My Thesis: In 2016 Donovan Mcnabb will be the only quarterback in history to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame and not have the support of a large section of the fan base of team in which he played.
How could this be so?
My answer has three sections.
1. Draft day 1999: Not this again! I can already hear you say. Before you dismiss this, please hear me out. There is a section of Philadelphia fans who have still not gotten over being categorically wrong that day. Whether they like to admit it or not is a different story. Negadelphian fans have a strong tendency to believe they know more about running the team than the people who get paid to do so. They make comments saying "He has never gotten over getting booed on draft day". Has anyone ever heard Donovan say anything to that effect? No, not once. Could it be that these people are just projecting their feelings of ineptitude onto our franchise quarterback?
2. Anti-Establishment: There is a strong sense in this town of anit-management. As I have stated, some feel they can do a better job than the people who get paid to do it. This strong mistrust of management may come from the high percentage of pro-union people in the city. "They do not want to spend the money", "They are making enough money, so they do not need to do what it takes to win a championship". Whether this is true may be up for debate, however I believe many unfairly peg Mcnabb as the "company man" or the face of management. Donovan has been the face of this franchise and it is absurd to resent him for that.
3. Race card: This one is definitely going to get people fired up. I am a white male from outside the city. I am the furthest from someone who pulls the race card. However, whether you want to admit it or not, race plays a huge part in this. This town has a history of deep rooted issues with race. At any given home game over the past 10 years you could hear it for yourself from the same drunk idiots in the stands. This is not to say that these morons represent a large section of anti Mcnabb people. But I feel on a lesser much more toned down level, many anti Mcnabb people still find it hard to see an African American assume the role of the quarterback and play it like an actual quarterback. I always hear "no way, we did not have a problem with Randal". That is because he played the way you thought an African American "should play". He ran around making most of the plays with his legs but could not read defenses for crap. Perfect little cookie cutter black QB, right? Donovan is 10 times the quarterback Randal was, yet I still hear the same old complaints that have faint echoes of racism to them. "He is not a leader", "He is not an accurate passer", "He does not read defenses well". There are no valid facts to go with any of these arbitrary arguments. They are just the ramblings of the older section of this town trying to hold on to days past when it was ok to think African-Americans could not play the position. So they choose to ignore the stats, the win loss record, and the fact he has lead this team to playoff victory after another. Instead they focus on the occasional pass in the dirt.
Now, one valid argument that the anti 5 side has hung their hat on is his durability. I know all of the stats you want to show me about how many games he has played over the last 3 years or his win-loss record over the same stretch. I agree with you. He has to be healthy for us to succeed. My argument is when he is healthy which he seems to be now Mcnabb is among the best passers in the league. When healthy we are contenders. 5 out of the last 8 yrs we have been in the title game....
How could this be so?
My answer has three sections.
1. Draft day 1999: Not this again! I can already hear you say. Before you dismiss this, please hear me out. There is a section of Philadelphia fans who have still not gotten over being categorically wrong that day. Whether they like to admit it or not is a different story. Negadelphian fans have a strong tendency to believe they know more about running the team than the people who get paid to do so. They make comments saying "He has never gotten over getting booed on draft day". Has anyone ever heard Donovan say anything to that effect? No, not once. Could it be that these people are just projecting their feelings of ineptitude onto our franchise quarterback?
2. Anti-Establishment: There is a strong sense in this town of anit-management. As I have stated, some feel they can do a better job than the people who get paid to do it. This strong mistrust of management may come from the high percentage of pro-union people in the city. "They do not want to spend the money", "They are making enough money, so they do not need to do what it takes to win a championship". Whether this is true may be up for debate, however I believe many unfairly peg Mcnabb as the "company man" or the face of management. Donovan has been the face of this franchise and it is absurd to resent him for that.
3. Race card: This one is definitely going to get people fired up. I am a white male from outside the city. I am the furthest from someone who pulls the race card. However, whether you want to admit it or not, race plays a huge part in this. This town has a history of deep rooted issues with race. At any given home game over the past 10 years you could hear it for yourself from the same drunk idiots in the stands. This is not to say that these morons represent a large section of anti Mcnabb people. But I feel on a lesser much more toned down level, many anti Mcnabb people still find it hard to see an African American assume the role of the quarterback and play it like an actual quarterback. I always hear "no way, we did not have a problem with Randal". That is because he played the way you thought an African American "should play". He ran around making most of the plays with his legs but could not read defenses for crap. Perfect little cookie cutter black QB, right? Donovan is 10 times the quarterback Randal was, yet I still hear the same old complaints that have faint echoes of racism to them. "He is not a leader", "He is not an accurate passer", "He does not read defenses well". There are no valid facts to go with any of these arbitrary arguments. They are just the ramblings of the older section of this town trying to hold on to days past when it was ok to think African-Americans could not play the position. So they choose to ignore the stats, the win loss record, and the fact he has lead this team to playoff victory after another. Instead they focus on the occasional pass in the dirt.
Now, one valid argument that the anti 5 side has hung their hat on is his durability. I know all of the stats you want to show me about how many games he has played over the last 3 years or his win-loss record over the same stretch. I agree with you. He has to be healthy for us to succeed. My argument is when he is healthy which he seems to be now Mcnabb is among the best passers in the league. When healthy we are contenders. 5 out of the last 8 yrs we have been in the title game....
