Figures

I'm just a couple weeks into posting everyday and writing regularly and of course my laptop goes down - like it literally will not turn on. So I currently have no internet/writing access outside of work right now - and I always have to keep it short and sweet while - at work, so that therefore greatly limits my writing ability right now.

Ugh.

I will keep posting interesting articles and tidbits that I find but please bare with me until I get my laptop up and running again.

Until then, I found the following article about Eagles' quarterback, Donovan McNabb, on CNNSI.com by Ross Tucker - From where I stand as I life long Philly fan, this is probably the best outside perspective on McNabb's tenure that I have ever read.

In light of the Philadelphia Eagles' giving Donovan McNabb a significant pay raise over the next two years, it occurred to me that he has to be among the most underappreciated players in NFL history.

I grew up near Philadelphia and most, if not all of my family and friends are diehard Eagles fans. They have had, for the most part, a love-hate relationship with their signal-caller, even though he has led the franchise to a remarkable run of prosperity, including five NFC Championship games in the past eight seasons. That is a stretch of success that that would bring tears of joy to fans of the teams I played with during my career, those in New England being the exception.

So how can a quarterback with virtually every Eagles passing record still get a mixed response from his diehard fan base?

The most legitimate critiques of McNabb are the football ones, which focus primarily on his inconsistent accuracy and inability to bring home a championship. In fact, he probably never will get his just due in some circles until he wins a Super Bowl. Most discussions about all-time great quarterbacks begin with that all-important resume-topper. But it makes one wonder whether Eagles fans would rather have won one Super Bowl and been 4-12 every other season or been in the thick of things, as they have been with McNabb, playing important postseason contests late into January on nearly an annual basis.

The other critiques of McNabb are much more superficial. Most fans of the Birds with whom I have spoken can't stand his almost perpetual smile while he's playing, even when things aren't going well. Call it Dwight Howard syndrome. His injury history is the other big beef, as if McNabb should have his toughness questioned for tearing an ACL or suffering a broken leg. I wonder if Tom Brady would face the same wrath if he got injured in 2010 or '11. In fact, McNabb's persistence and resiliency in the face of these injuries is one reason he should be more revered than he is.

McNabb has provided Eagles fans with an exciting decade of football with an extremely entertaining style. Just like most of other teams would take the Eagles' success in a heartbeat, the same goes for franchises that would love to have him under center. He is a proven winner who has stood in the face of intense criticism for years and handled it with aplomb. Now if only Eagles fans could see as much.

Everything written is legitimately true, fair, and understandable - but I don't need to defend the Donovan McNabb era from an Eagle fan's point of view to anyone that has not experienced EVERY SINGLE GAME of #5's career. Don't have to defend it to any one that has, because they already know.

With that said, I'm rooting harder for Don to win a championship than I have for anyone else ever.