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McNabb was drafted 2nd overall by the Eagles in 1999, a choice
which was famously booed by Philadelphia fans present at
the draft. McNabb was chosen ahead of University of Texas
halfback Ricky Williams; however, recent history has justified
this choice, as Ricky Williams has been in and out of the
league because of drug problems. McNabb started six of the
Eagles' final seven contests (missing the December 19 home
game against New England, a 24-9 victory, due to injury)
as he became the first Philadelphia Eagles rookie to start
in the quarterback position since Brad Goebel on October
13, 1991, and the first Eagles rookie draft pick to start
since John Reaves in 1972. He saw his first NFL regular season
action in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
in a 19-5 home loss on September 19. He made his first career
start at home against Washington on November 14, completing
eight of 21 passes for 60 yards in a 35-28 win. He also had
nine carries for 49 rushing yards and led the team to a pair
of successful two-point conversions (1 rush and 1 pass).
With the win, he became the first Eagles rookie QB to win
his first NFL start since Mike Boryla (December 1, 1974 vs.
Green Bay) and the first Eagle QB to win his first start
since Ty Detmer (October 13, 1996 at NYG). McNabb threw the
first TD pass of his career (6 yards to TE Chad Lewis) vs.
Indianapolis in a 44-17 home loss on November 21.
In his first full season as a NFL starter in 2000, McNabb finished
second in the Associated Press MVP voting (24-11) to St. Louis
RB Marshall Faulk, who set the NFL record for most TDs scored
in a season. He was selected as a first alternate to the NFC
Pro Bowl squad in 2000 (behind the Minnesota Vikings Daunte
Culpepper, San Francisco 49ers Jeff Garcia, and St. Louis Rams
Kurt Warner). When Warner was unable to participate due to
injury, McNabb led the NFC on a touchdown scoring drive in
his first series. Accounted for 74.6% of the team's total net
yards in 2000. Only Carolina's Steve Beuerlein (75.3%) and
San Francisco's Jeff Garcia (75.1%) had a higher percentage.
His 629 rushing yards in 2000 were tops among NFL QBs and,
at the time, the fourth-highest total ever (968 by Bobby Douglass
in 1972; 942 by Randall Cunningham in 1990; and 674 by Steve
McNair in 1997. Mike Vick has since eclipsed that total three
times). His six rushing TDs in 2000 were the most by an Eagles
QB since Randall Cunningham also had six in 1988. Broke the
club's single season record for most attempts (569) and completions
(330) in 2000, marks previously set by Cunningham (560 and
301 respectively) in 1988. Named 2000 NFL Player of the Year
by CBS Radio and the Terry (Bradshaw) Awards on Fox Sports
and was named to the All-Madden team. Made his prime time debut
(ESPN) vs. Atlanta at home (October 1} with his first 300-yard
passing game in a 38-10 victory and the Eagles' first since
Bobby Hoying vs. Cincinnati at home on November 30, 1997. His
55 pass attempts at Pittsburgh, a come-from-behind 26-23 overtime
victory (November 12) were a career-high and the fourth-highest
total in team history. Named NFC Offensive Player of the Week
after accounting for 90.7% of the offense in a 23-20 overtime
victory at Washington (November 26). His 125 rushing yards
were the most by an NFL QB since the Bears Bobby Douglass (127
on December 17, 1972) and was the sixth-best rushing effort
by a QB since 1940 when the "T" formation was introduced.
Threw for a career-high 390 passing yards and 4 TDs in a 35-24
victory at Cleveland (December 10) en route to NFC Offensive
Player of the Week honors. McNabb led the Eagles to their first
playoff appearance since 1996, where they defeated the favored
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-3 before losing to the New York Giants
20-10.
Earned his second trip to the Pro Bowl (was originally elected
as an alternate) following the 2001 season after combining
for 3,715 yards of total offense and establishing career highs
in TD passes (25) and QB rating (84.3). Including playoffs,
threw TD passes in 15 of 18 games and 2-or-more in 12 of those
games. Named by his teammates as the club's offensive MVP in
2000 and 2001. Led the Eagles in fourth-quarter comebacks in
two wins vs. the Giants in 2001. At the Meadowlands (October
22), his 18-yard pass to James Thrash with 1:52 remaining gave
the Eagles a 10-9 victory. At Philadelphia (December 30), wiped
out a 21-14 deficit, engineering two fourth-quarter scores
as the Eagles clinched the NFC East title with a 24-21 over
archrival New York Giants. Tied Ron Jaworski and Tommy Thompson
for the most postseason wins in franchise history by a QB (3).
