GAMES — Post-McNabb Era Begins With Training Camp

The long-awaited arrival of this year’s Eagles’ training camp is enhanced by the presence of a new starting quarterback and the departure of the previous tenant.
After 11 seasons of trying, the Birds curtailed their effort to win a Lombardi Trophy with Donovan McNabb at the helm by shipping the veteran signal caller to the nation’s capital.
McNabb and coach Andy Reid were a solid and united public front since Big Red joined the club in 1999 and made the Syracuse alum his first draft pick and the number two selection overall.
The ’99 draft was full of quarterback hopefuls, including Cleveland’s number one overall pick, Tim Couch, who fizzled out after a non-productive and brief pro career.
Reid hit big on his first big decision as a head coach when he bypassed a handful of prospects, including record-setting Texas back Ricky Williams, to grab McNabb.
With McNabb behind center and Reid calling an abundance of passing plays to take advantage of his best player and his best player’s cannon arm, Philadelphia won a bunch of regular season games.
The Eagles defense during the McNabb generation was often highly ranked and was led by venerable Jim Johnson. Special teams featured one of the most reliable kickers in the game in David Akers.
But the formula never quite turned out right and McNabb packed his bags with lots of W’s, some playoff wins, but no Super Bowl label to his name. There were highly frustrating big game moments as home losses to Carolina and Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship Game were especially tough to swallow. The Super Bowl defeat by New England was also within the Birds’ grasp.
McNabb cannot be reasonably blamed for all of those big game defeats just as he cannot be credited with all of those fantastic regular season triumphs. It is a team game and Reid did not help circumstances by insisting that the inaccurate McNabb drop back and fling the rock about 50 times per contest.
For all of McNabb’s superb and athletically superior accomplish-ments, he will be sadly remembered as the guy who could not get it done. That may change if Redskin coach Mike Shanahan, of the John Elway-led Bronco titles, finds the right run-pass balance to help his aging star lead Washington to glory.
If Reid can find the magic formula with up-and-coming Kevin Kolb calling signals, then McNabb’s legacy will turn south. Kolb does display intangibles like maturity, leadership and locker room presence. But it’s far too early to know if the team used its 2007 second-round pick wisely when it tabbed the former University of Houston QB as its future leader.
Everyone knew the McNabb trade was a roll of the dice for both parties. The team sent him to a division rival because it honored McNabb’s request to play with a contender. If Oakland or Buffalo had offered superior trade packages, then shame on the Eagles for not dealing with one of those franchises.
McNabb was paid handsomely during his time in the City of Brotherly Love and only the best trade for the team should have been consummated.
If McNabb finds the ultimate success in D.C. then Reid will be blamed for Philadelphia’s playoff failures. If Kolb can pull off the long-awaited Super Bowl victory then McNabb will be further scorned as the guy who threw too many balls into the ground or far over open receivers’ heads.
The new season is here and it’ll be nothing if not interesting as each Kolb movement, every syllable he utters, each frustration he reveals, and every ball he tosses is analyzed, scrutinized and criticized.
The era of the 24-hour news cycle will be in constant pursuit of tidbits about Kolb’s personal and professional life. If mental make up has anything to do with it, and I believe it surely does, Kolb should be successful. How far the team goes depends on Kolb’s competence but also the rebuilt defense and Reid’s ability to diagram a balanced attack.
Reach Rossi at joerossi61@comcast.net