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I’m sure when Andy Reid’s Chiefs beat the Titans to advance to Super Bowl 54, we all knew that Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens would once again be front and center in our lives once more.
The long-running feud between the two former superstars that helped break up a championship Eagles team in 2005 reared its ugly head once again this week. In an interview with Bleacher Report, McNabb was asked about the 2004 season in which Reid led the Eagles to Super Bowl 39 against the Patriots and what happened in that game.
”I was trying to be perfect,” he explains, “and so some of the balls I threw obviously ended up being intercepted.”
McNabb went 30-for-51 for 367 yards and threw three touchdowns but also three picks with a QB rating of 75.4. But the real headlines from the interview came when he was asked about what happened in 2005, the year the Super Bowl, and why the Eagles were never able to get back to the big game with McNabb under center.
“The lead-in to the following year, I’m thinking [Owens] will be back healthy, we have [Jevon Kearse], we have guys elevating their game, gaining experience, and I’m thinking, ‘We’re going to be back.’
Then the offseason goes on and all of a sudden there’s turmoil here and there, different conversations going back and forth, and we had to answer those questions instead of focusing on what we need to do in order to get back to where we were. I thought that was the major distraction for us.
He’s doing sit-ups, he’s doing push-ups, he’s playing basketball, he’s ordering pizza for the people out there, and we’re sitting there in training camp just like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ We’re in our dorm rooms, and I’m just sitting there watching on TV. Brian Dawkins and Jeremiah Trotter were my roommates, and Dawk would come in like, ‘What’d he do now?’ I’m like, ‘Take a look.’ This is like “Days Of Our Lives”. It was unbelievable. But that was something that kind of broke us up. That was the most frustrating for me, because I knew what we could do, and, if we decided to just come together, what we could accomplish.”
McNabb’s full comments can be seen in the video below.
In the hours after the video was posted, Owens saw it, and responded on (where else?) Twitter.
Ohhhh shit!!!! I can’t wait 2 tell my story!!! I’m bringing , doing sit-ups and gonna eat a couple cans of “CHUNKY SOUP!!”
— Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) January 22, 2020
This guy is a joke!! Talking bout I broke up the @eagles!! Did u tell em that u vouched for the Eagles to pay Westbrook but NOT ME!! ♂️ It’s on! https://t.co/jU8aGymIfD
Hey @MasterTes!! Let me know when u want to hear the truth!! Did u ask him about those DUIs and what he was doing at the parties I threw at my house during “our time” in Philly?!! Hmmm Don’t worry, I’ll tell ya!! ✌ ✌ https://t.co/jU8aGymIfD
— Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) January 22, 2020
.@MasterTes Along with the sharing of what it meant to be the 3rd black QB to start in the Super Bowl but did he share that he was and is the “FIRST and ONLY” QB, black or white, to throw up in the huddle?!
— Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) January 23, 2020
Oh yeh! Just found out why he was throwing up too. ♂️ https://t.co/NsXPfCeF49
Wow, those tweets had everything — vomiting accusations, a Chunky Soup reference, DUIs, and those were just a handful of Owens’ responses.
The bottom line is that it’s sad these two guys are still fighting in the media. It’s sad McNabb couldn’t have found a more diplomatic way of answering the question, it’s sad Owens couldn’t take the high road, and it’s sad that, with their former head coach about to try and redeem his first Super Bowl coaching performance a week from Sunday, that these two guys have decided to make things all about them.
Guys, it’s been 15 years. This is ridiculously childish and petty. Who’s right and who’s wrong doesn’t matter anymore. No doubt both players did things to exacerbate the problem. At this point, either have yourselves a summit and hash it all out or let it go.
The focus of this week should be on two great teams, the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, and the Andy Reid Redemption Tour. Not your 15-year-old feud.