M.L. on the N.F.L. Nabbing Donovan McNabb

Author: Mary Lane

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb caused quite a stir last week after he lost the Monday Night Football game against the Redskins 20-12 on Sept. 17 and had his August HBO interview with Bryant Gumbel aired. In the interview McNabb argued that black quarterbacks in the league are criticized more than their white counterparts, stating, "No matter what the style of play you're displaying, there's always going to be criticism."

McNabb's comments seem to be his attempt to make sense of his faltering place as the darling of Philadelphia.

Donovan, you're being criticized and your place as starting quarterback is in jeopardy because your performance (except for beating up on the woeful Lions Sunday) has been horrible of late. It's not because you're black.

In 2003, Rush Limbaugh notoriously made his claim that McNabb, then having carried the Eagles to two NFC Championship games, was not a very good player "from the get-go." McNabb was propped up by the media because they wanted to see a successful black quarterback. The day after Limbaugh's comment, McNabb remained relatively quiet on the issue and sought to distance himself from the image of the black quarterback persecuted because of his race saying, "It's sad that you've got to go to skin color. I thought we were through with that whole deal." Limbaugh resigned from Sunday NFL Countdown and the issue was put to rest.

Then came the bizarre, racist remarks in 2005, from J. Whyatt Mondesire, who owns the historically black newspaper the Philadelphia Daily Sun and is also president of the NAACP's Philadelphia chapter.

There has always been a distinction between the more daring, exciting running quarterback and the seemingly more intelligent pocket quarterback. Despite being an excellent running quarterback, McNabb made clear at the beginning of his pro career and has maintained his stance since that he is a pass-first quarterback.

Although many - including myself - have always thought he doesn't run enough, it's ultimately his call. McNabb doesn't typically offer a lot of explanations for what he does and the Eagles were obviously pleased with his performance up until the time of the knee injury, so there really didn't seem to be a problem. Mondesire, however, decided to write in his column that McNabb's decision to run less was a betrayal of his "blackness," and "not only amounts to a breach of faith, but also belittles the real struggles of black athletes who've had to overcome real racial stereotypcasting in addition to downright segregation." Huh? Not only was Mondesire making up a word, he was making up a problem.

Now, though, McNabb is doing just what Mondesire did, making a racial issue out of the criticism he has received lately, referencing Carson Palmer and Peyton Manning and saying, "They don't get criticized as much as we do."

Well, of course, they don't, Donovan, but it has nothing to do with their skin color. It has to do with their productivity. Manning just won a Super Bowl. You earn a ring, you get less criticism, duh. Palmer had a career high of six touchdowns against the Browns in Week Two and it didn't seem out of the ordinary. McNabb played well on Sunday against the Lions, with four touchdowns as he completd 80.8 percent of his passes, but the last time he had season-long stats like Palmer's was when Middlebury seniors were still in high school.