Why’s Everybody Always Picking on Donovan?

As a general rule, I do not waste time or sympathy on million dollar celebrity athletes. They neither want nor need it from me, or anyone else for that matter.

Once in awhile I consider an exception.

I have little in depth knowledge about Donovan McNabb. Since he spent most of his career playing for one of my least favorite NFL teams, I’ve generally been vested in his failure. Given that, I can not claim to have the educated perspective on him that I try to maintain for Pittsburgh athletes.

Maybe he is a horrible person, or a bad teammate, or a spoiled entitled athlete who gets by on talent alone. Or maybe he’s a genuinely decent person and just about the unluckiest guy to ever put on a uniform.

Usually the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Honestly, I suspect with McNabb it is closer to the latter. Everything I have ever seen suggests that along with being a pretty good football player, McNabb is also a pretty decent guy.

So I’m at a loss to explain why he has been such a lightening rod for criticism and controversy throughout his career, most of which seems not of his own making.

Back in October, I posted a blog regarding the moronic decision by Washington coach Mike Shanahan to bench McNabb with two minutes left in a winnable game…FOR REX GROSSMAN. If you recall, Shanahan initially suggested that he felt in that situation, Grossman gave him the best chance to win. Let me repeat what I wrote at that time; they have not yet invented a situation in football where Rex Grossman gives you the best chance to win.

Honestly, the entire thing was insulting to McNabb and unfair to Grossman. If Shanahan really believes what he said, and I seriously doubt that, he should have been fired on the spot for rank incompetence. If the ultimate intent was to send a message to McNabb, through whatever means necessary, it was a classless way to do so. Not to mention he cost his team a football game. The minute Rex Grossman walked on that field, the Redskins were over and done.

I wonder if it’s a coincidence that the Skins season fell apart about that time.

Either way I thought the situation had been rectified when the Skins gave McNabb a $78 Million extension. In reality, it was simply a $3.5 Million severance payment. That became apparent when Shanahan benched McNabb for the last three games so he could, “get a look at Grossman and John Beck.”

Let me be absolutely clear on this point. NFL coaches do not need to look at Rex Grossman and John Beck. In fact, most coaches hope to see as little as possible of either one of them. The actual English translation of his comments is, “McNabb is done in Washington.”

Look, McNabb is not the first veteran player to lose his fastball or at least end up in the wrong situation. Forgetting the abomination that is his 2010 season, think of 2009 Brett Favre in Minnesota versus 2008 Brett Favre in New York. Maybe McNabb is washed up. Maybe he’s not willing to become a better QB now that his athletic ability is fading with age. Or maybe he’s just stuck playing for a perfectionist coach and his prodigal son offensive coordinator who are both hoping to rediscover John Elway.

Any of those things are possible. What is not possible is that Mike Shanahan really thinks Rex Grossman is his answer at QB.

Still, could he not have treated McNabb with a little professional class? Is that so much to ask? Which leads me back to my original question. Do these things just happen to McNabb or is he really a bad guy? You know the old saying, “where there is smoke there is fire?” How many seemingly bad things can happen to one guy and still be a coincidence?

I’ll confess I thought McNabb was overrated coming out of college. I came to that impression after watching him implode in the Orange Bowl against a really good Florida team. Regardless, NFL scouts thought he was one of the top five players in the draft. McNabb’s reward for this was to be drafted by Philadelphia and jeered mercilessly on draft day. You remember why; they wanted Ricky “the stoner” Williams who was not even the first back picked in the draft.

To my surprise, McNabb developed in to an All Pro caliber QB in Philly, in spite of mediocre offensive talent around him. He carried the Eagles to three straight NFC Championship games, but came up short each time. His reward for this was to have Rush Limbaugh suggest on national TV that he was overrated and overhyped only because of his skin color.

I remember when that happened. At first the TMZSPN commentators had little to say on the subject. I think they were prepared to let it pass until the rest of the media came crashing down on them. At that point there was suddenly a flood of what seemed like forced righteous indignation from Tom Jackson and Michael Irvin. Frankly it seemed more like protecting their territory then defending McNabb.

And just so we are clear, Limbaugh’s comments were asinine stupidity and should have been shot down on site.

So then Philly goes out and gets an All Pro receiver in Terrell Owens. And we know what happened. Somewhere along the way there was a falling out between the two. After that Owens spent the rest of his time in Philly bad mouthing and mocking his QB. At times it got truly ugly, even when they finally made it to the Super Bowl in 2004.

I have zero respect for Terrell Owens. He has been a loud mouth, locker room killing malcontent for most of his career. You would have to make an awfully compelling case for me to take T.O.’s side over McNabb in this case. It further supports my belief that McNabb is a good guy who ends up on the wrong side of issues.

Since that point, McNabb has been mocked for apparently running out of gas in the Super Bowl and mocked for losing four NFC championship games. He’s suffered the indignity of being traded within his own division and had his physical conditioning questioned by his current coach and former teammates. Oh and Philly replaced him with a convicted criminal who seems to be more beloved than McNabb ever was in that city. It’s unreal.

Seriously, what exactly did this guy do to cause so much strife?

My honest feeling about McNabb is he is actually too classy a guy. That was my take on the Owens situation. McNabb wants to be the better man and take the high road which is great. Unfortunately T.O. is a bully. He attacks anyone he perceives as a threat to him and does not respect anything but having it put right back in his face. McNabb may indeed have taken the high road but he paid for it.

Beyond that, I think he’s taken heat for never being quite as good as he was expected to be. He ultimately suffered for being a very talented, very good quarterback who never quite became a true franchise superstar. Philly fans could not forgive all those championship game losses; and McNabb became the on the field face of that pain.

That’s a laymen’s opinion of course. And I admit I could be flat out wrong.

As for his troubles in Washington, I can only speculate. And since it’s my blog, I will.

I read a great interview with former Denver QB Jake Plummer (aka Grizzly Adams Jr.) on Yahoo sports after my last Shanahan/McNabb blog. In the article, Plummer said basically that he hated playing for Shanahan. He called Shanahan an over the top perfectionist and said that he was desperately seeking another John Elway. That’s not hard to believe considering Shanahan’s mediocre coaching record without Elway.

My guess is that’s what happened in Washington. Shanahan was hoping McNabb would finally give him his Elway type QB. Instead, McNabb either did not or could not play the game the way Shanahan wanted. It would not shock me if the rumors about McNabb not getting along with Shanahan’s kid were true as well. Again, I’m siding with McNabb. Nothing good ever comes out of nepotism in sports. Parents can not hide their blind spots for their kids, even when millions of dollars are at stake.

And yet even if I’m right, how does this keep happening to one guy? Honestly, I just do not know.

Truth be told, McNabb is better off leaving Washington, as dysfunctional a franchise as there is in the NFL. He will get another opportunity in some other quarterback desperate city. He has already requested his release but I'm guessing that the Skins will not give it to him. Might as well grab some draft choices for that $3.5 Million severance payment.

Here's hoping the drama ends at his next destination. Here's guessing it does not.