“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 him.
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 as a starter, McNabb has an impressive record of 80-41-1
*The third best touchdown to interception ratio (2.1)—ever.
*Led the Eagles to the playoffs in 8 of his 10 years as quarterback
*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.
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 at McNabb’s career a little closer.
* McNabb has started 44 of the last 48 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 and Drew Brees
* 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 5 times out of his 10 seasons. In contrast, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Tony Romo and John Elway all threw over 10 interceptions in all but 1 of the seasons they played.
* In 15 playoff games, McNabb is 9-6, for a winning percentage of 60. 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 quarterbacks ever, when there completion numbers are comparable.
Maybe if McNabb had the luxury of throwing to Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Hines Ward, or Larry Fitzgerald for most of his career, his career completion percentage would be higher. McNabb is not afforded that same luxury. In his 1 season with Owens, McNabb had a completion percentage of 64%, 3 points lower then Peyton Mannings best season ever in terms of completion percentage.
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.
Numbers are not everything in sports, and there’s no doubt that at times McNabb misses throws he should have made. But for all of his problems with putting touch on his passes and not hitting the ground, his ability has a passer has led him to the same winning percentage (66) as Peyton Manning, who is considered the best passer of this generation.
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 he has never chewed out one of his team mates or coordinators on the field like other players have in this league.
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.
The only rational reason to move McNabb is because his trade value will only get lower from here. But no fan who knows anything about football can say the Eagles have a better chance to win the Super Bowl in the next 3 years with Kolb. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
So to everyone who wants McNabb gone, have fun next season with Kevin Kolb at the helm. Lets hope his 2 games against the Saints and Chiefs were signs of what’s to come. Everyone loves the back up quarterback. While Kolb did throw over 300 yards in both games, he also threw a costly interception in the Saints game and lit up a bad Chiefs team.
If the Eagles move McNabb to please the fans and Kolb dosnt work out, next season could be ugly. The defense is not ready to carry this team. DeSean Jackson does not strike me as the type to put up with a bad season from a quarterback. And this offensive line and running game are not ready to support the mistakes that a quarterback usually makes in his first season as a starter.
So before you chase McNabb out of town, think about what you have right now. Because, like they say, you never know what you got till its gone.
