Donovan McNabb, Escape Goat?

With the recent lack of success for the Washington Redskins under the quarterbacking of Donovan McNabb, former players, analyst and coaches have been rather unkind to Donovan in the media for the past couple days.

ESPN analyst Antonio Pierce decided to take it another step further by calling him an "escape goat".

I think he meant "scape goat":



(Courtesy of NESW Sports)

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3 Things That Baffled Me Last Week (5/11)

DeSean Jackson’s comments on Donovan McNabb – People just refuse to leave Donovan McNabb alone. The other day, Eagles WR DeSean Jackson said that he was happy with Philadelphia’s decision to trade McNabb, as well as “I don’t think we lost anything, even with McNabb being gone.” Jackson’s not the first former teammate to take shots at McNabb. Remember T.O.? I just don’t understand the logic behind it. Both Jackson and T.O. made the Pro Bowl with Donovan McNabb throwing them the ball!

Of course, McNabb took the high road after these comments, like he always does. I respect the guy for that, but just once I would love to see him hit back and tell all the haters to shut the fuck up.

Bengals sign Pacman Jones – A match made in heaven. Eh, heaven doesn’t work actually. A match made in hell? Maybe jail?

What a bunch of idiots over there in the Cincinnati front office. How can anybody possibly think that Pacman Jones would be a good fit for the Cincinnati Bengals, who are trying to clean up an image problem after having about 376 players arrested over the past few years? I mean, the NFL personal conduct policy was pretty much invented for Pacman Jones.

Atlanta Hawks – Biggest fraud of a “contender” that I can remember in a long time. This is a team that only gets up to play the Boston Celtics, and managed to skate by with a losing record on the road, solely because they dominated at home. No real contender for an NBA championship has a losing record on the road. This is a team that got swept out of the second round of the playoffs (after barely squeaking by the injury-ridden Milwaukee Bucks in the first round), in one of the most lopsided series’ in NBA playoff history. And it was a 2 seed versus a 3 seed! It’s not like it was a 1 vs. 8 matchup. This is a team whose “superstar” player, Joe Johnson, pulled a Magic act of his own by disappearing in the second round against Orlando, and turned the Atlanta fans against him by calling them out for booing when their team was down 30 points at home. This is a team that far too many people got excited about. This is a team… that sucks.

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The Odd Man Out: Jason Campbell

Just when you though that you were having a bad day, picture if you will what it's like to be Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell as this moment in time.

The NFL off-season appeared to be a solid starting ground for you with a new regime around Super Bowl winning-coach Mike Shanahan and the addition of solid running-backs Larry Johnson and Willie Parker. It appeared that you would be the starting quarterback and be in full-control of your own destiny.

Then you heard the news that the Redskins traded for Eagles starting quarterback Donovan McNabb who while being a good friend of yours, didn't come to be the back-up quarterback. By the way, you heard the news from a reporter and not the Redskins brass themselves.

The Redskins currently have four quarterbacks on their roster which includes Rex Grossman and incumbent back-up Colt Brennan. Campbell is currently a restricted free agent and is meeting with head coach Mike Shanahan today to discuss his future with the team. Campbell could ask for a trade or he could stay with the team to try and compete with McNabb for the starting job, however doubtful that may be.

Campbell's career has been mired with coaching changes, erratic performances, and all-around bad luck. It wouldn't surprise me that Campbell might have a change of scenery with another team, the real issue is that the current suitors for Campbell include the Raiders/Bills/Carolina/and Jacksonville.

So Campbell is the ultimate limbo for player to be in, stay with his current team and play along side his friend or go elsewhere for greener pastures. The decision will probably make or break his NFL career regardless of the decision he decides to go forward with.

In the end, you have to feel for Campbell who hasn't had a period of time in his NFL career to have any sort of continuity but you have to say that it's not unexpected that this would happen to him.

