Nick Piccone
Donovan McNabb, who recently was charged with his second DUI offense, returned to his old stomping grounds at Syracuse University to speak, reportedly at an insurance trade show [great, McNabb’s new venture will be an insurance salesman. Good grief.], and offered his opinion on when Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie, will end the experiment with Chip Kelly and fire him. According to McNabb, it might be soon. [Philly.com]
“Well, he better win soon. You talk about the tenure I had, over a decade of winning successfully, making it to the playoffs. First round meant nothing to us. It was second round, NFC Championship or Super Bowl.
We’ve had a top-five offense, but he hasn’t had any playoff wins to show for it. We can talk about how smart you are and the numbers you’re putting up, but Philadelphia is used to winning. If you’re not winning, it’s going to be next man up.”
Of course, McNabb would offer up his career numbers as reason enough to justify his opinion on Kelly’s tenure as Eagles coach, but what the hell does he mean by “winning successfully”? Is there a category that’s “winning unsuccessfully”? If McNabb really thinks he won successfully during his time in Philly, he’d have a few Super Bowl rings to show for it. Best quarterback in franchise history? Yes. Best run in franchise history? Yes. But, Eagles fans being used to winning? Not even close.
And, don’t look now, but Chip has 23 wins in his third season with the team. Yes, it’s fair to criticize him at this point, especially this season, but there’s so much more to be desired once he gets his mobile quarterback that he needs to run the read-option successfully. If he doesn’t get it, then it really is next man up. But I honestly think he’ll have a longer leash than McNabb thinks he does.