Thursday, November 20, 2008

The McNabb saga

It’s nice to see some things don’t change.

Donovan McNabb still doesn’t get it.

The Eagles embattled quarterback met the media yesterday for the first time since his embarrassing admission after the Eagles-Bengals game ended in a tie Sunday that he was not aware that regular-season games could end deadlocked.

Yesterday Donovan approached the microphone and quickly did what he usually does: Dig the hole a little deeper.

I’ll give him this: McNabb did clearly admit he should have known the rule. But he just wasn’t content to simply do that and move on. Instead, in that smarmy, half-joking way of his, he tried to offer another explanation.

It didn’t work.

McNabb unveiled an image of himself in this debacle that I clearly had not considered. Trend-setter.

That’s right, the Eagles QB now apparently thinks he has done the NFL a service by bringing the issue to light. In a way, there might be a grain of truth to what he says. All sorts of NFL players are now coming forward to admit that, like McNabb and many of his teammates, they also did not know a regular season game could end in a tie if no one scored in the overtime period.

McNabb wants to put the whole issue behind him and move ahead. Ditto for Andy Reid. He believes the whole thing is a non-issue.

Me? I’m just a fan. And I’m still shaking my head over this whole thing.

There’s just something about McNabb that rubs me the wrong way. He seems all too quick, for a guy who plays quarterback in the NFL, and in Philadelphia no less, to paint himself as the victim.

Has he endured more than his share of criticism? Sure. But maybe he should talk to Ron Jaworski or Randall Cunningham about that.

Has some of the flak been unfair? Probably.

But it goes with the territory. McNabb never seemed to grasp that. I’m surprised he didn’t drudge up the fact that some fans booed when he was selected by the Eagles with their first pick in that draft so long ago.

McNabb gave a glimpse into his persona as he entered the room yesterday. He was grinning. Then he made a point of noting that he’s probably going to get in trouble for smiling, that being because some fans have jabbed at him for his habit of smiling after a miscue.

Now it’s on to Sunday and the Ravens in Baltimore. Amazingly, the Eagles remain alive in the Wild Card race.

Even if so many of their fans are still fit to be tied.

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