Donovan McNabb's Decline as Sudden as It Is Complete

It wasn't that long ago—during the controversy that swirled around then-Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb after comments made by short-lived ESPN commentator Rush Limbaugh in 2003—that people defending McNabb made the case he was on his way to a Hall of Fame career.

McNabb took over as the Eagles' starter late in his rookie year of 1999, led the team to the playoffs in 2000 and followed that up with four straight trips to the NFC Championship in 2001-04.

The Eagles broke through and won the NFC title in 2004 before losing to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

McNabb made five straight Pro Bowls from 2000-04 and was again named to the game in 2009, his final year in Philadelphia. In 11 seasons with the Eagles, the team was 92-49-1 in McNabb's 142 starts.

His stat line with the Eagles was solid—he completed 59 percent of his passes for 32,873 yards with 216 touchdowns and 100 interceptions. Once a very athletic quarterback, he also rushed for 3,249 yards and 28 touchdowns.

But, as the story goes, that was then.

This is now.

Since the Eagles traded McNabb to the Washington Redskins in April 2010, his career has cratered as quickly as Milli Vanilli's after the whole lip-synching thing came to light.

His career in Washington lasted just 13 games and was marked by wildly inconsistent play and a bizarre sequence of events at the end of a loss at Detroit. McNabb was pulled late in the game in favor of Rex Grossman, a move Washington coach Mike Shanahan defended by adding the phrase "cardiovascular endurance" to the football lexicon for a couple of weeks.

It appeared to confirm the whispers that started in earnest after the Eagles' Super Bowl loss, when former Philadelphia wide receiver Terrell Owens said McNabb was vomiting while the Eagles tried to mount a hurry-up offense late in the game.

The Redskins traded McNabb to the Minnesota Vikings after the lockout this summer. His career with the Vikings ended Thursday when he was released.

His stay in Minnesota was even shorter than the last stop; just six starts and a 1-5 record before being benched in favor of rookie Christian Ponder.

Along the way, even more talk emerged about McNabb's supposed poor work habits and conditioning.

So in less than two years, McNabb has gone from Pro Bowler to waiver-wire fodder. Three teams have given up on him during that time.

It's not like there weren't signs, though. Philadelphia coach Andy Reid benched McNabb during a game against the Baltimore Ravens in 2008 and then traded him to a division rival—something almost unheard of—in the spring of 2010.

Then came a pair of benchings in Washington, followed by his losing the starting job with Minnesota.

While it may seem like McNabb is pushing 40, he turned 35 last week, an age when many quarterbacks are still at or near their peak.

As bad as McNabb has been since leaving Philadelphia, don't think he'll be a man without a team for long. The Chicago Bears and Houston Texans are contending for playoff spots without their starting quarterbacks. The Dallas Cowboys are also in the playoff mix and have legitimate concerns about a back injury sustained by backup Jon Kitna.

Someone will take a chance that McNabb has something left.

Based on what I've seen the last two seasons, I think the tank has pretty much run dry.