I'm not defending Donovan McNabb's statements here. I don't think he should have brought race into the equation, especially since he was the focal point of a "black quarterback" controversy a couple of years ago, and he handled it with the utmost of class.
I'd like to think his statements have no merit, and maybe I don't want him to say anything because I want to keep my head buried in the sand. I know that personally, I don't hold black, brown, yellow, red or orange quarterbacks up to a higher standard than white quarterbacks.
One thing I've noticed, however, is that a lot of people are now attacking McNabb the player, not the statements he made. The general reaction in the blogosphere seems to be "McNabb sucks, that's why people are criticizing him." OK, fair point. He isn't off to a great start, but let's do a blind comparison:
Quarterback #1:
54 completions, 85 attempts, 452 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions, 66.4 QB rating.
Quarterback #2:
43 completions, 79 attempts, 424 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 68.7 QB ratings.
QB #1's team has lost two games, by a total of 48 points.
QB #2's team has lost two games, by a total of 11 points.
Both teams are coming off playoff years. Both teams had high expectations. I haven't read one word about QB #1, "sucking" or possibly being benched.
I don't usually get into race issues here. There are plenty of blogs out there devoted to shining a spotlight on any racial biases, or slights (perceived or otherwise). I prefer to just talk about the games on the field, when possible.
McNabb's comments were probably a mistake. Whether he meant to, or not. He painted a big target on himself, a target far too many people are now willing to take aim at. Here's the thing, though. The reaction to his comments seems to add some validity to them. Self-fulfilling prophecy? Maybe.
Anyone out there who has responded to McNabb's comments by saying, "He sucks," or "He shouldn't even be starting," or "He isn't what he once was," I have a question for you: What are you saying about Drew Brees this week? He's QB #1 in the statistics listed above. He's been worse than McNabb (QB #2), with better offensive tools around him. Those are just the facts, in black and white.
I'm not defending Donovan McNabb's statements here. I don't think he should have brought race into the equation, especially since he was the focal point of a "black quarterback" controversy a couple of years ago, and he handled it with the utmost of class.
I love McNabb, he's even a Chicago guy, but he's gotta stop saying this stuff because it makes him look bad.
The comments about it being harder for a black QB just sounded like an excuse, plain and simple. McNabb may be immensely talented, but he is lacking in the leadership department. He needs to finally step up and be the offensive leader Jeff Garcia was last year.
I don't care what color McNabb is, all I want is for him to stop bouncing passes and improve his on field vision. For years, receivers (and TEs) have taken the brunt of the heat when the passing game isn't clicking.... Thrash, Pinkston, Mitchell, Owens, Stallworth, Lewis (Chad and Greg) and now Curtis, Brown, Avant and Baskett. Some of those guys are scrubs, some of them are all stars. A good QB puts the ball in his receivers hands and makes a scrub look good... case in point, Eagle castoff Jabbar Gaffney catching TD's from Tom Brady last year.
So to McNabb, shut the f**k up, show some leadership, locate your receivers and get the damn ball into their hands. That will silence your critics and go a long way with the fans.
Rickhouse, JJ, I agree with both of you guys. I do wish he'd keep it quiet, not because he shouldn't be allowed to say what he feels, but I think it's ultimately going to hurt this team if he goes on some kind of crusade.
His performance on the field needs to improve, and it will. It is troubling that the reaction to his comments is, "bench him." When all his play really suggests is a slow start, and also the fact that he came back from the injury too soon. He is playing better than Brees, and no one's calling for his head.
Although I agree with your point that nobody is complaining about Brees, you have to look at the two players.
McNabb IS the franchise face and has been since being drafted.
Brees was a cast-off from San Diego and was signed as a free agent. Yes, he had an impressive year last year, but let's not fool ourselves. He isn't near the player that Donovan is.
Brees wasn't a cast-off. He had back to back years with 3,000+ yards, and combined for 51 touchdowns and only 22 interceptions over those two years.
He's as much the face of the Saints as McNabb is the Eagles at this point.
I'm not saying McNabb shouldn't shoulder the bulk of the blame for this poor start. He's the QB, that's the way it usually happens, especially in Philly. I'm just saying that the reaction to these comments has been absurd. I'm not even sure what people are saying he's making excuses for.
When he gave the interview, the Eagles lost a tough game, at Green Bay, because of Special Teams. No one, and I do mean no one, blamed McNabb for that loss. It would've been a win had they fielded one of two botched punts. He wasn't getting any heat whatsoever from the press. If anything, the feeling was that he looked decent considering he was only 10 months removed from knee surgery.
Is the contention that he made the statements to cut himself some slack because he knew they were going to lose on Monday night? Or because he knows he's going to have a bad season? I don't think he'd engineer a preemptive smoke screen for possible future failures. I think he honestly feels this way, and he just picked a very inopportune time to talk about it on TV.
He is coming off an injury that changed Daunte Culpepper from maybe Hall of Fame to 2nd or 3rd on THE RAIDERS depth chart. McNabb has been in the playofs all the years he has played the majority of the season. And did you see the last couple drives. When he was scrambling out of the pocket he was more accurate. He is still a top 10 QB. Another thing is The Washington Redskins have a pretty good defense with 4 top 8 draft picks in their secondary(Sean Taylor, Shawn Springs, Charles Rogers, LaRon Landry). Our Secondary on the other hand, without Lito, isn't so good. William James Is a #3 Cornerback and caught a pick that was thrown late and was right to him. The receivers didn't do so well Monday but I think they are still capable players. Jason Avant has the ability to be a starter and Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis will be better. They will fair better against Detroit where they won't be pressed so tightly and McNabb will be able to pick the Detroit secondary apart.
Gm makes a great point... the higher the level of talent (and pay), the greater the expectations.
McNabb is paid as a franchise player, he should play as one. Brees was signed as a cast off and for the money, over achieved.
If McNabb wants to lower the heat, give back some of his franchise salary so the Iggles can improve in other areas. John Runyan quietly took a pay cut two years ago, btw, so it does happen.
It's not a money thing with the Eagles, it's a philosophy thing. There are certain positions they're willing to spend money one (defensive end and QB), and certain positions they aren't (WR). They really believe the system makes the player, not vice versa.
You can't really argue with that philosophy too much, take a look at the receivers they've had on the team for their 4-year run to the championship game, only T.O. was even close to the Pro Bowl.
I'm willing to give him a game or two of slack, see if this team can right the ship, before I call for him to take a pay cut and/or call for Kolb to take over the team. It's not just that he's earned that much, it's that I agree with Eric, he's a top 10 QB when healthy, let's let him get his feet under him before we throw him to the wolves.
I know this story is dead, but for what it's worth...
McNabb's comments were done in the preseason... BEFORE his couple rocky games to start the season when they were published.
And it's not like he brought these up out of nowhere as an "excuse"... He was asked by James Brown and he answered them honestly... It was only a 10-second snippet of the interview.
Nick,
I think I brought up the timing in a later post, but great point. It was almost like they sprung this interview at the most opportune time for headlines and ratings.