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Breaking News: Donovan McNabb Traded to Washington Redskins

Just when you thought that you could avoid NFL trade news, the Philadelphia Eagles have traded their starting quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins for draft picks.

We get more from NFL.com:

Donovan McNabb is changing uniforms and staying in the NFC East.

The Philadelphia Eagles have traded McNabb to the Washington Redskins for a 2010 second-round pick (No. 37 overall) and either a third- or fourth-round draft pick in 2011, the team announced Sunday.

"Donovan McNabb was more than a franchise quarterback for this team," said Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie in a statement. "He truly embodied all of the attributes of a great quarterback and of a great person. He has been an excellent representative of this organization and the entire National Football League both on and off the field.

"I look forward to honoring him as of the greatest Eagles of all-time and hopefully see in enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton one day. I wish Donovan and his beautiful family great health and joy for many, many years to come."

McNabb, the Eagles' first-round draft pick in 1999 and a six-time Pro Bowl selection, led the franchise to five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl in 11 seasons in Philadelphia.

Most of us knew that McNabb was probably out the door due to the rather sizable roster bonus that he was due to receive this season from the Philadelphia Eagles but I'm pretty sure that no one thought that he would be going to the division rival, Washington Redskins.

Considering the deal involves draft picks, we are not going to be 100% sure right away who is the winner in this transaction but the one thing that we know for sure is that Donovan McNabb has a new home for the upcoming NFL season in the nation's capital.

(Courtesy of NFL.com)

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McNabb To Skins, Wale Psyched

"The Philadelphia Eagles traded Pro Bowl QB Donovan McNabb to their NFC East rivals, the Washington Redskins, on Sunday. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan confirmed the deal to USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell.

The Redskins will surrender a second-round pick this year (No. 37) and either a third- or fourth-round pick next year, Fox Sports and NFL.com reported.

McNabb has been the Eagles starter since 1999, when the club drafted him with the second overall pick. He brought the team to five NFC championship games and to Super Bowl XXXIX.
But Eagles coach Andy Reid said late last month that he was entertaining offers for all of his QBs -- including Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick. McNabb then said he wanted to remain with the Eagles, but whatever happened he wanted to move quickly.

Kolb, who filled in for McNabb in two starts last September, will become the Eagles' presumptive starter.

McNabb, 33, is entering the final year of his contract. -- Sean Leahy"

Well to say the least, Wale, along with the majority of the D.C. area appears to be pretty psyched right about now.  

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Donovan McNabb to Oakland?

The Oakland Raiders have emerged as the leading candidate to land quarterback Donovan McNabb in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, league sources tell ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

The sources say all the ingredients for a trade are in place. Of all the teams the Eagles have spoken with, the Raiders have been the most willing to meet the Eagles' asking price. Last week, The Associated Press reported that the Eagles want a pick in the top 42 of the 2010 draft for McNabb. Oakland has a second-round pick that is the 39th overall selection.

One source familiar with trade discussions said no deal was done with Oakland. But other league sources predicted it soon would be done in a trade that would be the NFL's biggest offseason move.

And although McNabb has informed coach Andy Reid that he wants to stay with the Eagles and, if he has to be traded, would prefer to go to a winning team such as the Minnesota Vikings, the sources say the Eagles will do what they believe is best for team even if it means trading McNabb to the Raiders, a team with a recent history of losing.

The sad story of Donovan McNabb’s career continues. The man has been underappreciated virtually his whole career in Philadelphia. McNabb has gotten shit from everyone and everywhere, including T.O., his own fan base, and even Rush Limbaugh. I’m not a Philly fan, or even a McNabb fan for that matter, but he seems like a genuinely good guy; always says the right things, never been in trouble, plays hard, does things for the community, etc. He’s been an above-average quarterback – and I think it’s safe to say, a top-10 quarterback – throughout his entire 11 year career. He’s kept the Eagles as a contender in the NFC year after year, leading them to multiple NFC title games and 1 Super Bowl appearance. And yes, he has had injury problems and durability issues, but by and large he’s been a solid NFL quarterback, not to mention the face of the Eagles, for a very long time.

