboys.
The 33-year-old Irvin landed awkwardly on his head after catching a pass from Troy Aikman in the first quarter. He lay motionless on the artificial turf for nearly 20 minutes while medical staff attended to him.
Many fans in the crowd of 66,669 cheered when they realized Irvin was hurt, and again when paramedics wheeled a stretcher onto the field. Many also cheered respectfully when he was placed in an ambulance, but the damage was done.
"Some people need to grow up and find some inner peace, because there is no peace in watching somebody suffer," said Irvin's teammate, Emmitt Smith.
"This, in terms of bad taste, was as bad as it gets," said Mayor Edward Rendell, an avid sports fan.
I'm not saying you have to approve of every mistake a QB makes or anything, but at a certain point you need to know when to sit down and shut up and appreciate just what a great player you have. Excuse me, HAD. As in PAST TENSE.
Now the Washington Redskins have McNabb, and ironically enough, they don't exactly have world beaters as their wide receivers, which is always the thing that McNabb supporters point out about his time in Philly.
The Redskins need to address several points of concern in the NFL draft this year. They need to get a solid WR or two, and definitely improve their offensive line. They have three average to really good running backs now with Willie Parker, Clinton Portis and Larry Johnson, so if they can add a couple decent options at wide receiver, that could help McNabb a lot.
I wish Donovan McNabb all the luck in the world, and I hope they meet up and just throttle the Eagles in Philly. Then maybe the Eagles fans will start to realize just who they ran out of town.
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