When my family moved from Baltimore, Maryland to the Southwest in 1961, I was five years old. When we settled in New Mexico in 1965 almost everyone outside our family rooted for the Dallas Cowboys. Eventually even my mother switched her allegiances from our beloved Baltimore Colts to the despised Cowboys. It created quite a divide in the family when mom rooted for Tom Landry's Cowboys in the 1970 Super Bowl while we rooted for our beloved Colts. Mom's explanation of her defection was simple. We saw the Cowboys each week on TV and she had learned to cheer for them. It would be the dastardly Irsay family who would change the rest of our loyalties when they moved the Colts to Indianapolis in the middle of the night many years ago.
After the Irsay betrayal of Baltimore the entire family converted to Dallas fans. However, despite my allegiances to Dallas, I cannot help but be a Donovan McNabb fan. No quarterback has accomplished more and yet somehow suffered more undeserved criticism and abuse. Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl. And yet Marino enjoys the unwavering adoration of millions. Jim Kelly never won a Super Bowl. And he still commands the respect of all knowledgeable football fans. Neither of these two outstanding quarterbacks had quite enough talent around them to ever win the ultimate prize. And such is the case with McNabb. However, unlike Marino or Kelly who both spent their entire career with one team, it was McNabb who was tossed aside like and old shoe at the end of last season by Philadelphia, the team he had brought so much success to. It would seem that no brilliant NFL quarterback has ever had his talent questioned as often as McNabb. This man even endured criticism by the likes of a high profile football "expert" like......Rush Limbaugh. While we agree with Rush on most business principles, Rush definitely got the McNabb legacy all wrong.
Donovan McNabb |