Should the Philadelphia Eagles Keep Donovan McNabb?

Philadelphia sports fans know the pain of losing all too well.

While the Cubs and Red Sox got all the attention for their long championship droughts, teams from Philadelphia have always been on the back burner.

And that should be expected.

We can’t even be the best at losing.

Over the past two championship-less decades, we have certainly seen our fair share of great stars. But we haven’t seen those stars reach their full potential and finally claim the ultimate prize. One of the biggest reasons for the city’s sports malaise has been its inability to build a winning team around a star athlete.

The fact that Philadelphia could not make champions out of Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson, and Eric Lindros is criminal. Some of the best and most talented players to play their games could not find the success they deserved in Philadelphia. We groomed them, we loved them, and we lost them. They got us close, oh so close, but never all the way to the top.

We could soon see history repeat itself in the form of our beloved Eagles very soon. Over the past seven years, Eagles fans have actually become spoiled. Hard to believe that a team that has never won a Super Bowl and hasn’t hoisted an NFL Championship trophy since the Eisenhower administration could have spoiled its fans, but it’s true. We expect the Eagles to make the big game every year, and when they don’t we want them to blow it up.

For much of the frustrating 2007 season, Donovan McNabb received the lion’s share of the criticism from fans and talk radio. And much of that criticism was deserved.

After starting the ’06 season looking as good as ever, McNabb abruptly got hurt once again and has yet to fully recover. The fans expected his recovery to be immediate, as if starting over a season is like hitting the reset button on a video game. Injuries take time to heal and the length of a single off-season sometimes isn’t enough.

So Donovan and the team were booed as the Eagles stumbled through a mediocre season. The fans called for his head. The media called for a trade. And the Ravens called to see if he wanted to play for them.

CBS announcers Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon mused about the possibility of McNabb playing his last game for the Eagles prior to the beginning of the Eagles’ week 17 game against the Bills. Eulogizing the man before his demise, the announcers felt sure we were seeing the uninspired dénouement of a once great career. 

Over Super Bowl weekend, the Baltimore Ravens came calling for what they thought was an available Donovan McNabb. With former Eagles defensive backs coach John Harbaugh now handling the head coaching duties, the Ravens felt poised to add stability to their foundering team by adding the once dynamic talent. They even gave a generous offer. The Ravens offer of the eighth overall pick in April’s draft was surprising given a recent NFL precedent. Daunte Culpepper was sent packing for a second round pick, and All-pro Randy Moss was exchanged for a fourth rounder. The Eagles should have jumped at the chance for a top-ten pick, right?

If the Eagles had cut ties with McNabb that week, or if they choose to make a deal before or after the draft, they will be making a crucial mistake. While the eight overall pick would certainly help any team, the Eagles would be committing themselves to a rebuilding program centered around former University of Houston

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?