McNabb love and. hate

On Friday Sports Illustrated's Ross Tucker posted his Mailbag and one of the highlights was whether or not McNabb was the best thing for the city of Philadelphia

When Donovan McNabb wins three Super Bowls, I think he will get the same respect from the fans as Tom Brady would if he got hurt again. As what happens with most national media, you need to be here week in and week out to know that 80 percent of Eagles fans love the fact that Donovan McNabb is our quarterback. Focusing on the negative 20 percent is more convenient because it is a story you can write. Same as 'they boo, they threw snowballs at Santa, yada yada yada...' Come to Philly and do a poll of people walking the street and find out the facts before you write an article. Don't ask your family either; they must be nitwits not to like him too.
--Craig Hanlon, Wayne, Pa.

Judging from my e-mails, it seems like it is more like 50/50 in terms of the Eagles fans and their feelings towards McNabb. I am from near Philadelphia and have a pretty good sense of the arguments both for and against McNabb, I just think the people that want to run him and Andy Reid should be careful what they wish for. And the people in my family actually like McNabb for the most part; it is my friends who dislike his "phony" (their word, not mine) personality and think he comes up small in the biggest games.

The answer to your question is easy. I will take one championship every 12 years and no wins all the other years vs. losing the NFC championship each year. McNabb creates his own problems by being an arrogant, conceited jerk.
--Rod Speiss, Reading, Pa.

Ross: Yeah, that is what most people said, and I can imagine if you have never won one that would pretty much be the sentiment. But I'd like to talk with you at the end of those 12 years and see if you really felt that way. Ostensibly, that title would last forever but my guess is by midway through the next season it would be just a thing of the past.

This is how I've always felt about Donovan McNabb. He and Andy Reid have put the team in playoff contention for nearly all of the past decade. I would rather be interested and excited every year in football, writing these blogs, following the news and eagerly watching the games than hope to win one every twelve years through a one hit wonder. This seems to the be typical "Philadelphia Ignorance" that wanted Donovan McNabb to be run out of town after the Baltimore Ravens game. If he had, I ask you what you would have been doing on January 18th, 2009 (NFC Championship Game)?

Charles Barkley is on our side:

"Good luck to my Eagles too," he said near the end of the interview. "I think the Eagles are gonna win the Super Bowl."

"And I'm glad Donovan got his contract cause y'all have not been treating him well here Howard," Barkley continued. "You know I've been on your ass all the time. McNabb's the greatest quarterback in Eagles history and y'all have not gave him the love he deserve here."

Hopefully this will be the season where McNabb wins the big one and dispels all the haters.

Redskin's Quarterback Situation

Over the course of the Redskin's Quarterback Jason Campbell has been undermined twice by his front office. The front office went after Jay Cutler and were very public about their interest in Mark Sanchez. FoxSports.com recently wrote a very interesting article regarding the Redskins backup quarterbacks.
While Jason Campbell is almost guaranteed the Starting Quarterback position for the 2009 season, Fox Sports talks about the development of backup QB, Colt Brennan. Brennan had this to say about his performance:

"I can already feel this gigantic difference from the quarterback I was out here last year to the quarterback I am now," Brennan said. "Not only because I'm healthy, but because I'm so much more confident with not only the playbook, but the people around me, the coaches and the whole environment."

Head Coach and Quarterback Coach Jim Zorn had this to say about his backup QB's:

"Todd has been working out religiously; he (has embraced) the offense with full passion and I'm going to get him some time in preseason, but I want to see Colt more," Zorn said. "I'm still working on his feet. He wants to prance. He's learning. I'm looking for him to really step up and take charge. He's taking little steps, but he's not ready yet."

Brennan finally had this to say about his opportunities:

"I can already feel this gigantic difference from the quarterback I was out here last year to the quarterback I am now," Brennan said. "Not only because I'm healthy, but because I'm so much more confident with not only the playbook, but the people around me, the coaches and the whole environment."

While this is all very interesting, and I'm sure the Redskins organization is very confident about their Backup QB situation, this article by Seth Wickersham of ESPN entitled The Art of QB Insurance lays out what a backup QB should and should not be saying.

But most of all, he has to know and accept that for the foreseeable future he's not starting. "You don't want guys who come in with a chip on their shoulder that they get screwed," says ESPN's Trent Dilfer, a former starter-turned-backup. "It can divide a team."

Now I'm not saying that the Washington Redskins are going to have a divided locker room come this season with a visible QB battle between Brennan and Campbell; but I believe that with Colt Brennan waiting for his opportunity to start, Campbel will either flourish under the pressure or crumble. We'll have to wait and see.