Now THIS is what I want to hear!

[FRESH]

I criticize the mebers of the team and organization when they say something that pises me off, and likewise, I acknowledge when I LIKE what I am hearing. This is good stuf, IMO.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news..._contract.html

Friday, January 30, 2009
McNabb: 'I Want to Retire an Eagle'
Donovan McNabb made it clear Friday, in a session with Philadelphia-area reporters, that he does want to discuss his contract when he sits down with management in the offseason, and he suggested this would not be news to the team, contrary to recent statements by team president Joe Banner stating that the Eagles are unaware of any issues involving McNabb's contract.
But more important might be the fact that McNabb stated emphatically: "I want to retire as an Eagle." Asked about ESPN commentator Deion Sanders, who keeps insisting that McNabb and his family want out of Philadelphia, McNabb said: "Deion's not speaking for me."
Asked about Banner's repeated assertions that the Eagles haven't heard anything about McNabb's contract from McNabb or his agent, Fletcher Smith, McNabb said the contract indeed will be discussed.
"Everybody knows that," McNabb said. "You guys know that, and you talk about it. We'll just leave it behind closed doors, communication will go well, we'll hopefully get things solved. We'll be (in the Super Bowl) hopefully next year, and I won't have to go through media row. I'll be sitting at the little table with the chair (on an interview podium) talking about the game on Sunday."
His deal has two more years to run, but a new contract would lower his salary cap number - $9.2 million next season and presumably give him a signing bonus that would make it very hard under the salary cap for the team to part with him within the next few years.

McNabb suggested that he, Andy Reid and Banner were going swimming in Tampa today, with Reid "wearing a Speedo," Banner carrying "a little float" and team chairman Jeffrey Lurie barbecuing. This seemed perhaps to be a joke.
The Eagles have said that McNabb will remain their quarterback.

Earlier, in a tour of radio row at the Super Bowl media center in Tampa, McNabb said: “I have talked to the fans, especially early on in my career, about helping to bring a Super Bowl back to Philadelphia,” he said. “We got so close and we got close this year. I want to bring that back to Philadelphia because they deserve it. The Phillies won it and that was a great thing. I’ve been there 10 years and we’ve been so close and I want to be able to have that parade down Broad Street. I want to tell the fans that, ‘Hey, we’ve been working extremely hard to bring the Super Bowl back to Philadelphia and I want to do that for the fans.’ ”

As for where the Eagles stand and how he feels about the offseason, McNabb said: “I feel great. To finish the season out healthy, that is the most important thing. The way that we finished things out from no one really counting us in to the situation of the playoffs all the way to the NFC championship and that close to the Super Bowl. I’m very excited about what we can do next year. I’m very excited about the guys we have. I’m very excited about the draft picks and the free agents we can bring in to help out. We’ll communicate about other things as well as things continue on. I’m anticipating this opportunity of hopefully being in Miami at the Super Bowl.”

*

[Vote for Kalas]

Good for McNabb...most knew Deion was full of shit, but its good to hear straight from the source.

Also good to hear McNabb again communicate how badly he wants to win it for the fans and how he appreciates them

"McNabb suggested that he, Andy Reid and Banner were going swimming in Tampa today, with Reid "wearing a Speedo," Banner carrying "a little float" and team chairman Jeffrey Lurie barbecuing. This seemed perhaps to be a joke."

Is the writer this dense or just being coy? Of course its a joke, can you see Reid in a Speedo and Banner using a float? LMAO!

[BIGPHILLY]

Agreed. Thank you Donovan.

[MDFAN]

Good stuff --- I'll take it at face value until I hear otherwise.

[leifdawg]

Great find Fresh.

[fly]

damn, that is good to hear.

[FRESH]

What's funny is, if Donovan were to normally use these kind of responses, letting the Philly Phans know he wants to be here and wants to fight for them, he'd be accepted SO much more. JMO, but I think Donovan really WANTS to be loved and accepted. I've never believed his spiel about not caring what people think. He protests too much with that stuff for it to be true. And this is exactly what he needs to do/say to get what he wants. Drop your guard, embrace your fanbase, and you can achiee the loyalty that Dawkins enjoys.

Again, JMHO. But I really enjoyed reading this.

[balto-eaglefan]

You know what, when Runyan and even Dawk were negotiating contracts a few years ago, and they said that they wanted to retire as Eagles, some actually claimed that "players always say that, it's just contract talk." And I was wondering if DMac was doing more of the same. Now I really believe that he wants to stay here, of all places, where it's a tough place to be the QB, maybe the toughest. Damn. Good for him.

Truth is, McNabb wants to retire an Eagle

By Phil Sheridan

Inquirer Sports Columnist

TAMPA, Fla. - The truth about Donovan McNabb has never been quite as sensational or as fascinating as the very distorted perception.

Yesterday, he lifted the sleeve of his polo shirt to reveal a nasty, still raw-looking turf burn on his left elbow. That wound was the reason he wore a black band around the elbow in the NFC championship game against Arizona. That band was mistaken by Warren Sapp as evidence that McNabb had needed an IV to get through the game.

And so Sapp, who from appearances stops yapping only long enough to eat and eating only long enough to yap more, concluded that McNabb was too out of shape to lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl. He volunteered that opinion to Inquirer Eagles beat scribe Bob Brookover the other day.

