John Smallwood: "One of the most embarrassing gaffes in recent sports history."
Ashley Fox: "And then there was the gaffe to beat all gaffes on Sunday. Every time I hear the clip, it sounds more absurd that McNabb didn't know that regular-season games that are still tied after 15 minutes of overtime end in a tie."
And Bob Ford wrote a column titled: "Testing McNabb's NFL IQ"
I don't get it. I don't understand all the fake outrage from my media colleagues over Donovan McNabb's harmless ignorance of the rulebook. The phony, manufactured controversy says far more about us (the media) than it does Donovan McNabb.
Trust me, McNabb forgot more about football last night than most of his critics have learned in a lifetime of pretending to cover the game.
And I'm not saying that to insinuate that I know more about football than Sapp, Smallwood, Fox or Ford (all of whom I genuinely like and respect). Although, if they really believe McNabb's rulebook blindspot in some way impacts his ability to be an effective NFL quarterback, then I'm quite sure my knowledge of the game surpasses their combined information by several football fields.
Had McNabb failed to launch a last-gasp Hail Mary pass against the Bengals, I would then understand all the fuss and bluster.
And we damn sure know had McNabb's Hail Mary fallen safely into a Philadelphia hand and secured victory, no one would care that McNabb was unaware NFL games could end in a tie.
Before I go further, let me put all my cards on the table. I'm a homer for Donovan McNabb. He and LaDainian Tomlinson are my two favorite active players. I love the way they carry themselves on and off the field.
In this era that has been hijacked by hey-look-at-me-bojangle athletes, I delight in watching Donovan and LT excel at the highest level while representing themselves, their families and their organizations in a positive fashion.
I want McNabb to win a Super Bowl. I've long since reached the conclusion that it's not going to happen in Philly, where the fan base takes pleasure in torturing the city's biggest stars and the media refuse to adequately chastise owner Jeffrey Lurie and head coach Andy Reid for failing to support McNabb with complementary offensive playmakers.
Is McNabb blameless for the club's post-Terrell Owens slide to mediocrity? No. McNabb, from my view, is a weak fourth-quarter quarterback. I lost a bit of faith in McNabb in Week 2 when he double-pumped a fourth-quarter handoff, fumbled and cost Philly the chance to put Dallas away by two scores. He topped it off with a two-minute flameout at the end of the game.
It's fair to question McNabb's nerves and ability to perform in the clutch. Owens did that when he talked about McNabb throwing up in the Super Bowl. T.O. basically said McNabb didn't have the necessary tummy for the situation.
But this focus on McNabb's football intelligence is absolutely ridiculous. If McNabb is anything, he's bright. His understanding of the game and the position he plays is exceptionally high.
That's why he toned down his running game and accentuated his ability to play from the pocket. Rather than listen to the misguided idiots who wanted him to "revolutionize" the position by being a playground quarterback, McNabb chose the path that made Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Terry Bradshaw multiple Super Bowl winners.
NFL players do dumb (spit) on a weekly basis. They take penalties for excessive or orchestrated celebrations. They blow assignments. They lose their cool and hit opponents after the play.
I'm supposed to believe not knowing the NFL's overtime rule is the "gaffe to beat all gaffes" or "one of the most embarrassing gaffes in recent sports history?"
We better define "recent" because it wasn't that long ago that Ron Artest ran into the stands to clock a beer-throwing customer.
McNabb's mistake was being too forthright. His alleged "mistake" had zero impact on the game.
I find the fraudulent indignation about the "mistake" embarrassing. My industry is so lacking in original thought and imagination that we think it's a big deal when we discover we know some insignificant detail about the game that a millionaire player doesn't.
That's what's driving all of this. We're so lost in the sports media world, so overexposed and overextended writing and talking on TV and radio that beating up McNabb over an innocent error passes as hard-hitting originality.
And we wonder why it gets easier every day for the public to ignore us.
You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at Ballstate68@aol.com.
This article originally published on FOXSports.com.
Read Jason's other columns here
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about 1 month ago
fantastic. absolutely wonderful. I've been saying this since it happened. The media just needs something to write about. Thank you for exposing the vultures they truly are.
McNabb's problem has always been that the man is honest to a fault. He's a class act and catches way too much heat for... well, everything.
from about 1 month ago
Jason is a Vulture himself, he just felt the need to attack everyone else for this incident.
But bringing up issues such as Race, when they don't even belong in sports in more, is Jason's number one objective.
from about 1 month ago
i was unaware?
about 1 month ago
What is amazing is that, despite pieces like this, Whitlock's critics will still say he only stirs the racial/sensational pot.
The man dispenses nothing but reasonable wisdom and he does so fairly. This is yet another example.
He's not always right, but who is?
