Letters to the Editor

• Nonsense

  [Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  I live in Philly. I've been a passionate Eagle supporter for decades. I loved Randall Cunningham, had problems with Buddy Ryan.

  I concede that McNabb has a point about the subtle level of pressure black quarterbacks face, the need to "do better". But as an intelligent fan of a critical(in the best sense), but highly intelligent fan base, the idea that McNabb has been overly criticized here is nonsense.

  And I'd like to take a moment to show my absolute disgust for the perverse Philadelphia bashing that went on in Monday Night Football. To let Charles Barkley and the others rant about their revisionist fantasies that the national media constantly bring up about this town was a disgrace.

  So let's set the record straight. First, there are more number "5" jerseys in this town for years (until the emergence of Westbrook) than almost all others combined. Second, the fans here have **screamed** for years about the organizations:

  1) blind spot concerning wide receivers, skill positions and linebackers (Reid let Trotter go initially over money and ego, bye bye Super Bowl appearance as Joe J raced down the sidelines)

  2) have been highly critical of Andy Reid's over reliance on and love of the passing game (2-1) at the expense of the run and solid game planning.

  So we know McNabb has been hampered. Yet until recently he has been joined at the hip with Reid, a consumate company man. Why not, with over $100 million in his pocket? But part of the reality on the field is McNabb and Reid are 0-13 ( let me repeat 0-13!!) in their CAREER against AFC teams with above 500 records. You can count on one hand the times McNabb has successfully brought the Eagles from behind in the last 5 minutes. But you can count on both hands the points left on the board before half because of his stupid decisions, the interceptions that killed drives or games (especially in big games) and the coming up small when it mattered.

  The defense carried the Eagles before we lost to Tampa Bay when McNabb was hurt. A.J. Feely won 4 games as a replacement. No one blames McNabb for the Carolina game when it was clear Reid's stubbornness about receivers, which fans had been furious about for years, became glaring. But McNabb IS responsible for a subpar Super Bowl performance that was greatly responsible for a loss to a New England team that was ripe to be had.

  So this whining about Philly fans is frankly offensive. Here we consider him a very good quarterback, but not a truly great one. (In conversation he was always ranked top 5, often top 3, always appreciated) His achivements and deficiencies do not merit the qualification of "great". He is not being run out of town by the fans or being "turned on", as Barkley yelped (I lost so much respect for him that night). The franchise has and is doing that, especially by drafting his replacement. Barkley was full of it. Which is it, the fans turn on you, or does the management control your destiny? You can't have it both ways. Fans are much more displeased with Reid and Banner-Lurie than McNabb.

  Two other things. Fans wanted McNabb to run much earlier in his career before 29 because it was such a potent part of his game. Steve Young (white) was always cited as the example. So here we are, what, counter racist because we go against stereotype? The perception was McNabb refused to run as much as he could because HE did not want to play to type. But his strength is not as a prototype pocket passer, he doesn't have the consistent accuracy or touch.

  Finally, the dirty secret as revealed by G Cobb (gcobb.com), a former Eagle linebacker, is that McNabb's coziness to management created a rift in the locker room a long time ago as Reid protected McNabb and created a two tier system, one for the quarterback, one for everyone else. The idea that criticism is merited out equally, that the rules applied to all, did not exist in the Reid-McNabb regime. This is one reason why the players responded so well to the more blue collar Garcia when McNabb went down. Reggie Brown became a much more productive receiver (look it up). So underneath all the carping is a player excessively coddled and mollified, the opposite of his "woe is me" stance.

  The perception here, in the end, is that we had a very gifted quaterback, much appreciated on certain levels,(much more than Jaworski or Cunningham, who was loved dearly by many) who because of various reasons, many of his own making, never fully realized his potential. And it has nothing, nothing to do with race.

  Permalink Wednesday, September 19, 2007 10:20 PM