Former Eagle Shawn Andrews Says Donovan McNabb's Treatment Led to Trade Request

Former NFL offensive lineman Shawn Andrews, went on Mike Missanelli's 97.5 The Fanatic radio show to discuss the bullying situation involving Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Jonathan Martin, among other subjects.

During the interview, Andrews—who spent six of his seven seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles—went on record for the first time about how he took flack from his former quarterback Donovan McNabb and other Eagle teammates.

The treatment prompted Andrews to go to head coach Andy Reid and request for a trade:

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Shawn Andrews told @MikeMiss975 he wanted trade from Eagles after being mistreated by teammates and Donovan. He feels for Jonathan Martin

—John Clark NBC10 (@johnclarknbc10) November 8, 2013"

Andrews didn't go as far to say that he was being bullied, but he did feel the perception on the outside was in stark contrast to the reality inside the locker room. The following quote from Andrews and the ones hereafter were documented by ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio.

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People think that it’s just a band of brothers...These are my co-workers, and I understood that really early on. That you can’t trust everybody.

When the camera is rolling oh it’s, "We’re a team, we’re a team" but when the cameras go off it’s like, "Screw you, dude. Screw you." I’ve had to work with guys that didn’t have everybody’s best interests at heart. The only guy I’ll tell you that I could trust on that team was flat out Brian Dawkins.

 

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When Missanelli pressed Andrews and asked whether or not he was still impacted by the way McNabb and others acted towards him, Andrews expressed his disdain and related it back to Martin:

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I’m disgusted by it. You know, like [Jonathan] Martin?  I feel the connection there because when he said he tried to befriend the people who talked about him, I know what he’s going through.

 

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There was an overriding sense that teammates were projecting lies about Andrews to head coach Andy Reid and to the media, especially when Andrews was attempting to negotiate a new contract and had to hold out.

McNabb publicly criticized Andrews at the time, according to Missanelli, and the dynamic forced Andrews to go to Reid and request a trade.

Andrews, a three-time Pro Bowler, felt betrayed, believing that he was putting himself on the line to protect McNabb and facilitate success for others and yet was still being mistreated:

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If you put your heart, everything that comes with you, on the line for another person and they’re saying some very, very, very untrue things about you to other guys in our same league on other teams, how would that make you feel? You’re putting your heart on the line, man.  You could break your neck, there’s so many things that you could do.

 

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It seemed as though Andrews was reluctant to even discuss what happened, as he said during the interview he felt he had to choose his words carefully. Andrews was a member of the Eagles from 2004, when he was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft, through 2009.

Kyle Eckel, who played as a fullback for the Eagles in 2008, believes Andrews is lying:

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Shawn Andrews is claiming he was the victim of locker room abuse by the #Eagles and most notably Donovan Mcnabb. I call it an outright lie

— Kyle Eckel (@KyleEckel) November 8, 2013"

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I was an Eagle in 2008 and the entire offseason of 2009. Shawn Andrews claims were preposterous and Im actually afraid he might believe them

— Kyle Eckel (@KyleEckel) November 8, 2013"

That plays into the notion that harassment amongst NFL teammates is a taboo topic with lots of gray area.

Andrews' lack of desire to come forward about what happened in Philadelphia also could relate to Martin in that the latter feared retribution were he to file a formal complaint over how he was bullied by Richie Incognito and other Dolphin players.

Perhaps Andrews' testimony combined with Martin's developing saga will see other mistreated players in the past come forward with their accounts of similar occurrences.