A Thread About Donovan McNabb Being A Hoyda

[Rome]

Posted on Sat, May. 2, 2009


Bob Ford: McNabb should project more leadership

By Bob Ford

Inquirer Sports Columnist

The real start of the 2009 NFL season arrived at 10:30 yesterday morning when an air horn sounded on the practice fields at the NovaCare Complex and the first workout of the new year began.

It's a difficult trek from May to September, and many of the unfamiliar faces out there yesterday, and probably some of the familiar ones, won't make the entire journey.

They were on the field yesterday, though, going through a glorified set of noncontact passing drills and special teams work. The quarterbacks threw the ball, and the backs and receivers caught it, which is what always happens when neither end of the completion has to worry about getting hit.

"The important thing is we've got a lot of new people and it's important that we come together and that we jell," coach Andy Reid said. "It won't be very long before we're opening up against Carolina, and we've got a lot of work ahead of us."

The changes are apparent in the locker room as much as on the field. The corner where Brian Dawkins once commanded two stalls - one for Brian and one for the two dozen Wolverine figurines representing his X-Men comic-book persona - is now occupied by Ellis Hobbs and Rashad Baker.

Those spots previously assigned to Correll Buckhalter, Sean Considine, Greg Lewis, Lito Sheppard, L.J. Smith and Tra Thomas have been given to others in the endless churn of personnel. Somewhat quirkily, Jon Runyan's nameplate is still above the locker of the unsigned free agent, but that is more likely due to the sentiment of the equipment staff than any organizational hint that the player will return.

This is a business best undertaken with a short memory and a long contract. Friends move on, teammates fall by the wayside, off-seasons drift from May to September before you realize it.

For the 11th consecutive year, the 10th since being installed as unquestioned starter, quarterback Donovan McNabb will be the peg around which the team revolves. Whatever improvements have been made to the offense, whatever additions to the defense, the ultimate success of the Eagles rests with the play of McNabb.

Aside from the very occasional blog post, McNabb has not shared his current feelings with the fans, hasn't brought clarity to the lingering questions about his relationship with the organization.

He declined the opportunity yesterday, when he could have gotten it all over with and moved on. Instead, the keynote for the start of the season from the team's most important player, the face of the franchise, was inaudible. Perhaps dogs in South Philly could hear it and were barking in their yards, but there was nothing to put between quote marks for your consideration.

Does it matter? Maybe not. But at a time when the team could use some stability, McNabb is lending none.

It could be that McNabb doesn't want to answer questions about the contract extension he wants but knows he won't get. It could be that when the team drafts a 20-year-old rookie receiver instead of trading for an established veteran, the 32-year-old McNabb wonders which quarterback will benefit from that addition. It could be he's still stung by what he considered callous treatment last season - the lowly position coach told him he was benched! - and thinks no comment is the best way to show he's his own man and not some mouthpiece of the organization.

Or maybe he has a sore throat.

Hard to tell.

"Right now, he's here, and he's in a very good place," Reid said. "He's as upbeat and positive and into that practice as you'd expect him to be. I'd said the same thing about Sheldon [Brown]. He's fired up out there."

Whether those two, and others, are actually unhappy mini-campers doesn't matter much to Reid. That's the business end, and he likes to concentrate on the field side of things.

"Those things happen in professional sports," Reid said. "It's part of the game. It's something coaches and front-office people don't like, but it's something players feel they have to do. So that's how that works."

He was speaking more of the situation with Brown - who stood up and put his name behind his feelings - but it also applies to McNabb, whose alleged unhappiness has been conveyed only by his water-carriers in the media.

In the end, however, nothing matters more than how well McNabb plays the quarterback position. If he wants a contract extension, he will have every opportunity - with a revamped offensive line and some shiny, new weapons - to earn it.

As for leadership, professional athletes will follow the teammates who can get them somewhere. It would be nice if they can also build their confidence and lead them emotionally, but not entirely necessary.

