McNabb-Philly drama turns Oct. 3 game into masterpiece theater
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- There are big games. There are must-win games. And then there are must-see games, with Oct. 3 the biggest and most intriguing contest to play in Philadelphia in years.
"I'm guessing that's the Washington Redskins," said Philadelphia quarterback Kevin Kolb.
Give that man a star.
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| Donovan McNabb still doesn't look quite right in Washington colors. (US Presswire) |
McNabb was good -- very good -- for the Eagles for 11 years, with coach Andy Reid calling him "the greatest quarterback in the history of the franchise." But he's an Eagle no more, returning to Philadelphia Oct. 3 to face the club that sent him away, the teammates who looked to him for guidance and the fans he couldn't satisfy -- and while that may not constitute a great game it should make for great theater.
"The place is going to be rockin'," said Baltimore coach John Harbaugh, a former Eagles' assistant, "and nobody will relish it more than Donovan. With his personality, I'd be surprised if he doesn't play great. It will be one of the greatest moments in NFL history. I'd love to be there."
Well, then, Harbaugh can get in line. The Philadelphia Story played to millions once, and it will play to millions again. The game will be broadcast nationally, just as Terrell Owens' 2006 return to Philadelphia was, with interest so widespread that the Eagles' public relations team expects a media contingent comparable to that for playoff games.
But this is not the self-absorbed Owens coming back. This is Donovan Freakin' McNabb, the guy who delivered five conference championship games and one Super Bowl in eight years. McNabb was a fixture with the Eagles, the last starter left from their Super Bowl XXXIX club, and feelings for him run deep. In the end, though, the Eagles felt stronger about their future with Kolb than their past with McNabb and made a change -- with Oct. 3 our first chance to evaluate it.
"I can't wait," said Washington tight end Chris Cooley. "Donovan's played it down, and I think for good reason. But I know everyone around him is going to be doing what they can to put it on him. For him, obviously, it's a big game, and we have his back. It's going to be a huge game."
Of course, McNabb won't admit to that, and you wouldn't expect him to. As an Eagle, he maintained an even temperament, refusing to become entangled in emotional or angry confrontations -- and that includes Owens, who barked at his quarterback on the sidelines during a 2004 loss to Pittsburgh, with McNabb turning his back and walking away.
In essence, he's doing the same thing now -- insisting that Oct. 3 is no big deal. And maybe he believes that. But Donovan McNabb has been around, and he knows better.
"At this point," he said, "I can't even think about it. Everybody asks the question, ‘What will it be like to go back to Philadelphia?' And it will be great. I look forward to it at times. But it's not to the point where I'm so driven for that particular game.
"We play against the Dallas Cowboys, and when that particular game comes around we all know what people are going to be talking about how I was 0-3 against them last year, when my record is pretty much 10-6 against them. But they're going to remember what happened last. And they're going to be talking about that all week. I just need to focus on what we need to do as a unit to make sure we win."
Good luck. Harbaugh was right. The place will be rockin'. The crowd will be loud. The Eagles will be amped. And McNabb … well, McNabb will try to do what Brett Favre did against Green Bay in 2009. He not only beat the Packers twice; he saved his best for Lambeau Field, throwing four touchdown passes and no interceptions in a 38-26 demolition of Green Bay.
Favre was booed that afternoon, first when he ran on to the field for pre-game warm-ups, then when he was introduced and finally when he took snaps. But the noise subsided as Favre gained control of the game and the opponent, and by game's end he not only had conquered the Packers, he overcame their fans.
The job won't change for McNabb.
"I feel like (Philadelphia fans) never completely embraced him," said Minnesota coach Brad Childress, who coached McNabb in Philadelphia. "In a lot of ways, they would cheer Ron Jaworski more than a Donovan McNabb."
A year ago I asked Vikings' defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who coached in Philadelphia, when Eagles' fans would appreciate their head coach and quarterback, and he was quick to respond.
"When they're gone," he said.
"That's my sense of it, too," said Childress. "I mean, you're talking about the all-time (Eagles') winner in playoffs. Forget about Dick Vermeil and Greasy Neale or whoever. Yeah, (you're appreciated) when you're gone, and when you're out of there."
Not quite. The Eagles appreciate McNabb. More specifically, Reid does. Trading his quarterback was a difficult decision, but it was made for the right reasons: McNabb turns 34 in November and is in the last year of his contract. Because the Eagles typically don't extend 34-year-old veterans (see Brian Dawkins), they had a dilemma: To stay with McNabb another season or gain something for him while they could and move on to Kolb.
Reid chose Door Number Two and now gets to face his former quarterback twice a year, beginning Oct. 3.
"I've done it so many times with players now that I don't think the players get caught up in it; I think you just go play," he said. "Donovan and I are still friends, so it's not like we've divorced each other. We both understand how the game works today."
So do I. But that doesn't mean it won't be odd seeing McNabb in another uniform playing against the team he once led. Think back to the first time you saw Favre in a Jets' uniform -- or playing the Packers in a Vikings' jersey -- and it is, as Eagles' safety Quintin Mikell said, "weird." But Reid is right: Weird things happen for reasons, and this isn't the first time a former star has returned to Philadelphia.
So it happens. The question I have now is this: Where is the pressure greater, on McNabb or Kolb? McNabb would like to show Eagles' fans what they're missing, and Kolb would like to show them what they're about to get. If McNabb is out to prove the Eagles wrong for making the move, and he hasn't owned up to that, Kolb should be out to prove it right.
Only there's a catch: He must do it at the expense of his former mentor.
"The biggest thing I learned from Donovan," he said, "is that there are always going to be ups and downs during the season. There are people who are going to be jumping on your bandwagon and people who are going to be jumping off. And if you let that affect you it's really going to drag your season down.
"You have to have fun with it and keep driving the train straight. And at the end of it, people are going to see how much hard work you've put in and appreciate it."
For his sake I hope he's right. For your sake, I hope you tune in Oct. 3. And for McNabb's sake, I hope he gets treated right. If nothing else, Philadelphia should recognize what he did for its football team.
"If fans have already not begun to long for him," Frazier said, "they will on Oct. 4. He's a great, great, great player and a great player for the Eagles. He made all of us on defense ... and our entire team ... look good for a number of years. I've seen him put our team on his shoulders a number of times; games we would not have won had he not been the guy under center.
"There aren't a lot of guys who can do some of the things he can do at quarterback, and he still has a lot of football left in him. So I don't think it will take (fans) long to say, ‘Wow, we used to have him?' Then those boos will be cheers."
