The End of an Era in Philly...

The end of an era happened this Easter for the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans. Donovan McNabb, the Eagles franchise quarterback for the last decade (1999-2009) has ended. The Kevin Kolb era is about to begin. I’m sad that McNabb has left the Eagles, more than most Eagles fans. McNabb has been my favorite Eagle and I really wanted him to be the QB to lead the team to a Super Bowl victory, now I might have to watch him lift the Lombardi Trophy for a team in the Eagles division. McNabb came into Philly and wasn’t what I would call a fan favorite, he was booed at the draft, because fans wanted Ricky Williams, looking back its still the right decision. I however was excited, because I remember watching a Syracuse – Michigan game in 98. I remember Michigan not being able to stop McNabb and thinking man I hate this guy, he led Syracuse to a 38-28 win over Michigan that day. Obviously by 1999 I was a fan, it was the first decent quarterback the team had since Randal Cunningham. Watching McNabb play and run all over teams was exciting. In Philly people became accustomed to winning seasons and by 2001 McNabb was giving them what they wanted and the team played in four consecutive NFC Championships, in 2004 the Eagles finally won one and went to the Super Bowl. Say what you will about McNabb’s performance in that game, but they wouldn’t have been there without him. The Eagles have put together a couple good seasons since but McNabb’s injuries have slowed the team down and his game. Now when McNabb escapes a rush it’s more because of his experience in the game then because he can outrun the defense, still exciting, but for different reasons.

Donovan’s inability to win the Super Bowl is the only thing hurting his resume at the moment. As an Eagle though he is the career leader in wins, pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards, and touchdowns. A lot of this is because under Andy Read, Philadelphia was pass happy and their running game were screen passes to Brian Westbrook. The Eagles were one of the top 5 teams of the last decade behind the Patriots and Colts, based on wins and a lot of that is owed to McNabb. Some of McNabb’s NFL records include Least Intercepted QB per pass attempt of all time (4588-96), second best TD to INT ratio of all time (209-96) behind Tom Brady, one of six NFL QB’s of all time to have over 25,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards, and currently the third highest winning percentage among active QB’s (.647) behind Manning and Brady.

Now the Eagles have traded McNabb to the Redskins and the Eagles will have to play him twice a year. I really wish McNabb went out of the division so I could still hope for him to have success, but I won’t be able to do that now. I’m going to put my McNabb jersey in the closet where it will sit with my Dawkins Jersey for eternity. Players like McNabb, Dawkins, Runyon, Westbrook, Trotter, and others who were the reason of so much success over the last decade are now gone. There is a new age in Philadelphia, a team of somewhat unknowns and young stars that hope to pick up where McNabb and the other Veterans left off, guys like DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek, LeSean McCoy, Jason Avant, Stewart Bradley, Trent Cole, Jeremy Maclin, and leading them on the field on Sundays will be Kevin Kolb. This new team will be able to grow together and maybe with a year or two of consistency win a championship or two.

It is a sad day as an Eagles fan, but the future looks bright and I bid farewell to my favorite player, because now you’re playing for the Redskins and no matter how much I want McNabb to succeed, I cannot root for the Skins. This trade hurts even more being an Eagles fan living in DC. So Skins fans consider yourself lucky, you have a QB now. I'm really going to miss watching Donovan play and the way he looked like he was having fun everytime he stepped on the field.