Posted on 04/30/2005 11:57:39 AM PDT by Mo1
DONOVAN McNABB defended his turf yesterday.
The Eagles' quarterback defended his leadership style and his play on that much-debated final scoring drive of the Super Bowl. The message was emphatic, and it drew support from teammates, on the first day of the first minicamp since the team's 24-21 loss to New England in Super Bowl XXXIX.
"I wasn't tired," McNabb said, addressing Philadelphia-area reporters for the first time since that frantic evening in Jacksonville. "Whatever comments have been made, I don't know if it was directed toward me or whatever... I don't play games in the media. If someone has a problem with me, they can call me... I think that's the way of handling the situation.
"My job is to obviously lead this team for wins... If there are excuses to be made, maybe why it didn't happen, or whatever it may be, pretty much just keep my name out your mouth."
The remarks obviously were directed at a couple of players who weren't there yesterday, wide receivers Terrell Owens, who wants his contract redone, and Freddie Mitchell, who was told to stay home by Eagles coach Andy Reid after expressing displeasure with the team and McNabb as part of his campaign to be traded.
Owens famously told ESPN.com that he "wasn't the guy who got tired" in the Super Bowl. Mitchell has complained about what he feels is McNabb's lack of confidence in him. Mitchell also became a focus of the final-scoring-drive controversy, when he told reporters he made a play call because McNabb was having trouble breathing or speaking. Other players said Mitchell repeated a play call that McNabb was having trouble getting out.
On the drive in question, the Eagles got the ball with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left, trailing 24-14. They scored 13 plays later, pulling within 24-21 on a 30-yard McNabb TD pass to Greg Lewis with just 1:48 left. Neither McNabb nor Reid has fully explained why plays weren't called faster during the drive; Reid has said McNabb took a couple of hits that he had to recover from, most notably on a Tedy Bruschi tackle when McNabb tried to run up the middle on a broken play, the eighth of the drive.
"Let's put it this way: If you're in a game when you're at the highest level, and you're in the Super Bowl, where everyone is watching, including guys you've played against, and you're not tired in that game, giving all that you have, then you haven't done anything," McNabb said. "If you say I was winded, if you say the O-line was a little winded, if you say the defense was winded - but to be tired and pretty much dropping to one knee or whatever, that didn't happen. What I said [in discussing the drive at the Pro Bowl] was that I was giving all that I had out there. I left everything out on the field."
Mitchell never has been a big part of the offense and presumably will be gone by training camp, so his support is less important to McNabb than the backing of All-Pro Owens, the extra weapon McNabb lobbied for the Eagles to obtain. McNabb said he will invite Owens to work out with him in Arizona, as he did last year, but he said he has not talked to Mitchell or T.O. about their remarks and doesn't plan to do so. He said he would have no problem working with Owens again, whenever his contract dispute ends.
"If a comment was made about me, it would take that person to call me," McNabb said. "I don't have to reach out to anyone. Again, I'm going to be a man about it. What you're going to see is a guy that is inspired to go out and play every day. I think one thing you guys have to understand, if you don't know, is that every year something has happened, someone has said something about me. So, if you don't know how I handle things by now, I think you guys should understand."
McNabb said he has talked to center Hank Fraley and offensive tackle Jon Runyan, who kicked off the scoring-drive controversy the night after the Super Bowl on Angelo Cataldi's Comcast SportsNet TV show. Fraley described McNabb trying to make play calls while apparently throwing up - which Fraley later said was intended as a defense of the QB's valiant effort. McNabb indicated all was well with him, Fraley and Runyan.
"Personally, I don't care," McNabb said, when asked if he thought Owens was talking about McNabb being tired. "But, if it was directed at me, again, I don't play games in the media. I'm not going to sit here and try to have a war of words. I'm a man at what I do. If there's a problem with anyone, and they feel the need to lash out, they know how to get in touch with me, and we can handle it like men."
McNabb said he wasn't worried about the Super Bowl aftermath affecting the way he is viewed in the locker room.
"Not at all," he said. "Being the leader of this team and the captain of this team, it's important that I handle every situation in a manner that people say, 'You know what? Nothing ever bothers him.' And it doesn't."
That was the way defensive end Hugh Douglas said he saw McNabb.
"Donovan is doing a good job of handling his situation," Douglas said. "He is the leader of this team and has shown a lot of moxie, not saying anything bad about what people were saying about him. He's showing a lot of character. If he's not worried about it, then I don't think anybody else should be worried about it."
Safety Brian Dawkins agreed.
"That's like someone in the military, a captain," Dawkins said. "You have some grumblings around him, but that does not change how he handles himself, that does not change how he performs on the battlefield... Just because someone said something about an individual, that does not speak for everybody else. He is the guy that's going to make this ship go... We're going to succeed or we're going to fail from wherever he takes us."
Geez, T.O., shut up and play!
If T.O. handn't switched from the retarded agent to the greedy one, and just had the retarded guy go to Banner, nice and quiet and asked for money to be moved around, none of this would be going on.
Well, whatever. He'll be here in September and we'll be ready for another run to the post season.
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
Donovan, meet Mitch Williams, Mitch, Donovan McNabb.
He's right. He doesn't have to reach out to anyone. Of course, his offensive line would be a wise reach!
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