And, as is always the case, he praises/criticizes throughout the above irrespective of race.
about 1 month ago
Wow, what a great article. I agree, I think, with absolutely every single word. And very well said, too.
about 1 month ago
Great read. If there was one thing that worked in Donny's favor from all of this is that his terrible game against a lowly team has been totally ignored because of what he said. Regardless of his post game conference, he would have been killed this week anyway.
about 1 month ago
I honestly don't know who's side to take on this one.
1.) You expect an NFL veteran to know something that crucial about a game. We aren't talking about some watered-down rule that is hardly ever seen in the game that McNabb happened not to know.
This how a game ends. If McNabb being the NFL veteran that he is didn't know this rule, then why does some average fan like me, among many others, know this rule????
2.) Now about the media. Yes, I think that media is taking this a bit too far. Some of the media has gone as far as to say that McNabb lost the game for his team because he did not know the rule. That is going way too far.
Players "Play to win the game". And I promise McNabb is no different. The media just wants a story and the fact that this matter is still one of the top issues in sports tells you that fact.
about 1 month ago
McNabb said he didn't know a tie could happen. So we laugh about it and move on. Warren Sapp nearly passed out and thinks this will ruin Donovan's legacy? He's ridiculous. That was the worst statement I've heard from anybody in my entire life. The media should focus on what's important and just leave the guy alone.
Dawkins said it best.....if the Eagles won and McNabb said the comments about the tie, the media wouldn't care. Excellent piece here Jason.
from about 1 month ago
Warren's proven to be a joke on tv. Funny guy, nice character... but I don't respect his football opinion.
about 1 month ago
I'm with Bob. Donovan has always been a class act and he has taken an unfair amount of criticism from the African-American community through the years. McNabb NEVER receives enough credit for being an excellent quarterback and an accessible NFL star to younger fans. Even though I live out here in Bronco Country and love my Broncos, it does my heart good to see youth wearing green Eagles #5 jerseys. Everyone is ready to crucify the Eagles right now and for what? If you don't bring your A game (which the Eagles did NOT against the Bengals) anyone can beat you on any given week. If you don't believe me, I give you Browns/Giants. If the Broncos can't hoist the Lombardi trophy this season, the Eagles are on a short list of teams I wouldn't mind seeing winning it all. Excellent article Whitlock! Incidentally, how do you feel about the BCS now? Your Ball State Cards keep on winning in dramatic fashion and will get unfairly jammed. In stupid college football, you can only play who will play you.
from about 1 month ago
exactly. McNabb is a guy who is a fantastic role model and an overall good guy, but he takes more heat than guys like Pacman and Chris Henry. It's pathetic.
about 1 month ago
I never understood the whole media is out to get X mentality. That's their job!! What happens is that in this online world, everyone comments, everything DOES get blown out of proportion, opinion counts more than analysis. But, that's not exclusive to McNabb.
Let's face it. IT IS stupid that a man that makes MILLIONS playing a game doesn't know a rule like this. All fans know it. He SHOULD be criticized for it. That it becomes saturated is just indicative of our instant reaction world (online, blogs, etc). I mean, do you know how many football sites exist in cyberspace??
That said, McNabb's a class act, but honestly, he's lost something. I don't agree with the Philly fans that want to run him out of town, because quarterback talent in general is scarce out there.
about 1 month ago
It is a sad statement on the media because its true but McNabb started it. If he didnt say anything about not knowing it could end in a tie then theres no fire. However he did and then he said that he would and I quote "hate to see what would happen in the playoffs and the Super bowl". End Quote. But this player is paid millions upon millions dollars to play a game. I would hope he would know how a game ends in the regular and playoff seasons. Especially since that is a part of the officals statement before every OT game and I know he has been a part of those. I am not sure of the exact wording but the official says something along the lines of "there is ONE overtime period." Did McNabb think that there were going to keep meeting after each OT or did he simply never listen to the ref?
This game never should have ended in a tie if Andy Reid didnt call what was it 58 pass attempts by McNabb? Rather he call more than 15 rushing attempts only 14 by Westbrook and 1 for Buckhalter but the Bengals going into the game were giving up 140 rushing yards a game!
it also hurts that they tied a one win team...
from about 1 month ago
Andrew, that followup comment about the playoffs and SB is actually EVEN MORE disturbing. In opposition to the author, YES, that unfamiliarity with the rules IS worthy of criticism.
from about 1 month ago
its almost like did he think then that there would be two super bowl champions? absurd. i think hes an above average QB but its comments like these that make people question his ability to be a leader.
from about 1 month ago
This is exactly the statement that jumped out at me, he not only admitted that he did not know the rule, he took it further with saying, "hate to see what would happen in the playoff or the Super Bowl".
