Eagles football blog

McNabb keeps one eye looking over his shoulder

You wonder whether there is still time for Donovan McNabb to overcome his accomplishments in Philadelphia. That is what the real stars here are asked to do.

They have to take their weighty careers and stack even more upon them, like a house of cards built higher and higher in the strong winds of local opinion. Dick Allen couldn't do it. Mike Schmidt couldn't. Not Ron Jaworski, not Allen Iverson.

They either won championships or became symbols of a divided populace. Schmidt won one and even that never quieted the unrest. His title was chalked up to the addition of Pete Rose's competitive fire, and every strikeout was still booed louder than every home run was cheered.

McNabb is near the end now, at least in the actuarial reality of the NFL, and it appears he has only a two-week window before the current season becomes another public referendum on his status as the Eagles' starting quarterback. Continue

Camp McNabb opeing soon

DeSean Jackson was a no-show last summer at Donovan McNabb's annual pre-training camp get-together with his receivers in the Arizona desert, yet still managed to catch a team-high 62 passes as a rookie.

Moral of the story: If you're good enough to get open, the Eagles quarterback still will throw you the ball, even if you didn't bother stopping by Casa McNabb on the way to Lehigh. Then again, if he had gone to Arizona, maybe Jackson would have caught 80 passes last year.

Jeremy Maclin isn't the risk-taker that Jackson is. When McNabb takes roll Sunday at his 6-day sweatfest and passing camp, the Eagles' first-round pick will be present and accounted for. Continue

One Eagle in in one top 50 list

Before we know it, Super Bowl predictions are going to start emerging from publications across the country.

And judging by the national reaction to the Eagles' offseason moves, several of those are going to have the Birds going to Miami.

But one national writer doesn't seem to think too much of the Eagles' individual talent. CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco put together a list of the top fifty in the league, and no Birds player is listed among the top 48. Donovan McNabb squeezes in at 49. Continue

McNabb earns more coin

 His second-half benching last season in Baltimore highlighted the question: How long will Donovan McNabb be the guy for the Eagles? Yesterday's formal announcement of an improved deal for the final two years of McNabb's current contract provided an answer of sorts: At least for the next two years.

McNabb's contract was not extended. But the Eagles quarterback will earn more money, some of it guaranteed. McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith, said that McNabb was due to make $19.2 million over the next two years, and that the renegotiated deal is worth $24.5 million with another $1 million in incentives.

Smith said the deal made McNabb one of the top three or four quarterbacks in the NFL in terms of pay.

"This is very warranted and earned and everything else - every other term you can add to that," said Eagles coach Andy Reid. Continue

McNabb:Will he really leave?

He negotiates through rabbit punches. He vacillates between bully and victim. Is Donovan McNabb the cocky gunslinger who grabbed a phone on the Giants' sideline one Sunday, or the hurt child who, after being reinstated weeks earlier, said, "I'm asked to win the game every week.''

He's both, of course. It's the opposite of character, I suppose. He's a bit of a bully one week, a bit of a baby the next. He's tough enough to play on a broken ankle, to play with a sports hernia, to play with a bad knee and bruised ribs. Yet he's also the guy who was said to have barfed in a

Super Bowl huddle, to have publicly pouted on the sideline during a loss against Pittsburgh that year. Continue

Dawkins backs Donovan

 In an interview with NFL network, Brian Dawkins came out and said what anyone who's watched Donovan McNabb over the years knows: he's a better player when he thinks everyone's against him.

"Donovan is just Donovan. I don't want him to change," Dawkins said. "I want him to come back next year with even a bigger chip on his shoulders for whatever reason. Let him make up a reason. I don't care. He plays better when he has a chip on his shoulder because I think he dials in even more." Continue

McNabb woulkd like to retire an Eagle

 Donovan McNabb first raised the subject after the Eagles beat the Arizona Cardinals on Thanksgiving night.

The quarterback, benched four days earlier during a lopsided loss against Baltimore, said during the NFL Network postgame show that he had some things he wanted to discuss with coach Andy Reid and team president Joe Banner. When asked the following week what he wanted to talk about, McNabb said those discussions would take place after the season.

Well, it's the off-season, and we know how interesting these things can be for the Eagles' quarterback. Continue

Two Cardinals fans arrested for burning McNabb's lawn

Police arrested two Arizona Cardinals fans who they say burned messages in the front lawn of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb's Arizona residence a day before the NFC Championship game.

Police were able to track down the pair after they discovered a sticker containing the home address of one of the men on a cardboard sign left in McNabb's driveway.

Rex Michael Perkins, 37, of Chandler, and Ryan Hanlon, 29, of Gilbert, Ariz., were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage Sunday after police questioned Perkins about the sign that read: "Go Cards" on one side and "Beat Philly" on the other, Chandler police said.

Perkins and Hanlon were fingerprinted, photographed and cited for misdemeanor criminal damage. Continue

For McNabb, Arizona a home game

All those Eagles fans convinced Donovan McNabb is too sensitive and introspective won't be surprised to find that the Arizona neighborhood where the quarterback has his off-season home is gated, walled off from the world beyond by wrought-iron fences and formidable stucco barriers.

But while McNabb might seem emotionally reserved amid Philadelphia's cynical scrutiny, out here - where it's the desert sun and not the spotlight that shines relentlessly - those walls come tumbling down.

"He's not looked on as a celebrity here. He can be anonymous," said a close friend who asked not to be identified. "In Philly, he can't be like me and you. He can't go out to dinner or to a movie without somebody asking for an autograph or a picture. Here it's different. There are lots of athletes and celebrities that live here, many who live in the same neighborhood." Continue

Some want McNabb to wipe off that smile

Donovan McNabb threw for three touchdowns Nov. 9 against the New York Giants.

But the Eagles lost, 36-31, and after the game, network television cameras caught McNabb smiling and socializing with several Giants players at Lincoln Financial Field.

Cue the outrage.

Within minutes, perturbed fans were posting to Internet message boards. Over the next few days, callers to sports radio stations were claiming that McNabb should've been brooding over the tough loss, not fraternizing with the victors. Continue