His 8 career playoff TDs trails only Jaworski (9). Named NFL
Offensive Player of the Week after the NFC Divisional Playoff
game at Chicago (January 19, 2002). Completed 26 of 40 for
262 yards with 2 touchdowns passing and added 37 yards and
a TD on the ground. That rushing TD was the final touchdown
at the old Soldier Field. Became only the fourth QB in Eagles
history to pass for 3,000 yards in consecutive seasons - Sonny
Jurgensen (1961-62), Ron Jaworski (1980-81), and Randall Cunningham
(1988-90) were the others. McNabb's Eagles advanced to the
NFC championship game for the first time since 1980, losing
to the heavily favored St. Louis Rams 29-24.
In week 11 of the 2002 season, McNabb was injured. On the third
play of the game, he was sacked by the Cardinals' Adrian Wilson
and LeVar Woods. He fumbled the ball, fell to the ground, and
held his right leg. He went to the locker room to have his
ankle taped, but returned for the Eagles' second drive. His
injury was reported to be a sprained ankle, but X-rays after
the game revealed that it was a broken ankle. During the game,
however, McNabb made an impressive show of toughness. In one
of the best passing games of his career, he was 20 of 25 passing,
with 255 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also threw an interception.
McNabb was out for the last six weeks of the regular season,
and returned to face the Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs, but
he recovered slowly. The Eagles defeated the Falcons 20-6,
but were beaten by the underdog Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-10
in the NFC championship game.
In late September of 2003, Donovan McNabb was the subject
of very controversial comments made by Rush Limbaugh, who worked
as a commentator for ESPN at the time, stating that the Philadelphia
Eagles quarterback was overrated because the media wanted to
see a black quarterback succeed. The comments came after the
Eagles began the season 0-2, losing to defending Super Bowl
champion Buccaneers and eventual champion New England, both
losses coming in their newly opened stadium, Lincoln Financial
Field. There has been much discussion about the merit of these
comments, which resulted in Limbaugh's resignation from ESPN.
Despite the slow start in the 2003 season, McNabb again led
his team to the NFC championship game - yet his detractors
pointed out that in his five years in the NFL, McNabb had yet
to complete 60 percent of his passes or average seven yards
per attempt over the course of an entire season, two statistical
thresholds widely accepted as benchmarks for what constitutes
a successful season for a modern-day NFL quarterback. Although
the slow start hindered his overall statistics for 2003, Mcnabb
had the highest quarterback rating(97.5)in the NFL for the
second half of the season and also completed over 62% of his
passes for over eight yards per attempt. With Philadelphia's
14-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers in the 2003 NFC championship
game, McNabb became the first NFL quarterback since Danny White
of the Dallas Cowboys (1980-1982) to lead a team to three consecutive
defeats in conference title games, prompting some observers
to conclude that McNabb "chokes" in big games (his
cumulative passer rating in the three conference championship
games was 50.5 - a figure that is approximately 10 points lower
than what the worst quarterback in the league earns over the
course of a typical year).
McNabb's defenders, however, point out that Philadelphia had
the worst contingent of wide receivers in the NFL throughout
McNabb's tenure with the team up to that point, and perhaps
in modern professional football history. In 2003, for example,
Philadelphia's wide receivers caught only five touchdown passes
- tying the record for fewest in a season since the regular-season
schedule was lengthened to its present 16 games in 1978 and
that, by going the entire months of September and October without
having a wide receiver catch a touchdown pass, the 2003 Eagles
became the first NFL team since 1945 not to have gotten a touchdown
pass from any of its wide receivers in the first two months
of a season.
McNabb finally amassed the kind of numbers that placed him
firmly as one of the elite NFL quarterbacks statistically.
