Donovan McNabb was released from the Minnesota Vikings yesterday at his request. There are teams that may be looking to claim him off waivers, or at the very least sign him once he clears waivers.
The question is what will this do to McNabb’s legacy?
I think McNabb is a future Hall of Famer. Yeah I said it.
First of all, McNabb is easily the greatest QB in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles. I mean, name me another QB who led the Eagles to five (including four consecutive) NFC championship games. While Ron Jaworski also led the Eagles to the Super Bowl, he did not sustain the type of success as McNabb had with the Eagles.
Since I am a stats guy, let’s take a look at what McNabb accomplished as a member of the Eagles.
- Led the Eagles to four consecutive NFC East titles.
- 6× Pro Bowl selection (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009)
- NFC Offensive Player of the Year (2004)
- Passing Touchdowns-Interceptions: 234-117
- Passing yards: 37,099
- Passer rating: 85.5
- Holds the following Eagles records:
- Most Career Attempts (4,303)
- Most Pass Completions (2534)
- Most Passing Yards (29,320)
- Most Passing Touchdowns (203)
- Most Single-Season Completions (345, 2008 season)
- Most Single-Season Yards (3,916, 2008 season)
- Most NFC Championship Appearances (5)
While he may not be first-ballot material, I think McNabb should get a lot of consideration for his candidacy. He was one of the best players in the NFL for several years, and definitely the best player to put on an Eagles uniform.
The messed up part about McNabb is that he is one of the most under-appreciated stars in NFL history.
Dude was booed on draft day by Eagles fans who wanted Ricky Williams (I wonder how that would have turned out). He was criticized by his own fans. He was clowned for not being “black enough” on the field by some black fans – notably the former head of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP.
And who can forget the Terrell Owens and Rush Limbaugh ordeals?
McNabb manned up and played well with his dignity intact despite all of those things. It’s too bad that his career is winding down in the manner that it is.
Through it all, McNabb had a Hall of Fame career in the NFL. Here’s hoping the Hall of Fame voters and fans feel the same way.
Categories: NFL, sports story
Very interested to see where he ends up & hopes he gets another chance.
Me too my brotha. I think McNabb will get a second chance somewhere (Chicago maybe?)…
As much as I hate to say this I think you have McNabb spot on. Not a first ballot hall of famer and maybe not even a guy that makes it in the first few years. Damn he torched the Cowboys with some highlight material every single year. McNabb’s only problem with getting into the HOF is that there are going to be a lot of comparisons with a LOT of other borderline quarterbacks, see Ken Anderson, Bob Griese, etc. AND comparisons with his peers during the same time period: Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Roethlisberger, Warner. Is there room for another quarterback from this era that didn’t win the big one?