Goodbye Donovan

Last night marked two great occasions. The beginning of the 2010 Season (Go Red Sox!) and the end of the Donovan McNabb era in Philadelphia.

The first isn't as big of a deal as the second. After 12 years in the city of brotherly love, we finally ran out the scape goat for all of our losses.

We've seen this coming now for over a year, since the game in 2008 where McNabb was benched at half-time in favor of the no-name (and now future starter) Kevin Kolb.

While I was never totally in love with McNabb, he was great for the city. He had many many highs and many many lows. The lows seem to outnumber the highs, because you always remember the lows more than the highs.

My personal opinion of the McNabb era: He was a bit more overrated than we understand. He is statistically the best player in Eagles history, but any time you play for 12 years, you're bound to break records that were previously set. He did more with less in terms of receivers like:

Terrance Small
Charles Johnson
Todd Pinkston
James Thrash
Freddie "Fred-Ex" Mitchell
Reggie Brown
Terrell Owens

That's just a few of the names. McNabb did do a lot with them, because outside of Terrell Owens (and this year with DeSean Jackson) he never had a really good receiver. They were always sub-par. That was Andy Reid's fault. He set up his convoluted version of the West Coast Offense where anyone that can catch the ball can play, because they would rather make 3 yard completions than 40 yard attempts or 3 yard runs.

What people I think fail to realize about Donovan was he had an excellent defense behind him. Brian Dawkins and Jeremiah Trotter were always making huge goal line stands or interceptions, and that's what helped the team the most. Donovan would get hurt and Garcia or Kolb or even Doug Pedersen could get the job done. The offense that Reid set up allows for every position player to be replaced easily - making fan loyalty towards a player a tough ritual. They could have gotten away with a random like a Matt Schaub that they could legitimately replace their QB every few years and as long as he is familiar with the system, it would yield very similar results.

The problem with Donovan is that he never stood a chance. From 1999 when fans wanted Ricky Williams (yes, the pot smoker) instead of McNabb, to the Rush Limbaugh comments, to puking during the final drive of the Super Bowl, he was constantly criticized. I believe that most of it wasn't his fault. He can't help being drafted where he was. Limbaugh will say whatever he wants. His receivers are to blame for not being where they are supposed to be. McNabb did make too many bad throws at the wrong time - too high, too low, 3rd down misses, 2 minute drills, etc, but was able to be one of the pieces of a Philadelphia team that went to many NFC title games and one Super Bowl. They were the Atlanta Braves of the NFC for quite a few years.

I hope Donovan the best in Washington (except for the two weeks we play him - which also strikes me as like a Brett Favre scenario) but I don't see it. At 33, he is definitely on the downswing of his career, and the Redskins have too many problems to really take advantage of his abilities. He's not the runner he once was. He's had a few injuries over the years, and Washington doesn't have a good enough system set up for him to win now. I'm glad he didn't end up in Oakland (also known as where careers die) but I think his career is over. He'll be remembered in 20 years as another great Eagle QB like Randall and Jaws, but for now, he's seen as the plague that's held us back, and moving on is the best thing we all can do in order to succeed for the next 12 years.

So, thanks Donovan for a great 12 years, but it's time. RIP.