Post by EagleGene on Jun 20, 2005 7:35:54 GMT -5
Posted on Sun, Jun. 19, 2005
CHARLES FOX / Inquirer
Donovan McNabb’s ideal football minicamp: "You’d prefer to come in, focus on camp, do some interviews and go home."
Off-season ordeal
Donovan McNabb talks in a one-on-one interview about T.O. and knocks he has taken since the Super Bowl.
By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer
"Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day."
- Mike Schmidt
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb can relate, and on a much more grand and grinding scale than the Phillies' Hall of Fame third baseman.
No, the Eagles didn't win their first trip to the Super Bowl in 24 years, but they did have one of the most successful seasons in franchise history, setting a record with 13 regular-season victories and reaching the Super Bowl for the first time in 24 years.
But for McNabb, there has been plenty of agony since the Feb. 6 loss to the New England Patriots, beginning with the scrutiny of what happened in the final minutes of the team's Super Bowl loss and continuing with personal assaults from wide receivers Terrell Owens and Freddie Mitchell.
"It has been a challenging [off-season] away from football," McNabb admitted last week after a workout at the Eagles' practice facility.
This could have been, and perhaps should have been, the most enjoyable off-season of McNabb's career. He finally conquered the NFC championship game hurdle and achieved career bests with a 64 percent completion percentage, 31 touchdown passes, and a 104.0 passer rating. All of the above should have made this a special break between seasons.
"You would think so," McNabb said. "You'd think guys would just be trying to stay physically fit or participating in different events and having a great time. But it has been a challenging one because you never want to go through something where you are constantly talking about somebody or what they said or what they decided to do. You'd prefer to come in, focus on camp, do some interviews and go home."
Instead, McNabb has listened to critics condemn his running of the hurry-up offense against the Patriots. He has listened to Owens accuse him of being tired in the NFL's biggest game. He has listened to a deposed Mitchell accuse him of not throwing the ball his way. Owens has inferred and Mitchell has referred to the quarterback as the "company man."
"I wouldn't say I was blindsided, but it was kind of shocking," McNabb said. "Just talking to other guys who have played the game, they will tell you that things happen. It doesn't happen all the time when you go to the Super Bowl. Sometimes it happens during the course of the season. I think the way to handle it is to keep everything in house, communicating with that person or people involved."
McNabb said he and Owens have spoken and reached a peace accord.
"I talked to him after the first minicamp" in early May, he said. "We communicated and put everything in the air. I'm fine. We dealt with things, and I'm looking forward to getting out there with him."
Still, McNabb doesn't know if or when that might happen because Owens, looking for a new contract after only one season with the Eagles, appears that he will sit out for as long it takes.
"We're fine, at least from my part," McNabb said. "I don't know what they're talking about upstairs or whatever is going on with that. I told him that is none of my concern. I don't get involved in anyone else's contract or financial business because that's nothing I would want anyone to get involved with me. But from my side of things, as far as what was going on, we're fine."
McNabb said he received an apology from Owens even though he never asked for one.
"He apologized, but that's not what I was looking for," McNabb said. "I just wanted to get things out in the open and kind of see where he was and make sure we were on the same page."
During their conversation, McNabb invited Owens to Arizona, where he lives in the off-season, for a chance to work out and work on their passing connection, which resulted in 77 completions for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns a year ago.
"I've definitely brought it to his attention, and we'll see where it's at," McNabb said. "I'm here, and guys will show up. If he does, that would be great."
Owens was not available for comment, and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, declined to comment on anything dealing with the wide receiver and the Eagles.
Though this has been a trying off-season for McNabb in many ways, he remains positive about where things are headed for the Eagles, and said his personal life has never been better.
"The anticipation is growing as far as what can happen this year," he said. "We have the firepower and we have the weapons. We're working on the chemistry. Guys have come back with a whole new attitude."
McNabb said he never looked back at the Super Bowl loss.