He averaged 8.26 yards per attempt, completed 64.0 percent
of his passes, threw 31 touchdown passes (he also ran for three
more), and only eight interceptions. These numbers translated
to a Passer Rating of 104.7. Furthermore, he became the first
quarterback in league history to throw over 30 touchdowns and
less than 10 interceptions in a single season. This dramatic
improvement coincided with a massive upgrading of the Eagles'
receiving corps, namely the arrival of Terrell Owens, who caught
14 touchdowns. As a result, the Eagles won their first seven
games of the season for the first time in franchise history,
clinched first place in their division with five weeks still
to play in the regular season (becoming only the third team
in modern NFL history to do this) and won the NFC's Eastern
Division by a record-tying seven-game margin in posting a 13-3
record, the franchise's best 16-game season ever. In the playoffs,
McNabb led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl in almost a
quarter century, with victories over the Minnesota Vikings
27-14 in the divisional game and the Atlanta Falcons 27-10
in the NFC Championship Game. Owens was not in the lineup during
the two playoff victories, and was recovering from a broken
leg. McNabb became only the third African-American quarterback
to start in a Super Bowl after Doug Williams in the 1987 season
and Steve McNair in 1999.
McNabb and Owens led their team against a newly-forming dynasty,
the New England Patriots, in Super Bowl XXXIX. While Owens
was explosive every time he touched the ball, McNabb struggled
at points, throwing three poor and crucial interceptions. Two
of these were thrown in New England territory, and one of those
two was a rare mistake for McNabb in the red zone. He was also
sacked four times. Controversy surrounds the end of the game,
as McNabb was reportedly unable to call a play in the huddle,
leading to poor clock management by the Philadelphia Eagles
on their final drive. Some reports claim that McNabb had the
wind knocked out of him by an earlier hit while others assert
that he was unduly fatigued or even nauseous (interestingly,
McNabb also suffered from a bout of nausea at the conclusion
of a 2002 regular-season game played at Alltel Stadium, where
Super Bowl XXXIX was contested). Some have speculated that
McNabb had end of game butterflies and is not capable of winning
the big game. Both Coach Andy Reid and McNabb have denied any
physical problems which led to the puzzlingly slow pace of
play, but they did not address mental problems. McNabb finished
the game with 30 completions for 357 yards, the third highest
total for both catagories in Super Bowl history, and 3 touchdowns.
The Eagles lost 24-21.
Pundits often use Super Bowl XXXIX to point out both McNabb's
gifts and failures. He showed flashes of his athleticism and
on field calm, but he also brought up the nagging questions
of whether or not he has the heart of a champion. Despite an
overall poor performance during the Super Bowl, the Eagles
had a chance at the end and McNabb could not capitalize.
McNabb's 2005 season began with turmoil and ended on injured
reserve. Terrell Owens had called out McNabb repeatedly since
the Super Bowl XXXIX loss and refused to speak with McNabb.
Despite not speaking with his main target and all the distractions
that came with the Owens controversy, McNabb managed to be
named the NFC's Player of the Month for September. Perhaps
one of the finer months of his career, McNabb threw for 964
yards, eight touchdowns and only two interceptions in three
games, leading the Eagles to a 2-1 record. McNabb carried
that momentum into October as he went 33 for 48 (68.8 completion
%), threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns en route to
leading the Eagles to a memorable come-from-behind victory
at an unfriendly Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City
Chiefs. McNabb could not keep the momentum rolling however
as the Eagles lost four straight games. Over that span, McNabb
only posted a quarterback rating higher than 72 once Sunday,
November 6 at the Washington Redskins. After playing with
a sports hernia and sore thumb, McNabb decided to end his
season early after a disastrous effort at home on November
14 on Monday night against the rival Dallas Cowboys. Though
low for his standards McNabb put up respectable numbers in
2005. In nine games, he threw for 2,507 yards, 16 touchdowns
and nine interceptions. To go along with that, he completed
59.1% (211-357) of his passes. Prior to his season ending
early, McNabb was on pace to throw for 4,457 yards, which
would have easily eclipsed his career high of 3,875, set
in 2004.
