McNabb SPEAKS!

By John Gonzalez

Inquirer Columnist

It's been about two weeks since ESPN reported that Donovan McNabb sat down with Eagles management and demanded they upgrade the team. Since then, a lot has happened. Through it all, people waited patiently for McNabb to speak up, to tell us what he thinks about how the Eagles front office has restructured the team. After all, wasn't that the whole point of the ESPN story - that McNabb would be evaluating the evaluators?

But McNabb stayed quiet when Correll Buckhalter and Brian Dawkins moved out to Denver. He stayed quiet when Lito Sheppard and Greg Lewis were traded. He stayed quiet when the Eagles signed Stacy Andrews to play tackle and Sean Jones to play safety. He stayed quiet until late Monday night when he stepped out from wherever he's been hiding to post on his Yardbarker blog for the first time in well over a month. (Quick aside: Who takes a month off from blogging but still manages to maintain a dedicated readership? That's impressive. Five is some sort of electronic media genius.)

Late Monday night, shortly after McNabb's longtime blindside bodyguard Tra Thomas permanently left Philadelphia for Jacksonville, McNabb blogged about the turnover on the Birds roster. In typical McNabb fashion, he first softened his comments by explaining how he doesn't usually "remark about teammates unless asked" but "felt it was necessary" to share his thoughts. He also made sure to say he'll miss Buckhalter, Sheppard and even Sean Considine. McNabb is quite the diplomat that way.

But the bulk of the post, as you might expect, focused on Dawkins and Thomas. In an impossibly long sentence that would have made David Foster Wallace blanch, McNabb pined for yesteryear when The Three Amigos "sweated in training camp" and "dreamed of a championship parade" together.

"I was always confident that Tra had my blind side," McNabb wrote. "When he was out there, it was one less thing to worry about. As for Brian, mere words cannot explain what he has meant to me, our team, and the City of Philadelphia."

Then, he added this:

"There may be other men to come in here and play these positions and hopefully we can share successes. I will always regret not having the chance to win a championship with these guys."

I've read those comments countless times now. I've read them over and over. I can't stop reading them.

And I'm still not sure what it all means.

There are two possibilities here. McNabb was simply saying so long to two good teammates and two good friends. Or he was doing that and getting a subtle dig in at the Birds for letting go of one guy who kept him safe and another who meant a lot to McNabb, the team and the town.

Considering it appears McNabb used ESPN to make his position known a few weeks ago, this blog post feels like the same sort of premeditated, coordinated communication. The part where he says he'll "always regret" not winning a championship with Dawkins and Thomas sounds like he's sending a message that he's not so thrilled they won't be returning. Overall, it seems like he wants us to read between the lines and understand what he's thinking without him actually having to explain anything out loud or on the record.

Because if he doesn't want us to read between the lines, why post anything at all? Why not just leave his blog dark?

But here's the problem: We don't know for sure. I can barely read the actual lines, let alone read between them.

McNabb really needs to help us out here. No more qualifying comments. No more filtering information through well-timed leaks to ESPN or strategic posts on a long-dormant blog.

I'm not knocking the guy here. Honest. I just want to know what he really thinks. He should take direct questions on the moves the Eagles have made, and he should provide direct answers - to the media and to the fans - about whether they're sufficient. It's time.

McNabb doesn't "remark about teammates" unless he's asked? Well, I'm asking. A lot of other people are, too.

Spike is currently taping the upcoming season of Pros vs. Joes and it appears the Pros aren't playing nice with others. According to NBA.com, Alonzo Mourning "got into a physical altercation with one of the Joes." Meanwhile, the L.A. Times reported that everyone's favorite irascible former Cowboy, Pacman Jones, "exchanged punches" with one of the amateurs. Classy. . . . Finally got back into watching Friday Night Lights. ("Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose!") Jason Street will be missed. And I don't like the new freshman quarterback, or his dad, one bit. . . . Apparently the Giants are having trouble selling tickets because the fans aren't thrilled about personal-seat licenses. Turns out New Yorkers are smarter than we thought. . . . The inaugural season of the four-team United Football League (which begins in October) will include a weekly game on Versus, or so says the news release. What I love about this is that the UFL and Versus are trying to push coaches Jim Haslett, Jim Fassel and Dennis Green as the main reasons to watch. Cause, you know, fans love coaches. All the league needs now is a "marquee" player. Paging Freddie Mitchell.