That is why it’s so baffling to me that a city could treat its star player so poorly, especially one with no apparent character flaws or image issues. McNabb has essentially been shunned out of Philadelphia in favor of an unproven backup in Kevin Kolb, and an aging, fresh-out-of-jail felon in Michael Vick. He’s taken more crap for seemingly less reason than any athlete that I can remember, and now to top it all off, it looks like he’s headed to the black hole that is the Oakland Raiders. In Oakland, he’ll be in charge of leading a hopeless team, and mentoring JaMarcus Russell, an overpaid, overweight loser with no work ethic. Not exactly the best way for the Eagles to thank McNabb for 11 years of admirable service. If I were McNabb I would leave town with 2 middle fingers raised in the general direction of the entire city of Philadelphia.

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Donovan McNabb playing College Hoops at Syracuse

In honor of the shocking, shocking (SHOCKING) news of T.O. signing with the Bills (I mean...really?), I thought I'd put up a funny video of one of T.O.'s former QBs that he threw under a bus. It's a few clips of McNabb playing basketball with his commentary over the top.

On a side note, McNabb was/is a pretty great QB and T.O. had issues with his play. Good luck to Buffalo since Trent Edwards can't even really throw a good deep ball and now the Bills have two deep threats as their best WRs. Could we see T.O. starting some nonsense with Edwards in the preseason? Training camp? Tomorrow night?

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Donovan McNabb’s Wild Ride

In a wild year in the NFL, Donovan McNabb appeared to be out of Philadelphia and into a Minnesota Vikings jersey in the off-season. However coming back from a 5-6-1 record where he forget there was something called a tie in the NFL, McNabb has rescued a team from life support and has them one win away from their second Super Bowl in this Millennium.

McNabb who appears to be on the fast-track to the Hall of Fame seems to be an enigma rather than the elite-caliber quarterback that he should be recognized for. McNabb has taken the Eagles to five conference championship games and a Super Bowl and it feels that most fans crucify him as an average quarterback.

From the draft day when he was booed by Philadelphia fans, McNabb never really seemed to fit in the city of brotherly love. He was the low-key quarterback who had a pension of doing Chunky soup commercials. Philadelphia fans love to a see guy who epitomizes the working man in Philadelphia like former Philadelphia Eagle quarterback Ron Jaworski.

Although, most Philadelphians have forgiven McNabb there still seems to be the undertone of disrespect. This wouldn’t surprise me that McNabb takes this personally and has used this as advantage on this spectacular run through the playoffs.

What if McNabb wins the Super Bowl, I would assume that the entire city of Philadelphia would crown him a winner and enter the lore of Philadelphia sports. Sometimes irony is sweet, isn’t it?

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Donovan McNabb is Hilarious

So I'm a huge fan of excessive celebration. When me and my brothers would play football in the yard we'd always celebrate the hell out of many TDs we scored, especially at tense moments. Of course this led to many tempers flaring and fights, and maybe that's why it's banned in the NFL (other than the delay of game factor). But I love a good celebration, and back when TO and Ocho Cinco ruled endzones with celebrations they also ruled my heart.



Well now add Donovan McNabb to the list of awesome. In this Sunday's shellacking of the title defending NY Giants, McNabb ran out of bounds after an 8 yard gain late in the 4th quarter. He then sauntered over to a small table with a phone on it, picked up the phone, and acted as if he was making a call from the sidelines. Which is just hilarious. Would I hate him if I was a NY Giant? Probably. But I hate the NY Giants. So call away Donovan. Maybe he just wants to make sure Mom's got that chicken soup on tap.

Best part? After the game he was asked about the stunt. McNabb admitted he shouldn't do such things. But didn't apologize. Good man.

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