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Donovan McNabb says he was surprised by the Eagles' selection of quarterback Kevin Kolb with their first pick in the NFL draft, but that there was no reason to be concerned.
"It didn't strike me to the point where I'm upset," McNabb told the Daily News today in his first public comments on the draft.

McNabb, rehabbing from season-ending knee surgery, said he would work with Kolb to help his presumed succesor's development and would be professional about it.

Asked if he expected Kolb would sit for 4 or 5 years until McNabb, 30, is ready to retire, McNabb joked: "If it's up to me he will."

McNabb said he was out at an ice cream shop with his wife and daughter during the draft when his brother-in-law called to tell him about the selection.

Asked for his initial thought, McNabb said: "Was that really our first pick?"

He said he received text messages from teammates and friends around the league almost immediately and had a voicemail from Eagles coach Andy Reid. The message, McNabb said, was that the team took a quarterback because he was the best player available, that McNabb should not worry about it and that it did not mean anything to his future with the team. McNabb did not return the call and did not talk to Reid until the two had a meeting two days after the draft.

"There was no call me back or anything like that," McNabb said. "It wasn't like he could have changed that pick."

McNabb said his rehab is progressing well and that he intends to be ready for the beginning of training camp and plans to play in two or three exhibition games.

*******************************


What WILL the national talking heads and local DOPES talk about now?

Silly. Why believe McNabb when speculation carries more credibility?

Fear not. I am sure Dear ol' Momma Bedazzle will leave some fodder on her next blog for the media and masses to consume.

perhaps the most troubling aspect of mcnabb's interview:

McNabb said he was out at an ice cream shop with his wife and daughter during the draft when his brother-in-law called to tell him about the selection.

better have been ordering a sorbet, ya fat ass...

He handled the media really well yesterday, but I think everyone knows how he really feels.

McNabb always handles these things well and I wish him all the best, but it's his job for the next 2 years. Hopefully he stays healthy and plays up to his ability, but he gone after 2008 unless he turns in the best 2 year stint of his career.

If anyone heard D-Gunn's interview with the Morning Morons about talking to McNabb, I'd like to know (and I was really surprised 5 went on WIP (for entertainment purposes only)).

He went on with Eskin, right?

Eskin has a deal with the Eagles: Give me the goods and I'll never say anything and about you...ever.

Spuds gives the Eagles more shit than Eskin.

There's nowhere else on that show he can go on.

The Morning Morons dislike him (and he only went on because they happened to be at training camp).
The Midday Nimrods? Psh.
Gwen Wacknow? Too whiny.
Gary Cobb? Nobody listens to him.

Eskin's the only one, and it's funny listening to him rip the other sports teams but defend the Eagles to the death.

I dunno FD, about 'how he really feels" etc...


I too felt he did well with the media, and he seemed to me, looser, less contrived, or intentionally vague as he has in the past.

D-Gunn's question got me thinking (He asked 5 if he felt that he coulda alienated the guys in the room cos he's perceived as "Mngmt" and if this draft pick lessens his impact further or something akin to that).

I think this could actually work in 5's favor.

a) If there IS (not sayin there is) a new coach's pet in house- wouldnt that relegate McNabb to '1 of the guys' for the 1st time ever? I mean, for the 1st time, guys in the room wont think of him as "the only guy who doesn't have to worry about a job".

b) Anyone catch Spuds' article today? He says this in the opening line and IT TOO got me thinking:

"Donovan McNabb selected his audience, and then he spoke. He conducted one-on-one interviews with a couple of Philadelphia newspapers, a television station and a radio station on Tuesday and he answered all the questions the outside world wanted to ask....

McNabb presented his interviews as a chance to promote his charity golf tournament, and instead of having a full-fledged press conference during mini-camp, he set up a "personal invitation" setting. If it works for him ... "

OK, now its not just me right? A tone of surprise and a mild knock on 5 is easily visable in the lines and between them here.

McNabb did this WITHOUT the Eagles "OK" - THAT IS PLAIN TO SEE NOW!

All I heard Monday was how Minicamp would begin on Friday nite (coverage of it on CSN) and that "McNabb will not be speaking".

Then he speaks?

HA~! Guess a guy can only take so much of being told to stay home from a playoff game, or not to hold a press conf. etc.

He is FINALLY acting independently of the F.O. and Fat Andy.


The Birds didnt want McNabb talking and he did it- and did it with his hand picked people. One COULD make the argument that this kinda makes the F.O. look a tad bad, but that may be a stretch and I doubt that's what was intended.

Toss in that even tho Fat Andy never said "Cll me Bck" in his text, McNabb waited days before talkin to his coach.

Independence?

How bout This:

Heard McNabb hired the recently FIRED BY THE EAGLES publicist, to be his own personal publicist recently and THAT is the 1 who set these interviews up.

Good stuff.

You must have posted this stuff about the same time I emailed, but I'll re-post that stuff here.

I think that McNabb being more independent will not help him at all. He may come off better in the media and he may even make some Eagles fans happy by being a little looser and honest in press conferences.

However, if any players resented him because they thought he was a "company man", I don't think they'll suddenly accept him as one of their own now that he has no choice but to come down to their level.

Also, the Eagles don't take kindly to independence. If their Manchurian Quarterback decides he has a mind of his own, it will only make his impending exit swifter, IMO.

Nope- You emailed me a good clip afterwards- thats why I asked you if you'd seen my latest and asked you to post some of the other stuff in your e mail, out here.

Correction: Your "Hen" e mail.