There is an old Mark Twain line, ""It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt", now I not saying McNabb is a fool, but this was not a comment in the heat of battle right after the game. He got out of his pads and jersey, took a shower and went to the microphone. He had time to clear his head after the game a bit. He did not need to share this fact, but he did.
It probably would not have been nearly as big of a deal had McNabb preceded this comment with what is becoming an all too regular rookie-esque of two INT in the Eagles redzone and a fumble with in his own two by carry the ball a foot from his ribs while trying to scramble a bit.
I agree with Jason it has become a bigger deal; however, it seems to balance out the lack of criticism in the past after poor performances. I asked some friend if the Eagles or ESPN decided to take the "gloves off" so to speak. I have never seen this reaction, to anything Donovan has ever said before and that includes when he talked about two millionaire football players trading verbal jabs and referred to it as "black on black crime"
about 1 month ago
Here's the unfortunate thing. It does matter. It matters a lot. If Donovan didn't know the rule, he shouldn't have admitted it. Nobody asked him if he knew the rule.
I lose faith in my quarterback when he admits he doesn't know about ties. No, it has nothing to do with his playing ability, but what now? What's next? Is he going to admit that he wasn't aware that only six teams make the playoffs from each league instead of seven?
Philly fans can take losing, or in this case not winning, because we've dealt with all of this before. But what we won't accept is stupidity for general knowledge of the NFL rulebook. We expect our players to know the rules. My mom knew this rule. Donovan doesn't?
It got blown out of proportion a little, but the media will absolutely never forget this.
I wrote an article about this on Sunday.
Basically, I just want to know this. Where was Donovan when Atlanta and Pittsburgh tied in 2002?
from about 1 month ago
Maybe he was filming a Chunky Soup spot?
from about 1 month ago
im so sick of hearing about this.
ROD WOODSON said he didnt know about ties when he played. a sure-fire hall of fame guy.
Let the Rod Woodson bashing begin.
about 1 month ago
"the fan base takes pleasure in torturing the city's biggest stars....."
you could not possibly be more wrong.
read this article i wrote about two weeks ago. i'd love to know what you think
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/77234-philadelphia-phans-why-do-we-boo-because-we-care
about 1 month ago
Great article.
about 1 month ago
Amen! It's not like ties are common in the NFL. It's what the media does though blow small things out of proportion.
about 1 month ago
well, I was laughing when I heard McNabb's comment. I just couldn't believe someone didn't know that.
that said, do I think far too much is being made of it? Yes, but that is to be expected. It's just like Jim Mora crying or Allen Iverson repeating "Practice". The media is going to keep bringing it up.
about 1 month ago
Lets not Charles Shackleford for the NC State Wolfpack saying he was so good because he was "Amphibious" .....
Look, the NFL, Needs to get with it with the Tie thing, You would THINK that they would have figured something out about it. Every other major sport has a "play until win" policy. Even if they have to suspend a game until a further date.
So, really, with Donovan being a nervous person, making a "faux pax" like that, should be over looked. Lets not forget Warren Sapp is just a blown up dummy, I mean Fla State gave him his grades, and he didnt do too much in the NFL.
from about 1 month ago
Warren Sapp went to Miami not Florida State. Warren Sapp had a solid NFL career almost 100 sacks for his career and had 2 receiving touchdowns.
about 1 month ago
Wow, Jason. "The fan base takes pleasure in torturing the city's biggest stars."
Obviously you're not from Philly.
We love our stars in Philly. We worship them. And we criticize them when we think they can do better for us. It's not called bashing them. We praise them when they are good and we boo them when they are bad. It's called being passionate.
Why does Philly get a bad rep for being passionate? No other city cares as much as we do...
Which is why it makes me so upset that McNabb said this. This is the QB of our team. A five-time Pro Bowler, and a man who is a ring away from the Hall. And he doesn't know a simple, elementary rule like this? Seriously. I just can't get over that.
about 1 month ago
Well written article. I think people are reading too much into it. Even if McNabb truly thought the game cant end in a tie it doesnt mean he's gonna play any different. What do people think? Did they think he was playing to reach the second overtime? That team cant get over the hump with Reid AND McNabb. One of them needs to go, I say Reid because his play calling has been mediocre at best and McNabb can thrive with a different coach and some better offensive personel.
about 1 month ago
some people don t think before they speak! that s all that happened. he if he looked a t final records of regular season teams like stat crazed fans with nothing else to do, he would have known regular seasons ties are posible. the playoff statement was just weird,, cause we all know inthe playoffs and super bowl you keepplaying until someone wins. longest game in history 3 overtimes with miami beating kansas city years ago. mc nabb has enough to worry about with a 70/30 pass to run ratio! joe montana s worst super bowl season pass to run ratio was 54/46, maybe someone should drop that statistic on andy reid s desk and let him stare at it all night!!! same west coast offense!!! philly s play calling has become idiotic at best! thomas
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