Since the NFL Draft, Donovan McNabb has been involved in talks about the "controversy" that surrounds him in Philadelphia.

The Eagles’ star quarterback has had to fight off the media when asked about how he felt about Philadelphia’s decision to draft Kevin Kolb in the second round. McNabb has had to deal with those who doubt that he will be the same quarterback he was a few years back. To add insult to injury, his team has only scored one touchdown in 23 possessions as they remain winless looking up at Dallas and Washington in the standings.

If that was not enough, McNabb has one more controversy to deal with.

Recently, on HBO’s "Real Sports" McNabb told James Brown that African-American quarterbacks face more pressure because there are fewer black quarterbacks.

"I pass for 300 yards, our team wins by seven," McNabb said to Brown. Then, he played the role of a critic.

"‘Ah, he could’ve made this throw, they would have scored if he did this."

McNabb would later go on to say that every quarterback does not go through that sort of criticism.

And McNabb is right ...to some degree. Yes, black quarterbacks do take a lot of criticism. Then again, every quarterback goes through that sort of thing.

Critics said that Vince Young would not be as good because of his throwing mechanics. Let’s not forget about Young’s score on the ever-popular Wonderlic test.

Some failure Young turned out to be. The former Texas Longhorn took over in the middle of the season and won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Peyton Manning’s biggest hang-up was that he could not win the big game. Not in Tennessee. Not in Indianapolis. This future Hall of Famer did what he had to do to get across that hump. Now, he’s a Super Bowl champion and a former league MVP.

Let’s have a little history lesson.

Doug Flutie was definitely not the perfect model of what teams looked for in a quarterback in size. The 5-10 Flutie was said to be too small to be a good quarterback in the NFL. Ah, but he was good. Flutie may have never won a ring, but he made it extremely difficult for any defense he faced. Teams knew they had their hands full when they faced the Boston College hero.

Just to look at the extreme of the situation, can McNabb compare the scrutiny he faces to that of a Doug Williams or a Warren Moon? I would doubt it, but I’m not in his shoes.

So, the question now becomes "How do you handle the adversity?"

I present two options.

First, McNabb could continue to listen to the critics and produce even more. Maybe 300 yards in a game is not enough. Maybe he has to throw less than eleven interceptions in a season, which is McNabb’s career-low when he plays all 16 games. Maybe he has to have top his career high of 31 touchdowns. Maybe -- just maybe -- a Super Bowl ring is the answer.

The second option is simple. McNabb has to keep his eyes out of the newspaper and his ears away from the radio. Tune out the criticism. He has to do what he’s paid to do. Journalists like me don’t exactly sign his paycheck. He has to forget what the people say, be the leader people expect him to be, and avoid the negativity.

Until either or both of these happens, McNabb will continue to have problems with criticism.

 

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached via e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com.

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