Or so McNabb claims before facing Eagles
ASHBURN – This is the week Donovan McNabb says is like any other. Except, of course, for the reporters crammed around him at his weekly news conference — including more than a dozen from out of town. And except for the fact he’s preparing to play the team for which he starred 11 seasons — the same team that traded him away in the offseason.
Yep, a normal week.
McNabb has clung to the notion for months that his return to Philadelphia will be treated as if he’s going to play any old team.
Up nextRedskins at EaglesWhen » Sunday, 4:15 p.m.Where » Lincoln Financial Field PhiladelphiaTV » FoxRadio » 730 & 980 AM/92.7 & 94.3 FM/Sirius 123
“I’m still gonna downplay it,” he said.
That will be difficult to do. McNabb was the face of the franchise for more than a decade. He led the Eagles to five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl appearance. He owns most of their passing records and didn’t let a tough city beat him down.
Convincing anyone that this game is not somehow a little bit bigger is difficult to accomplish.
“It’s hard to tell if this is a bigger week for him,” center Casey Rabach said. “I’m not going to bring it up to him. But I think any player that did so much for an organization, it obviously will mean a little more. It’s got to.”
Still, McNabb said he hasn’t thought about how he’ll feel when he runs onto the field.
“I just hope I walk out of the right tunnel,” he joked.
McNabb has maintained contact with a number of former teammates, including quarterbacks Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb, as well as coach Andy Reid — the man who traded him. He text messages each one often, though not this week.
“I’m a huge Donovan McNabb fan,” Reid said. “I told him I’m still pulling for him, except for two games. I’m still friends with him.”
McNabb returned those love volleys.
“The organization means a lot,” he said of the Eagles. “The coaches mean a lot. Eleven years is not [something] you can forget about in a week or a year. We had a lot of success. The records I hold there are due to Andy taking that chance on me [in the 1999 draft] and the guys I played with. … But life moves on, and I want to have that success in Washington.”
Then there’s the question of how McNabb will be received by the fans, some of whom — and perhaps a small minority — famously booed him the day he was drafted.
But McNabb anticipates cheers upon his return, partly because of a crucial point: He did not ask to be traded.
And yes, he knows the reputation of Eagles fans and booing.
“But it was 11 great years,” he said. “You wouldn’t expect me to say I’m going to get booed, do you? Eleven great years. That’s something you just can’t forget.”
McNabb hasn’t. And he doesn’t expect anyone else to, either.
“A lot of times people focus on talk radio and their opinions or judgments,” McNabb said. “But there are a lot of people who truly were accepting of the things I was able to do. I do feel like I was appreciated there.”