"I know I could have eliminated those [three] interceptions and it could have been a whole different ball game," he said. "But I'm not going to go back and watch to see exactly what it is I did wrong. It was the last game, and we lost. We learn from it and move on. I've pretty much flushed everything out. I do run into Tom Brady or someone from the Patriots every now and then, and then it comes back to me."
The lesson to be learned from the Super Bowl is that it's not easy making a return trip to the big game. The last four losers of the game have had losing records the following season, and even the Patriots missed the playoffs after winning their first Super Bowl during the 2001 season.
"Talking to Tom and those guys, after they won their first Super Bowl, it was a tough season for them the next year. They started out hot and kind of tailed off. I talked to Tom to try to find out what happened, so I can prepare myself to try to change it. He said some guys got complacent and relaxed."
Today, McNabb will celebrate his first Father's Day with daughter Alexis, who will be 9 months old this week.
"I've been pumping that up," he said with a relaxed laugh. "I think I'm going to put some signs up around the house. We'll have a lot of fun with it. Hopefully I won't get a tie that says, 'No. 1 Dad.' "
Fatherhood has been an adjustment for McNabb, but one that he obviously loves.
"Sometimes I hate traveling so much because I'm away from her," he said. "Once she gets older, she'll be able to travel more with me, but right now it's kind of tough being consistently away from her."
McNabb said he also has been amused by the Saturday Night Live parodies of him and his mother. The first was aired the night before the Super Bowl, and the second was during a show in which the Patriots' Brady was the guest host.
The show whiffed on his mother's name, but McNabb said cast member Kenan Thompson looked a lot like his mother.
"I thought it was extremely funny," McNabb said. "We talk to my mom all the time about 'how you let a guy look like you.' I mean, he looks like my mom. That's bad to say, but we laugh about it. The guy who plays me [Finesse Mitchell] doesn't look anything like me, but the other guy [Seth Meyers] looks just like Peyton Manning.
"Back when I was younger, I laughed at everything like that. I thought, 'I hope they never do me like that.' I've talked to Tom about it. I said, 'How'd you let them do me like that?' We can laugh about it."
There's nothing wrong with a good laugh in the midst of an off-season filled with undeserved turbulence.
Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com.
CHARLES FOX / Inquirer
Donovan McNabb’s ideal football minicamp: "You’d prefer to come in, focus on camp, do some interviews and go home."
Off-season ordeal
Donovan McNabb talks in a one-on-one interview about T.O. and knocks he has taken since the Super Bowl.
By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer
"Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day."
- Mike Schmidt
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb can relate, and on a much more grand and grinding scale than the Phillies' Hall of Fame third baseman.
No, the Eagles didn't win their first trip to the Super Bowl in 24 years, but they did have one of the most successful seasons in franchise history, setting a record with 13 regular-season victories and reaching the Super Bowl for the first time in 24 years.
But for McNabb, there has been plenty of agony since the Feb. 6 loss to the New England Patriots, beginning with the scrutiny of what happened in the final minutes of the team's Super Bowl loss and continuing with personal assaults from wide receivers Terrell Owens and Freddie Mitchell.
"It has been a challenging [off-season] away from football," McNabb admitted last week after a workout at the Eagles' practice facility.
This could have been, and perhaps should have been, the most enjoyable off-season of McNabb's career. He finally conquered the NFC championship game hurdle and achieved career bests with a 64 percent completion percentage, 31 touchdown passes, and a 104.0 passer rating. All of the above should have made this a special break between seasons.
"You would think so," McNabb said. "You'd think guys would just be trying to stay physically fit or participating in different events and having a great time. But it has been a challenging one because you never want to go through something where you are constantly talking about somebody or what they said or what they decided to do. You'd prefer to come in, focus on camp, do some interviews and go home."
Instead, McNabb has listened to critics condemn his running of the hurry-up offense against the Patriots. He has listened to Owens accuse him of being tired in the NFL's biggest game. He has listened to a deposed Mitchell accuse him of not throwing the ball his way. Owens has inferred and Mitchell has referred to the quarterback as the "company man."
