It's 2019 and somehow Donovan McNabb is owning headlines in Philadelphia.
The Eagles' former franchise quarterback sent out a series of tweets on Monday afternoon, attempting to further clarify his critical comments about Carson Wentz from this past weekend.
On Saturday, McNabb was on a CBS radio show and was asked about Wentz. He said if Wentz doesn't get out of the second round of the playoffs in the next two years, the Eagles should draft another quarterback.
Then Lane Johnson, never shy with his opinions, chimed in. He called McNabb a snake with emojis and then further explained his problem with McNabb's comments.
Now, McNabb has responded again:
For those of you who misread, didn't understand, were confused or just didn't like my comments let me clarify it for you. Let me start by saying there's no beef,riff or ill-will toward @cj_wentz or the @Eagles . My comments were strictly based off of experience and understandingβ Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) April 22, 2019
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Of how The Business of football works. You are consistently evaluated everyday, every game and if you are reliable and or healthy enough to play. I know at times as players and fans it can be confusing to move on from a beloved player but due to the business of healthβ Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) April 22, 2019
And trust tough decisions are usually made. Maybe people just didn't like it because it's coming from me or I answered a question from one of the talents on the radio the way you didn't agree with. If that's how you feel I'm sorry you feel that way. It's
the nature of the game.β Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) April 22, 2019
The last tweet nails the root of the problem with McNabb's comments.
If some talking head on a national network said these things, we would have already moved on. Heck, we probably wouldn't have even cared. But this is McNabb. I normally want everyone to speak the truth and give honest opinions, so this might seem highly hypocritical, but in this case, McNabb can't be this oblivious to how his comments were going to be seen.
McNabb has to be more self-aware than this. He has to know that when he says something about the Eagles' franchise quarterback, he's not saying it as a talking head; he's saying it as the Eagles' former franchise quarterback.
And there's already a perception - plenty of it earned - that McNabb has passive-aggressive tendencies, that he still feels he was mistreated during his time in Philadelphia, which has seemingly left a bitter taste in his mouth. Now, all he's doing is perpetuating those perceptions and thrusting himself into the spotlight 10 years after he played his final snap with the Eagles.
It's a shame these things seem to keep happening because McNabb is an all-time great Eagle. Maybe it's unfair he's being persecuted for giving an opinion that was asked of him. But there's going to be a spotlight on any comments he makes about Wentz. Either he didn't realize that, which would be a huge oversight, or he didn't care.
I'm not sure which one is worse.
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