Don’t Do It, McNabb

If there is one thing I didn’t want to see – and the Eagles certainly don’t need – prior to the 2006 season, is quarterback Donovan McNabb wasting any of his time commenting, or even thinking about, his perplexing former teammate, Terrell Owens.

I’ll come right out and say it too – if Donovan McNabb wastes any more breath talking about the egomaniacal Owens, then he needs to immediately alter his mentality because if he is focusing on anything other than getting the Eagles back into championship contention, then both McNabb and the Eagles have a serious problem.

This past Friday, may be a precursor of things to come this season as McNabb, speaking to a group of reporters after practice, called Owens’ recently released autobiography a “children’s book,” and belittled the former Eagle for saying he was misquoted in his own book.

Now, let me say that, for the better part of his career, I have been a staunch defender of McNabb, but I have to admit, that, at this point, I am beginning to have my doubts about McNabb – and by the way, those same doubts about McNabb’s inability to win the “Big One,” are shared by a vast legion of Eagles fans across the Tri-State area.

Yes, I know Owens is a cancerous individual who epitomizes the selfish, me-first athletes that populate numerous sports across the globe these days, but if McNabb is wasting one iota of his energy even thinking about Owens, then McNabb’s arch nemesis has already won the war of wills between the two.

McNabb, who jokingly mentioned that he should have been a co-author of the book since he was mentioned so frequently, already seems to have too much of Owens on his mind, continuing the war of words between the two that has lasted for over a year now.

“It won’t sell unless he’s talking about me,” McNabb said, adding that he didn’t read the book.

One of the problems I’m beginning to have with McNabb is the fact that I’m beginning to see him in a different light than the one he and the Eagles have cultivated throughout his career – that of the clean cut “Golden Boy” who can do no wrong.

First of all, there are two sides to every story. Having said that, I can now say that after reading Owens’ book, I firmly believe that some of the events that Owens portrayed, actually happened the way he described them in his book. Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I fully backing Owens’ behavior, but I am unequivocally saying that I believe some of the events he described in his book.

Knowing what I know about the Eagles organization and how they have treated some of their most committed, albeit, aging, veterans throughout the Andy Reid/Jeff Lurie/ Joe Banner era, I have to conclude that Owens is at the very least, telling some truths in his entertaining book.

McNabb on the other hand, vehemently disputed every negative thing Owens had to say about him in the book – like the fact that Owens said his problems began with McNabb during one game when the receiver was wide open and McNabb missed him. As Owens describes the incident in the book, he says that after arriving back to the huddle, he told McNabb that he was open on the play before and McNabb told him to “shut the f – – up” in the middle of the huddle in front of his semi-shocked teammates.

“He told me, ‘Hey, I was open on that. Throw me the ball,”‘ McNabb said. “And you guys believe that, I’m sure. I mean, you think about that.”

Owens also claimed in the book that one of the Eagles’ offensive coaches told him McNabb gets tense in big games and that he should try to help him overcome this problem.

“It’s funny how they would just come to him,” McNabb said derisively. “Why wouldn’t they just say something to me? To say that I can’t play in big games, I don’t think that’s a true statement at all, so I don’t get offended by anything he may have said in his book that he was misquoted.”

One thing McNabb couldn’t say about Owens – and no one can – is that he isn’t an outstanding player – on the field.
“He’s a great player. He works hard. He gets out on the field and makes plays. That’s all you ask,” McNabb said. “Now, what you may get other than that, you never know nowadays.”

As true as that may be, McNabb needs to be fully focused on fixing some of the Eagles many ailments from last season when they finished 6-10 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1999, ending a string of four consecutive appearances in the NFC championship game.

McNabb’s health is crucial to any success the Eagles will experience this season, but now, he faces more adversity than he ever has in his career – even after he was drafted against the wishes of an entire region – which, by the way, all wanted former Texas University running back, Ricky Williams at the time.

In his defense, McNabb said all the right things and realizes that the only way to put much of this nonsense to bed is by simply winning games.

“I’ve never felt I lost the locker room and I don’t feel I need to get the locker room back,” McNabb said. “To be honest with you, the way that you win anything is by winning games. The way of handling it for me is just to get out on this football field, make plays and then win games. The good thing in life is that you can put the past behind you and move on and kind of create your own future. This team is definitely hungry. This team is looking forward to getting out there and answering the critics.”

While McNabb’s words may be true – he may need to step back and take his own advice, because if he is doing anything other than looking forward and focusing on the Eagles immediate future, than this team could take another step backwards in what has now become an increasingly competitive conference.

Owens will, no doubt, make plenty of national news with the Cowboys this season, especially when the teams meet on their two scheduled dates. How well the Eagles, and more importantly, McNabb, handle themselves – before, during and after the inevitable showdowns with the Cowboys and Owens – will ultimately decide how well the Eagles perform this season.

However, as the old adage goes, McNabb should be leery of his wish to get Owens out of Philadelphia because now, he is going to find exactly how tough it is to win without a genuine first-rate wide receiver.

Oh, that’s right, McNabb has been here before with guys like Charles Johnson and Torrance Small – and we all remember how that turned out don’t we?