Great play and poor leadership can still get you a championship. The reverse just gets a new nameplate over your locker.

Hahaha.  Yeah, right.  He should completely change his personality and become a fiery, outspoken leader of men.

That's totally gonna happen, Bob.

[Feva]

So.... they asked questions and McNabb didn't answer.



Hang him.

[Eagaholic]

I don't have a problem with 5 not saying anything, it's more the media who don't get quotes to make a story and stir the pot who don't like it.

I have to give credit to whoever is responsible for McNabb and Brown changing their tune, whether it is the player, coach, agent, etc. Otherwise winning a SB becomes much more difficult than it already is.

[Feva]

SalPal did this exact same thing on SC yesterday... where he flat out said, "McNabb didn't say. but we can speculate..." and wrapped up his piece saying something like, "McNabb usually causes controversy by the things he says, now he's causing a controversy by saying nothing."

He's full of shtein right along with Ford...

[Eagaholic]

Agreed. Sal Pal is a tool and his shtick became lame long ago. Because he won't do the work or lacks the talent to make anything of substance, he just defaults into trying to trump up controversy when there is none.

At least in the past there have been times when the team used that stuff as a rallying point to say farg them and pull together.

[Rome]

Drumming up controversy is the mass media's last desperate grasp at relevancy.

[QB Eagles]

Drumming up controversy is the mass media's last desperate grasp at relevancy.

It's what the mass media has done for centuries. And sports media is more successful today than ever. The reason they run this crap is that some Philly fans are actually retarded enough to get emotionally involved with this phony soap opera bullshtein. Maybe because you don't need to know jack shtein about football to talk about whether or not McNabb is bitchmade (which he is, and might have been new information back in 2002).

If you look at the teams that have won the SB recently, there are a lot of teams there that basically just shut the farg up in the media and play some football. And that goes for the players, coaches, and the FO. It's no coincidence the Giants won with Shockey on IR and Tiki running his mouth from an NBC studio. The Patriots, Colts, and Steelers are always professional and manage to keep their complaints in-house. And they clamp down on that shtein fast when things leak out. The Eagles seem happy enough to let the city be a full participant in their psycho-drama.

[ice grillin you]

sal pal is a new yorker and despises anything philly


jesus mcnabb keeping his mouth shut should be the best news since hes been in philly and people are still complaining

[PhillyPhreak54]

Are you shocked, igy?

This will be the kindling and people like Cataldi and Hughes will be the air and before you know it the geniuses who call in like "Arson Arnie" and Mr. Dirty Thirty will be bitching for the helluva it.

[PhillyPhreak54]

And where's the outrage about Westbrook being quiet? He's always salty about something...go pick his brain and pick on him, reporters.

Or better yet...shut the farg up with creating controversy.

What exactly does Bob Ford need his words for? What does Bob Ford think we need McNabb to soothe us about?

[Rome]

Shut your filthy whore mouth.

Donovan's words are like a puppydog's kisses to me.

[Feva]

And where's the outrage about Westbrook being quiet? He's always salty about something...go pick his brain and pick on him, reporters.

You just HAD to say something, didn't you?? 

Eagles Notes: Westbrook adds to Eagles' silence


Quarterback Donovan McNabb wasn't the only player who shunned a trip to the podium yesterday.

Running back Brian Westbrook also declined to share his thoughts after the Eagles' morning workout at the NovaCare Complex.

The big question for Westbrook, of course, is how he feels after playing most of last season with a severe right-ankle sprain and an inflamed left knee that required arthroscopic surgery in January.

"He moved around well," coach Andy Reid said. "I checked with him midway through the practice and then three-quarters of the way through practice just to see how he was feeling, and he felt good."

Reid said he probably would limit Westbrook's reps during these minicamps.

"I'm just going off how he feels," Reid said. "His reps won't be up too high because of the bodies [at running back] we have here."

As for McNabb's reluctance to field questions after the first workout of the 2009 season, Reid did not appear concerned.