"I wouldn't say I was blindsided, but it was kind of shocking," McNabb said. "Just talking to other guys who have played the game, they will tell you that things happen. It doesn't happen all the time when you go to the Super Bowl. Sometimes it happens during the course of the season. I think the way to handle it is to keep everything in house, communicating with that person or people involved."
McNabb said he and Owens have spoken and reached a peace accord.
"I talked to him after the first minicamp" in early May, he said. "We communicated and put everything in the air. I'm fine. We dealt with things, and I'm looking forward to getting out there with him."
Still, McNabb doesn't know if or when that might happen because Owens, looking for a new contract after only one season with the Eagles, appears that he will sit out for as long it takes.
"We're fine, at least from my part," McNabb said. "I don't know what they're talking about upstairs or whatever is going on with that. I told him that is none of my concern. I don't get involved in anyone else's contract or financial business because that's nothing I would want anyone to get involved with me. But from my side of things, as far as what was going on, we're fine."
McNabb said he received an apology from Owens even though he never asked for one.
"He apologized, but that's not what I was looking for," McNabb said. "I just wanted to get things out in the open and kind of see where he was and make sure we were on the same page."
During their conversation, McNabb invited Owens to Arizona, where he lives in the off-season, for a chance to work out and work on their passing connection, which resulted in 77 completions for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns a year ago.
"I've definitely brought it to his attention, and we'll see where it's at," McNabb said. "I'm here, and guys will show up. If he does, that would be great."
Owens was not available for comment, and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, declined to comment on anything dealing with the wide receiver and the Eagles.
Though this has been a trying off-season for McNabb in many ways, he remains positive about where things are headed for the Eagles, and said his personal life has never been better.
"The anticipation is growing as far as what can happen this year," he said. "We have the firepower and we have the weapons. We're working on the chemistry. Guys have come back with a whole new attitude."
McNabb said he never looked back at the Super Bowl loss.
"I know I could have eliminated those [three] interceptions and it could have been a whole different ball game," he said. "But I'm not going to go back and watch to see exactly what it is I did wrong. It was the last game, and we lost. We learn from it and move on. I've pretty much flushed everything out. I do run into Tom Brady or someone from the Patriots every now and then, and then it comes back to me."
The lesson to be learned from the Super Bowl is that it's not easy making a return trip to the big game. The last four losers of the game have had losing records the following season, and even the Patriots missed the playoffs after winning their first Super Bowl during the 2001 season.
"Talking to Tom and those guys, after they won their first Super Bowl, it was a tough season for them the next year. They started out hot and kind of tailed off. I talked to Tom to try to find out what happened, so I can prepare myself to try to change it. He said some guys got complacent and relaxed."
Today, McNabb will celebrate his first Father's Day with daughter Alexis, who will be 9 months old this week.
"I've been pumping that up," he said with a relaxed laugh. "I think I'm going to put some signs up around the house. We'll have a lot of fun with it. Hopefully I won't get a tie that says, 'No. 1 Dad.' "
Fatherhood has been an adjustment for McNabb, but one that he obviously loves.
"Sometimes I hate traveling so much because I'm away from her," he said. "Once she gets older, she'll be able to travel more with me, but right now it's kind of tough being consistently away from her."
McNabb said he also has been amused by the Saturday Night Live parodies of him and his mother. The first was aired the night before the Super Bowl, and the second was during a show in which the Patriots' Brady was the guest host.
The show whiffed on his mother's name, but McNabb said cast member Kenan Thompson looked a lot like his mother.
"I thought it was extremely funny," McNabb said. "We talk to my mom all the time about 'how you let a guy look like you.' I mean, he looks like my mom. That's bad to say, but we laugh about it. The guy who plays me [Finesse Mitchell] doesn't look anything like me, but the other guy [Seth Meyers] looks just like Peyton Manning.
"Back when I was younger, I laughed at everything like that. I thought, 'I hope they never do me like that.' I've talked to Tom about it. I said, 'How'd you let them do me like that?' We can laugh about it."
There's nothing wrong with a good laugh in the midst of an off-season filled with undeserved turbulence.
Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com.