It began back in 1999, when the Eagles selected McNabb with the second overall pick, and the Philadelphia faithful immediately showered him with boo's and called for the heads of the team's upper management. The other player it seemed they wanted, happened to be the ever-popular Ricky Williams, from the University of Texas. The point of this post is to not compare the success between players the Eagles could have taken instead of McNabb, but to really question how and why Philadelphia was so quick to move on.
I chose to write about this topic today after I saw the most recent knock on McNabb, this time it came from former teammate, Desean Jackson. According to an ESPN.com article, Jackson had said he was, "very happy with the decision," as well as, "I don't think we lost anything, even with McNabb being gone."
So, Desean Jackson, who was a starter for the NFC pro-bowl team last year, finished a pretty solid year by grabbing 63 balls and finishing with nine touchdowns. In my opinion, with 63 catches, he established himself as more of a deep threat rather than a possession receiver, which led to big plays (7 TD's of 40+ yards). I think Jackson is a good player, but he's 5'8" and probably about 160 pounds. He is fast and elusive, but many of the reasons he was so successful is because of Donovan McNabb. As elusive as Jackson is as a quick and shifty receiver, McNabb avoided oncoming blitzes and tacklers with the best of them, leading to longer lasting plays that allowed Jackson to escape the coverage of the secondary. So, in essence, many of those plays that got Jackson recognized were a combination of both his talent, as well as McNabb's ability to keep a play going.
I think this upcoming year, when Kevin Kolb replaces McNabb, will be an interesting year for Jackson. Kolb has talent, and played very well for the Eagles last year when he got his chance, but he doesn't have the ability to stretch the play like McNabb, so Jackson will need to alter his game a bit. It's interesting to me how players like Jackson, who was clearly just standing up for his new teammate, was so quick to throw McNabb under the bus, just like everyone else in Philadelphia. As a New York Giants fan, McNabb was one of the better quarterbacks I've ever watched. He might have had some accuracy issues here and there, and was possibly a bit fragile, but when it came down to it, I hated to watch my team play against him. Unfortunately for me, I'll still have to watch my team play against him twice a year in Washington, and I feel the Redskins just made themselves a much better football team.
The bottom line, as I see it, is that a player who is a franchise's all-time leader in wins, passing completions, passing touchdowns, and passing yards deserves respect. Yet, time after time, after bringing Philadelphia to NFC Championship games and numerous playoff appearances, he has yet to see an ounce of that respect. Being forced out of Philadelphia so quickly after such a brilliant career there, was in no way the how I pictured the McNabb era ending. However, he's shown how thick his skin is over the years, taking criticism from all angles while still playing great football. A change in uniforms might be the best thing for McNabb, who perhaps will finally receive the recognition he deserves in Washington.
As we gear up for OTA's and look forward to the 2010 season, one thing is absolutely certain. McNabb's welcome-back to Philadelphia as the signal caller for the Washington Redskins in early October will present a familiar feeling, as he'll once again be showered with boo's.
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