"That was his choice," he said.

Could it mean the quarterback wants a contract extension, a position he strongly hinted at during an interview in late January at the Super Bowl?

"We never talk about that . . . not from this end," Reid said.

McNabb was jovial on the field, especially during the team's afternoon workout, which was moved indoors because of heavy rain.

"He's done a great job - at least he did today and he has over the last 10 years - of leading this football team," Reid said. "That, to me, is very important . . . and obviously somewhere he'll talk to you along the way here."


Injuries
The most notable absences yesterday were on the first-team offense, with wide receiver Kevin Curtis and guard Todd Herremans sidelined by injuries. Curtis underwent surgery April 15 to further repair the sports hernia that forced him to miss seven games last season. Herremans sat out after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee last month. Reid said both are expected back for voluntary workouts next month.

Guard Max Jean-Gilles still is recovering from a broken ankle that ended his 2008 season. Defensive tackle Dan Klecko sat out with a strained calf muscle, and cornerback Jack Ikegwuono suffered a hamstring injury that forced him out of the morning workout.


Hello, goodbye
Ryan Purvis, a tight end from Boston College, was among the players invited for a tryout without a contract, but his first Eagles workout ended almost before it started.

Less than 10 minutes into the morning workout, Purvis left the field because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had signed him to a contract. A few minutes later, veteran tight end Matt Schobel left the field with a strained hamstring.

That left the Eagles with three healthy tight ends in camp: starter Brent Celek, and rookies Cornelius Ingram and Eugene Bright.

Ingram, a fifth-round draft pick who missed his senior season at Florida because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, looked healthy and appears to have outstanding hands.


Numbers game
It's always fun - and sometimes confusing - to see unfamiliar faces with the numbers of guys who used to play here.

The Eagles were respectful of longtime veterans Brian Dawkins, Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas and did not distribute the Nos. 20, 69 and 72.

Runyan still has a locker with his nameplate inside the NovaCare Complex. He is a free agent rehabilitating from surgery on his right knee, but it seems unlikely he will sign with the Eagles.

Some others did not get the same respect. Safety Sean Jones is wearing Lito Sheppard's No. 26, undrafted rookie tight end Eugene Bright was running around in L.J. Smith's No. 82, and newly acquired cornerback Ellis Hobbs was wearing Sean Considine's No. 37.

Other numbers: Jason Peters is 71, Stacy Andrews is 76, Jeremy Maclin is 18, Leonard Weaver is 43, and LeSean McCoy is 29.


Extra points
Reid on Sheldon Brown's public request for a trade because of his contract situation: "I would rather not have people do that. Unfortunately, that's part of this business." Reid and Brown spoke yesterday. "It was a player-coach conversation," Brown said. "Nothing serious." . . . Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who was diagnosed with melanoma near the end of last season, was on the practice field yesterday, but he did not take his usual position standing behind the defense. Instead, he was on the other side of the line of scrimmage in a motorized red wheelchair. Johnson will talk to the media for the first time today since his battle with cancer was made public in late January. . . . In between workouts, the Eagles were briefed by trainer Rick Burkholder on how to avoid getting swine flu. Bottles of hand sanitizers were distributed. -

[SD_Eagle5]

I never understood why people get so caught up in what McNabb has to say. He's not that interesting off the field so who cares.

[ice grillin you]

cause when he talks he comes off as a spoiled unfunny douchebag and usually says something that pisses people off

thats why i dont understand how anyone could be upset he isnt talking...well i can understand the media because hes a great story when he talks...but fans be happy as shtein....street kids rejoice

[SD_Eagle5]

He's absolutely unfunny but what does he say to piss people off? He rarely if ever provides the media with ammunition. Most of the controversial stuff about him is drummed up nonsense. Exhibit A: Bob Ford: McNabb should project more leadership
Haven't we heard this song and dance before by the Philly media? We get it, he should be a more assertive and in your face leader, because I'm sure past SB winning QBs like Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady were all like that.