Thanks, Number Five
Whenever I think of Donovan McNabb, there is this image my mind conjures up. The date is December 30, 2000 and the then young, upstart Eagles are hosting the favored Tampa Bay Bucs and their ferocious defense in an NFC wild card game. It had snowed the night before and the air was frigid. The crowd was frenzied as the Eagles played their way to a 21-3 mauling of the shell shocked Bucs. There was a point in the game when the Eagles were at the Tampa Bay goal line. McNabb, a young football god, possessing a cannon for an arm and a set of legs that would leave the jocks of defenders scattered all over the gridirons of the NFL, walks up…swaggers up, really…to the line, looks into the teeth of that defense and smiles. That wide, joyful Donovan McNabb smile. At that point in time, that smile contained all the sunny possibility of double-digit wins per season, the humbling of hated rivals, personal football glory for McNabb himself and, of course, parades down Broad Street celebrating an ever-expanding trophy case filled with Lombardi’s. Looking at that confident smile on that day, you believed. You believed that, as an Eagles fan, your days wondering through the Stygian darkness of NFL purgatory were finally over.
And the last decade has proved a great one for the Eagles, thanks in no small part to Donovan McNabb: The Franchise, Donnie Mac, Mac 5. Game in and game out, his ability to use his legs and his arm to make something out of nothing was dazzling. The four TD passes he threw on a broken leg; Fourth and Twenty-Six; the Fourteen Second scramble are the stuff of legend and are indicative of his level of play with the Eagles from week to week. Part of the joy of being an Eagles fan over the last decade has been to see the bedeviled faces of Parcells, Gibbs, Spurrier, Coughlin, Fassel, Phillips and their respective defensive staffs and players, all at the hands of Number Five.
McNabb is the greatest quarterback in Eagles history. He is a six time Pro Bowler who holds the Eagles record for pass attempts, completions, yards passing and most passing touchdowns and led the team to five NFC Championship game appearances and an appearance in the Super Bowl. There are a lot of people who were not terribly fond of McNabb’s play at quarterback over the last decade. Those folks seem to have forgotten what it was like being an Eagles fan for the two decades before he arrived in Philly.
Of course, McNabb’s success has also been his curse. As he leaves Philadelphia, the one glaring hole in his resume is a Super Bowl victory. Right now, its what defines McNabb and the Eagles teams he has led over the past decade. Time, though, will lend perspective and he will end up as beloved and lionized as a guy like Jaworski.
My brother Paul and I were discussing the trade last night; discussing whether or not it was a good move for the Eagles. Defending the trade necessitates going into how McNabb lacks whatever it is that will get the Eagles that Lombardi. I’d rather not go into that right now. I’d rather just celebrate what the man did for the team and for the city of Philadelphia.
For a guy who has embraced change throughout his entire life, I’m a very nostalgic guy. Though I think it is the right move, I’m pretty saddened by this, because I’ve always liked McNabb as a player and as a person. Truth be told, I thought that McNabb’s benching against Baltimore a couple years back was the end of his career in Philly, so I’ve been prepared for this. Still, as I look at my McNabb bobblehead smiling at me on the desk, today’s a bit of a bummer.
I’ll save the reasons why I thought this was a good move for another blog. Today though, I’d just like to say “Thanks Donovan, “ for the thrills, for the success, for giving it your all to this team for the last eleven years. Keep smiling Donnie Mac, it looks good on you.