That perception will get plenty of play among the entrenched McNabb-bashing set, but there was the truth, pink and painful looking, on McNabb's elbow. The look in his eyes was mostly puzzled.

"Have you looked at Sapp lately?" McNabb said. "IV? I didn't get no IV. It's a little boo-boo. I can't answer that one."

The most important piece of McNabb-related reality is that he really does want to finish his career with the Eagles - and not anytime soon. He talked about working with new quarterbacks coach James Urban and old mentor Doug Pederson with an enthusiasm he couldn't have mustered if he really wanted out of Philadelphia.

From the time he entered the NFL in 1999, McNabb had a clear vision of what he wanted his career to be like. He wanted to be an elite quarterback, a Pro Bowler who played in big games. He wanted to win a Super Bowl or three. And yes, he also wanted to transcend whatever remained of racial assumptions about the QB position - both on the field and in the world of commercial endorsements.

That all came to mind when he brought up Irving Fryar, the wide receiver who played just three of his 17 NFL seasons with the Eagles. At the end of his tenure in Philadelphia, the charismatic and popular Fryar was given a motorcycle by the team.

That stuck with the young McNabb, became an addition to that list of career goals.

"I don't ride motorcycles," McNabb said, "but maybe I could get a car."

The point isn't the gift, of course. It's being recognized as a career Eagle. For all the chatter and hyperventilating and, in some quarters, all the wishful thinking, that really is McNabb's plan. And you know what? He has earned every chance to fulfill it.

"I want to retire as an Eagle," McNabb said, putting it about as bluntly as possible. As for the constant speculation, he said something very revealing:

"It's tiresome, but you know what? I'd rather people ask me every year than be somewhere else and have people ask me, 'How was it in Philly?' "

It's an uneasy marriage, a star player with a long memory in a city with an even longer one. It's as if neither side is willing to let anything go, from the "We-Want-Ricky-Williams" foolishness to the hazy final minutes of the Super Bowl to the Terrell Owens mess.

That probably won't change. McNabb and his family are proud people. Philadelphia is Philadelphia. But that last comment, about how he'd rather deal with constant speculation in Philadelphia than find peace elsewhere, is as candid as McNabb is likely to get with a bunch of reporters. It was a sincere answer to a face-to-face question, not more of the formulaic news-conference pablum we've grown accustomed to being fed.

McNabb was also very clear about wanting to discuss his contract status with the Eagles. He has two years remaining on the deal he signed early in the 2002 season. That contract was negotiated with the expectation that the two sides would discuss a new deal right about now. Large salaries in the final seasons were included to make a renegotiation advantageous to the Eagles for salary cap purposes and to McNabb for financial reasons.

Two things happened since then: McNabb had some serious injuries, and the cap expanded to the point where it has ceased to be much of an issue.

"I think a lot of times fans look at it as, 'He gets paid a lot of money, why does he want to talk about it?' " McNabb said. "When you do contracts, that's kind of how it goes."

By taking the team to the conference championship game for the fifth time, McNabb made a strong case for himself. He deserves a new deal that keeps him among the top-paid quarterbacks in the game and that keeps him in Philadelphia for the rest of his career.

It's what he wants, it's what the Eagles want. That's the unsensational truth.

Contact columnist Phil Sheridan at 215-854-2844 or [email protected]. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/philsheridan.

[Eagle60]

You know what, when Runyan and even Dawk were negotiating contracts a few years ago, and they said that they wanted to retire as Eagles, some actually claimed that "players always say that, it's just contract talk." And I was wondering if DMac was doing more of the same. Now I really believe that he wants to stay here, of all places, where it's a tough place to be the QB, maybe the toughest. Damn. Good for him.

Runyon was on his way to New York for more dough. His wife said no because she didn't want to move. She's the reason that Big John is still an Eagle!!

[Vote for Kalas]

What's funny is, if Donovan were to normally use these kind of responses, letting the Philly Phans know he wants to be here and wants to fight for them, he'd be accepted SO much more. JMO, but I think Donovan really WANTS to be loved and accepted. I've never believed his spiel about not caring what people think. He protests too much with that stuff for it to be true. And this is exactly what he needs to do/say to get what he wants. Drop your guard, embrace your fanbase, and you can achiee the loyalty that Dawkins enjoys.

Again, JMHO. But I really enjoyed reading this.

He has said versions of this many times over the years

[fly]

He has said versions of this many times over the years

VFK - honestly, I don't recall many of these type of comments from 5. I'm not doubting you, but the overall perception Donnie's given philly fans is that he doesn't like them. That's my perception anyway - maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong.

But I agree completely with Fresh here.

[FRESH]

If he were to make these comments often, then I would be complimenting him often.

[Vote for Kalas]

VFK - honestly, I don't recall many of these type of comments from 5. I'm not doubting you, but the overall perception Donnie's given philly fans is that he doesn't like them. That's my perception anyway - maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong.

But I agree completely with Fresh here.

He has said it since his rookie year...he has always wanted to win a SB here, wants to bring it home for the loyal fans, has always wanted to stay here his entire career and retire an Eagle.

The vast majority of his issues are with the media and the Eagles, not the fans. He dislikes how the media spins/distorts things and is upset about being benched and not having enough play makers.

He may not have said it earlier this year, but it has been a consistent theme and his main goal since Day 1...which is why in his comments he said as much i.e. "I have talked to the fans, especially early on in my career, about helping to bring a Super Bowl back to Philadelphia...."