Eagles

Donovan McNabb Wanted to be Defended, Didn’t Throw Up

By Kyle Scott

Published: Aug 24th, 2010 · 10:25 AM EDT

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I really wanted to be done talking about Donovan McNabb- unless it involved him getting Justin Bieber's autograph.  But when he does a long interview with GQ and touches on Reid, Vick, and the Super Bowl, we have to mention it.

The highlights?  They're aren't many, but what we do see, is a walking contradiction.  He tries to paint himself as a guy who let's things roll off his shoulders.  What he winds up doing, is showing us that he still has pent up frustrations with the Eagles.

I had a meeting set up with Andy and [owner] Jeffrey Lurie after the season. We sat down and talked, and I got everything off my chest from '99 on. It went all the way back to the T.O. situation, it went back to us not winning big games, me being criticized for whatever, leadership, whatever it may be, and how no one in the organization ever stepped up and said anything. They'll say something to you in the building, but not publicly. My feeling was, 'I'm out here getting cut up, where are you? I'm always defending and helping you guys, but where's that support?' I thought it was beneficial, because you can sit there and tell somebody you truly love them, you're a big fan, your family loves you, but what about when we're over here in the hot seat, where are you now?

 

It's rare to see an athlete who cares as much about perception as McNabb.  This one doesn't do much for Reid's image:

When I'm out on the field, if he calls a play and I can't hear it, I'd look back and mouth "What is it?" and he'd just say, "Just call something." I'd go out there and probably get a first down or we score or whatever, and he'd say, "Why don't you just call the whole game?" and I would say, "I've been waiting on that."

 

Finally, McNabb says he didn't puke (with another veiled shot at Reid):

"We were trying to figure out if T.O. [Terrell Owens] was in or if T.O. was out, because of his leg. T.O. wanted to be in. We were trying to rotate different guys in and get the personnel together and things of that nature. The play calling was a little slow, maybe, but it made it look like we were just kind of standing around. We were hustling, it was just blown out of proportion.  No, at no point did I throw up. I got hit and dumped on my face a couple of times…we lost Todd Pinkston…we all were gassed, and there were a couple of times in the game where I got hit either by [linebacker Teddy] Bruschi or by [defensive end Richard] Seymour, I had grass in my helmet and maybe I lost my wind a little bit, but nothing to the point where I would come out of the game. People can run that game back and forth and find out that I wasn't throwing up, but I guess it's a sexy topic to talk about."

 

Read the whole interview at GQ.com.