Saw this interesting post over at IRT this evening. An article from the Ann Arbor News is calling for the Lions to try to acquire Donovan McNabb from the Eagles for the 2nd overall pick.
“The fact is, a college quarterback is always an unknown commodity until he proves he’s not, which brings us to Donovan McNabb.
The former NFL Pro Bowler is suffering through a little mid-career crisis. He blew out his knee this season, and when veteran backup Jeff Garcia led the Eagles to the playoffs, Philadelphia’s notoriously fickle fans and media began to wonder whether they might be better off with Garcia at quarterback than McNabb.”
The report went on to say:
There have been weird rumbles in Eagle-ville lately, with coach Andy Reid ordering McNabb not to travel with the team for a playoff game, then canceling a news conference the quarterback wanted to hold.
This is a case of a writer not really checking his facts. The Eagles as a rule do not let injured players travel with the team on road trips. Period. This was not a case of Reid or the Eagles brass telling Donovan to stay home. No one player is larger than the team with the Eagles, and after the T.O. fiasco, they are hell bent on proving that. I will say, however, that the week before the loss to the Saints, McNabb was on the sidelines for the Giants game and there were rumblings that he was interfering with Jeff Garcia’s leadership abilities.
The article concludes with”
“But the truth is, Quinn won’t bring back any of the people who’ve given up on this team. At least not until he proves he’s more than just another Joey Harrington.
Donovan McNabb lining up under center in next season’s opener is a different story.
A story that would make the Lions interesting again, that would get people talking again, one certainly worth making a phone call in hope of.”
First off, I have made mention of my love for the Eagles plenty of times on this website. I love the Eagles almost as much as I love Notre Dame and I probably know more about the Birds than the Irish for the simple reason of being surrounded by fellow Eagles fans. And, if the Lions were to trade that 2nd overall pick to the Eagles, I would be on the Rebbok site in a second purchasing a custom made Eagles #10 jersey with Quinn’s name on it. It will never happen though.
The Eagles are McNabb’s team and the Eagles are not a young team looking to rebuild around a rookie quarterback. They were such a team prior to drafting McNabb and doing a trade such as this would mean they have given up on the current core group of players and are starting over. Unless McNabb were to demand a trade, he will not be going anywhere.
On a side note, Eagles fans would love Quinn after they see him take his first big hit and get right back up. Quinn has been one of the toughest quarterbacks in college football over the last four years. He’s taken a beating without skipping a beat, something Philly fans would eat up.
Lastly, does anyone else find it surprising that a columnist from Ann Arbor doesn’t like the idea of seeing Brady Quinn line up for the Lions? Odd they wouldn’t want a Notre Dame quarterback leading their team isn’t it?
It isn’t a matter of them not wanting Quinn; it is their feeling that a potential Hall – of – Fame QB in McNabb would bring respectability to one of the worst franchises in pro sports a lot faster than would any rookie. Even if Brady Quinn has the potential to be better than McNabb will ever be and do so rather quickly, he will still be a rookie QB who will have to learn the NFL game in a bad organization from a questionable coaching staff with a bunch of misfit teammates. But put Donovan McNabb in there and it is HIS FRANCHISE. It will mean a lot less that Matt Millen is the GM, some marginally qualified nobody is the head coach, and the players are lazy and hate each other, because McNabb’s ability on the field and profile off it will mask a lot of that stuff. To put it simply, if Brady Quinn tries to get on Mike Williams to make him work harder, Williams will reply “sure rookie, remember when I used to catch all those TDs when my USC team was blowing out your ND team by 30 points? Hey, did you play in either game, because I sure don’t remember you.” And everyone in the locker room will laugh, and that will be that. And if the coach or GM tries to stand up for Quinn … you mean the guy who went 2 – 14 last season? Or the guy who wasn’t even any good as a sportscaster, let alone has never been a coach, scout, front office person, or anything that would give him the qualifications to be GM? Right. But if McNabb comes in there and calls Mike Williams out, Williams and everyone else will HAVE to respect his 4 straight NFC title games. Detroit either needs someone who can come in NOW and be the face of the franchise and at least get them back to the playoffs, or they will have to just blow the whole thing up and start over. Again.