McNabb's and the Eagles began the 2006 season at 5-4 heading
into a week 11 game with Tennessee Titans on Sunday November
19th. During the game, however, McNabb tore the anterior cruciate
ligament and meniscus in his right knee while jumping out of
bounds, ending his season, the third time in five years McNabb
has gone down with six or more games remaining in the regular
season.[1] Eagles officials stated that his rehabilitation
will likely last eight to twelve months, which completely ends
his 2006 season and even raises questions as to whether he
will be ready to begin playing by the beginning of the 2007
season. In the meantime, backup quarterback Jeff Garcia is
to take McNabb's place as the Eagles' quarterback. Since McNabb
became starting quarterback in 1999, the Eagles are 8-7 without
him. A dominant defense in 2002 helped A.J. Feeley and Koy
Detmer go a combined 5-1 to finish the season after McNabb
broke his ankle against the Arizona Cardinals. Detmer lost
a meaningless game during the Eagles Super Bowl season in 2004.
In 2005, Mike McMahon went 2-5 when McNabb´s season was
lost to a sports hernia[2] in Week 10 against the Cowboys.
Having played nearly up to full speed in the preseason games,
it was decided that McNabb would return to the field several
months short of the full year-long recovery expected of an
ACL injury. In the season opener at Green Bay, the Eagles
and McNabb suffered a 16-13 loss. McNabb had his share of
problems, completing less than half of his passes for 184
yards and one touchdown.
The Eagles lost their first home
game of the season to the rival Washington Redskins, 20-12,
though his numbers improved. As week three approached,
skeptics had already wondered whether McNabb still had his
skill that
propelled him to success in the past. The Eagles defeated
the Detroit Lions in a 56-21 win. McNabb completed 21 out
of his 26 attempted passes for 381 yards. Four of those
passes went for touchdowns (3 of them went to Kevin Curtis).
His
brilliant performance against the Lions was highlighted
by his first perfect (158.3) Quarterback Rating.
However,
week
4 did not prove to be as good as the Eagles thought it
would be. The Eagles endured yet another loss, this time
to the
New York Giants. The Giants' defense, led by defensive
end Osi Umenyiora, sacked McNabb a record-tying 12 times.
McNabb
completed 15 out of 31 attempted passes for 138 yards
and no touchdowns. In week 6 game against the Jets, McNabb
completed 22 out of 36 attempted passes for 278 yards total.
McNabb
also had a touchdown pass to Curtis, plus one interception.
With the help of placekicker David Akers, the Eagles
went
on to win, 16-9.
McNabb had stated before the Dallas
Cowboys game that the NFC East title went through Philadelphia,
so Dallas responded with a 38-17 win on primetime Sunday
Night
Football. Against the Redskins, McNabb completed a
high percentage of passes and ended with a QB rating of 138.5
in a tough
win. In the week 11 game against the Miami Dolphins,
McNabb
sprained his ankle and injured his right (throwing
side)
thumb. As a result McNabb had been ruled out for the
game against the New England Patriots, replaced by AJ Feeley,
who although gave a valiant effort through two games,
came
up short. Feeley threw 7 interceptions in 2 games (4
coming in the opening and closing drives of both games).
During
game 14 news reporter Pam Oliver reported during the
game that McNabb indicated that he didn't expect to be
back in Philadelphia for the 2008 season. McNabb later indicated
that this was not true .
At the conclusion of the Season, McNabb faced criticism for
asking for playmakers on his yardbarker blog.[19] He did however,
deny he was taking a shot at anyone in particular, saying "We
were 8-8. There is room for improvement.
McNabb caused another mild stir in camp when he
basically suggested that the Eagles shouldn't have
lost a game to any of their NFC East opponents
last season. He felt that they were just a few
plays away from being a playoff team. He even went
on to say, "I still put us at the top of the
NFC."[21] In week 1 of the 2008 NFL season
Mcnabb threw for 361 yards (the most of any quarterback
that week) and 3 touchdowns which included a 90
yard toss to Hank Baskett at the end of the second
quarter. In week 3 against the Steelers, McNabb
threw his 176th career touchdown passing Ron Jaworski
and becoming the Eagles all time TD leader.
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