OPEN COURT: McNabb’s odyssey

Donovan McNabb is officially the Kevin Bacon of the NFL.

No, McNabb doesn’t spend his off-seasons introducing dancing to small middle-America towns or battling Tom Cruise in tense courtroom dramas, but he shares an uncommon characteristic with one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces.

Bacon, as you may know, is the subject of the famous “six degrees” game, where every actor can supposedly be connected to the “Footloose” star in six or less moves.

McNabb has him beat. Many of the NFL’s most controversial, downright bizarre stories of the past few years can be connected to McNabb in one move.

This Michael Vick circus is just the latest in a long line of professional hurdles for one of football’s most unique talents.

McNabb was drafted No. 2 overall in 1999 after a stellar career at Syracuse. If you remember, the pick was booed mercilessly by the Philadelphia faithful (the most unforgiving fan-base in American athletics) because they were pining for Texas tailback Ricky Williams.

McNabb quickly won over those skeptics with his strong arm, quick feet, and imposing physique. Along with the late Steve McNair, McNabb was at the forefront of the new hybrid run/throw quarterbacking trend.

Many attempted to follow in their footsteps, but most failed. He led the Eagles to four straight NFC Championship games (2001-04) while making five straight pro bowls (2000-04).

However, Philly fans and the media began to wonder if McNabb could ever win the big one. He was at the center of a boneheaded controversy, when obnoxious waste of oxygen Rush Limbaugh argued that McNabb was wildly overrated because “the media wanted a black quarterback to succeed.”

McNabb played it the right way, deciding that Limbaugh wasn’t worth responding to. But someone just as obnoxious was waiting right around the corner, and he wouldn’t be as easy to ignore.

Philadelphia signed talented, yet mouthy wide receiver Terrell Owens in 2004, hoping that his playmaking ability would be the missing ingredient in the Eagles’ Super Bowl hopes.

The organization was half right.

It seemed like a match made in heaven at the start. Thanks to Owens’ dynamic playmaking ability, the Eagles did hold it together to make the Super Bowl in 2004, taking on the calm, cool, collected New England Patriots. Philadelphia had a chance to win it in the fourth quarter, but McNabb and Andy Reid embarked on the slowest pressure drive in NFL history, with McNabb allegedly dry-heaving on the field.

Weird, right? It’d only get weirder.

Owens called out McNabb after the Super Bowl loss and the two went months without speaking. But the controversy clearly took its toll, as McNabb’s play wasn’t quite what it used to be. Philly used a second-round pick in 2007 to take Kevin Kolb out of Houston.

Speculation ran wild prior to 2008 that McNabb’s time in Philadelphia might be nearing an end. The infamous “I didn‘t know NFL games could end in a tie” press conference after the Bengals game and the benching against the Baltimore Ravens didn‘t do anything to quell those rumors, either.

But he somehow found a way to put together one of his most inspired stretches of football late in the 2008 season, leading the Eagles to yet another NFC Championship game.

After the Eagles lost to the Arizona Cardinals, McNabb implored his front office to bring in more playmakers, which it did by drafting speedy Jeremy Maclin. But clearly, the Eagles weren’t done.

Vick comes to Philadelphia with some baggage (in the understatement of the year), but there is no denying the impact he can have on a football game. Whether or not Vick deserves the opportunity to have that impact is a completely different discussion.

But what is McNabb supposed to think about all of this? A team doesn’t bring in Vick to simply sit on the bench as a back-up. The instant McNabb starts to falter, those “put in Vick!” chants will become deafening.

In between all of these tabloid controversies, McNabb has quietly put together an amazing career. Did you know he’s the owner of nearly every relevant Eagles’ passing record? Or that he has the third-best winning percentage of active quarterbacks behind only Tom Brady and Peyton Manning? Or that he’s the least intercepted QB per pass attempt in NFL history? Or that only five other NFL quarterbacks (Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, McNair) have accumulated more than 25,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in a career?

It’s safe to say we’ll never see a career quite like McNabb’s ever again, mostly because I’m not sure we’ll ever see any athlete able to handle Limbaugh, Owens, Vick and the Philly fans all in one decade.

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