NFL | If you ask me, McNabb is a Hall of Famer ... without question

by Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]

It never fails.

Whenever Donovan McNabb opens his big mouth to share his take on the Eagles, whatever comes out will offend most, if not all, of Midnight Green Nation … and those who don’t get offended, get annoyed or flat-out PO’d.

Hey, maybe the ability to tick off Phily fans will prove to be his midas touch instead of the ability to come through at crunch time in the biggest games.

All kidding aside, it’s amazing the hold “5” still has over the masses here, especially in a negative way.

So much so that at times like these, after sharing some thoughts that question the organization’s handling of something, currently that being its quarterback situation, everyone starts scrambling around in Randall Cunningham-worshipping ways to denigrate his playing days for the NFL franchise in town, dead set on making sure that yet another consensus vote is cast that says McNabb ain’t no Hall of Famer.

Not for nothing, but to me he is … and, really, it’s not even debatable.

Sorry, never bought the choke-artist label for a guy who carried the Birds to five conference-title appearances in 11 seasons. Bust his chops for going 1-4 in them if you like, but the fact is, he got them to the brink of playing for all the marbles in the first place so many times. That ain’t happening with some special performances, a lot of them, in big games mixed in along the way.

Frankly, can only remember two efforts by him under the brightest of lights as being poor and one came against Carolina in the NFC title game following the 2003 season and then another occurred against Dallas six years later in a wild-card playoff game that proved to be McNabb’s final game for Philly, not to mention his last and, perhaps, lamest air-guitar display.

Instead, seem to recall an awful lot of incredible and inspiring performances that included him shrugging off a broken ankle to obliterate Arizona, him mocking the defending Super Bowl champion Giants with an in-game phone call from their bench another time while beating their behinds and him pulling off “Fourth-and-26” against Green Bay.

Put it this way, he had as many postseason wins as HOF quarterback Jim Kelly (9) and fewer losses (7 to Kelly’s 8), and trumps the four-time NFL runner-up in just about every conceivable statistical category of relevance to individual value. Just as he does four-time NFL champ Terry Bradshaw.

Truth is, for all the hyperbole about his disappearing acts on win-or-go-home stages, McNabb actually stepped up his game in terms of passing yards per game, completion percentage and rushing yards per carry once things from shifted from the regular season to the nitty gritty.

Owner of a 98-62-1 record (including 92-49-1 with the Eagles), 37,276 passing yards, a 2-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio (234-117), 3,459 rushing yards, 29 rushing TDs and 5.6 rushing yards per carry average, and six Pro Bowl nominations, yeah, D-Mac is a Hall of Famer … or should be. To me at least.

But someone will want to argue about that, especially after he recently voiced comments against Philly’s party line.
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Never fails.

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Sorry, never bought the choke-artist label for a guy who carried the Birds to five conference-title appearances in 11 seasons. Bust his chops for going 1-4 in them if you like, but the fact is, he got them to the brink of playing for all the marbles in the first place so many times. That ain’t happening with some special performances, a lot of them, in big games mixed in along the way. Frankly, can only remember two efforts by him under the brightest of lights as being poor and one came against Carolina in the NFC title game following the 2003 season and then another occurred against Dallas six years later in a wild-card playoff game that proved to be McNabb’s final game for Philly, not to mention his last and, perhaps, lamest air-guitar display. Instead, seem to recall an awful lot of incredible and inspiring performances that included him shrugging off a broken ankle to obliterate Arizona, him mocking the defending Super Bowl champion Giants with an in-game phone call from their bench another time while beating their behinds and him pulling off “Fourth-and-26” against Green Bay.