Dump Donovan Cont.

An Eagles fan offers some perspective:

Well as a Philly resident and lifelong Birds fan who's attended 50+ games over the years perhaps I can shed some light.

The People's beef with McNabb is the strength of his will. "Fortitude" as the Catholic Church calls it. To use another word: Balls.

My dad has been harping on this for years now. McNabb is always the first one to throw his hands up in disgust on the field, the first one to be seen pouting on the sidelines, the first one to blame somebody else for the loss on Tuesday, before recanting on Wednesday. I won't even touch on the final drive of the Super Bowl. (McNabb's opening drive fumble in that game has been long forgotten)

I've always defended McNabb for the sound, logical reasons TNC laid out. But I am growing tired of Donovan McNabb - Passive Aggressive Superstar.

The T.O thing was a good example of that. He could've acted as mediator between T.O and the front office or put his foot down and stood up to Owens. He chose to bury his head in the sand instead. When T.O was finally confronted in the locker room, it was a retired player (Hugh Douglas) leading the charge.

That in a nutshell, is why my pop dukes rarely has good things to say about McNabb anymore...but welcomed A.I back for his swan song. McNabb is talented, but "fragile". A.I, for good and ill, is a fucking Zulu warrior. Nevermind A.I's baggage, right? Philly fans are odd like that. Forget Santa Claus, they booed *Wilt Chamberlain* for "not playing hard enough". WILT F'N CHAMBERLAIN.

Should McNabb come back? For the first time, I'm on the fence. I have no desire to wander in the Shitty QB Desert. I remember what happened after Randall left. But on the other hand...Kolb is intriguing. The Eagles are a possible candidate for some Ewing Theory.

This helps. I still can't relate. For whatever reason, the Cowboys have a reputation as the Yankees of the NFL. That rep obscures some of the most woeful quarterbacking I've ever seen, and some of the most woeful football every played.

My earliest years as a Cowboys fan involved Danny White, a damn fine quarterback who couldn't "get over the hump." White was followed by the likes of Gary Hogeboom, Steve Pelluer, Kevin Sweeney, and Reggie Collier. We finally hit on Troy Aikman. In that time we went 1-15 and 3-13. It was not a fun time.

There were the Super Bowls in the 90s, and then a lot more bad quarterbacking--Drew Henson, Chad Hutchinson, Vinny Testaverde, Clint Stoener, Ryan Leaf etc. The succession of 5-11 seasons reflected it. As a Cowboys fan, I feel bad even complaining. What is there to say to Cleveland Browns fan? A Detroit Lions fan? At this point, to a Raiders fan? To a Bengals fan? There's a school of thought that says one or two Super Bowls is worth a decade of futility. I can't really judge that. I'm not of the school that thinks it's Dan Marino's fault that the Dolphins didn't win the Super Bowl.

I think one thing that comforts a perennially bad team is the notion that a savior is just around the corner. If you pick in the top five every year, there's always the hope that Peyton Manning might land in your lap. But the perennially good team, has no such hope. Being good means, by definition, that you're likely to stay status quo. The idea of a revolution is always thrilling.