FanPost

What McNabb's Extension Says to Me

So this is my first FanPost, and I'm writing it out of frustration more than anything else. I started watching football in college, and my best friend, an Eagles fan, took me to Panthers at Eagles in 2004. McNabb was playing excellent ball, and it was really easy to fall in love with the team. I've been a fan ever since, and this year I managed to make it to 4 games, including tonight's game in Washington (which isn't really Washington, but that's another story for another time).

So I've also always been a fan of Donovan McNabb. When the team decided to go another direction, I understood from a business perspective why they chose to do so, and I've supported Kevin and Michael all season. But I've wanted McNabb to do well.

So today, while tailgating, I get the news that McNabb signed a 5-year extension with the Redskins. And I have to say that my respect for McNabb has gone down significantly in the last few hours.

Look, Shanahan can throw out every excuse in the book and it won't change the fact that Donovan got pulled last week because he has been very bad at the end of games this year, and overall is playing very poorly. And I believe, watching Shanahan's behavior this week, that the McNabb benching might have been a permanent move if Dan Snyder didn't still wear the pants in the relationship. So Dan tried to fix things the way he always does. He threw money at it.

McNabb was faced with a decision. He's an aging quarterback whose best years are clearly behind him, and he's not looking very good right now. Washington invested a lot to get him, and Snyder will generally overpay anyway. With the way his year was going, Donovan wasn't going to get more money anywhere else.

Unless the Redskins have a radical offseason plan that includes manufacturing draft picks out of thin air and regressing in age, it doesn't really look like they're going to be much better next year than they are this year. And if you look at the last decade-plus, what could McNabb possibly have seen in the Redskins that could convince him that they will be a serious contender for a Super Bowl in the next 5 years?

McNabb has left a fine legacy in Philadelphia. All he's missing is a Super Bowl ring. Before tonight , I really thought that was going to be a big factor in where he goes from Washington. I figured that while an Arizona or a Minnesota or a San Francisco wouldn't offer as much money as the Redskins would, McNabb would see that they were much better opportunities for him to cement his legacy with a championship.

That was the kind of athlete I thought he was. By choosing another big pay day over the possibility of competing for a championship, McNabb showed where his real priorities were.

I can't say I'm impressed.