Here's a spuds quote from his boards today and some of the background information (some of which Seth just posted above):

"If McNabb is bothered, CT, hey, he has to get over it. He has other things to concern himself with than a quarterback or a press conference. I happen to take great offense to any player who complains about the way the Eagles treat him. This is an organization that treats the players great, a city that loves its players and its team, and the facilities and the coaches are first class. I don't think any player has a right to complain. Now, a player may feel upset about a contract. To me, hey, deal with it like a man or don't sign the contract in the first place. What else is there to complain about?"

This story will start to leak out in pieces over the next couple months and years, but apparently this is the latest:

- McNabb complained about never having a chance to get comfortable with a WR when Stallworth wasn't re-signed (a little bit publicly) and Banner made a point of talking to few media outlets and saying McNabb was "misinformed" and he gets plenty of time with his WRs.

- McNabb was working on an extension with the Eagles when he got hurt and they pulled everything off the table when that happened.

- They were trying to restructure his deal in the off-season and things weren't working out. McNabb declined a pay cut about 1 week before the draft.

- The Eagles recently fired Rich Burg who was director of media operations or something like that. Immediately after he was fired, McNabb hired him as his personal publicist. Rich's first order of business was scheduling these interviews away from Novacare.

- McNabb wondered aloud on Eskin's show yesterday about where some of his information/leaks came from when it was clearly obvious Eskin's intel came straight from Reid.

I'm tellin' ya…anything but healthy, monster seasons or Kolb being dumbfounded by the offense and McNabb is gone no later than the 2009 draft.


Obviously, we also remember the New Orleans mess when McNabb was a little upset that Reid wouldn't let him travel to the playoff game. We also remember the Eagles nixing the press conference McNabb scheduled and I wouldn't be shocked if that press conference had somethggn to do with Rich Burg being fired.

Also, the Eagles are PISSED that McNabb hired Burg. They fired him and the Eagles don't fire anyone. So he goes from being fired and on the Eagles shitlist to representing their biggest player's publicity needs and spending a few days a week around the Novacare complex.

I can imagine Banner being so angry that he has 5 sugar-free hard candies in the afternoon just to calm his nerves.

Form PFT (grain of salt):

"And McNabb's series of interviews were not expected or approved by the team. Per the source, the Eagles wanted McNabb to issue a statement after the draft to calm the storm over the selection of quarterback Kevin Kolb. McNabb wanted to do a press conference. The team declined.

As a result, McNabb -- with the help of a disgruntled former Eagles employee -- took matters into his own hands.

Looking at this more broadly, a guy whom the Eagles fired from its P.R. staff is now doing personal P.R. for the team's star quarterback.

Per Ashley Fox of the Philadelphia Inquirer, McNabb described the situation as follows: "You hate to see somebody you've trusted and has worked wonders for you go. That's why I'm working with him now, and we're hoping to change some of the things around that have happened. I trust Rich, and he has done wonderful things for me, and we will continue to work well together."

But the guy was fired by the Eagles. How in the hell can that be a good thing for anyone? It isn't, and it won't be. We think that both sides are now in the initial phases of a dance to win the hearts and minds of the Philly faithful.

And at any moment the whole thing could explode."

Nope- You emailed me a good clip afterwards- thats why I asked you if you'd seen my latest and asked you to post some of the other stuff in your e mail, out here.

Just checked the time stamp...you beat me by 8 minutes.

*sniff sniff* I can't believe my baby Donnie is all growed up.

You had to think that Sam McNabb dropping the "my son has 31 other teams to play for" remark was more than just the window dressing of getting moved out in favor of a younger replacement.

Couple that with McNabb also saying that some players go into their 40s playing, and you could see the seeds of dissension being sewn.

And if it does come down to a war of the media/fans, then McNabb has to know he won't win, especially since he's not held of favorable opinion to begin with.

This could get ugly.

The bright side is that it'll take the attention off the Phils.

Eagles have lost control of star

By Ashley Fox
Inquirer Columnist

The Eagles have a problem. A big problem. They've lost control of their franchise quarterback, and that has the potential to get real ugly.

It might not seem like a big deal, but Donovan McNabb went on a public-relations blitz yesterday, far away from the protective eyes, ears and hands at the NovaCare Complex. He didn't inform the Eagles of his intentions. He just had his new publicist, a longtime Eagles employee whom the team recently let go, set up interviews with The Inquirer and a few other media outlets so McNabb could get his message out.

That message? He's not upset that the team used its top pick in last month's draft on a quarterback, but he isn't happy that there is a perception that he is upset.

After a series of public-relations missteps, there is an inaccurate portrait of the quarterback, he said, and it's time for it to change.

"Every situation I felt could have been handled the right way, and I don't think it has [been]," McNabb told The Inquirer. "From what has been put out there when I don't speak to when I do speak, what comes after that, there shouldn't be a battle of the words I said. . . . Once I say something, they can take it however they want. That's the main thing. No matter what I say or how it comes out or how people may perceive it, I can't control that."

The Eagles did not know about McNabb's scheduled interviews yesterday until I told them. They were dumbfounded. In one second, they had lost control.

If we've learned anything about the Eagles under the regime of Jeffrey Lurie, Joe Banner and Andy Reid, it is this: The team and all the decisions that affect it are theirs. They run the show. The popular vote doesn't rule. They do.

So you take control away from this regime, and what do you have?

Exactly.

This might seem soap operatic, but McNabb clearly was upset that the Eagles recently fired Rich Burg, an assistant director in their media services department for more than a decade. One of Burg's top priorities in recent years was to coordinate McNabb's interviews. He was McNabb's guide through the maze that is the national media market.

Burg handled all of McNabb's requests, and typically sat in on the interviews. Although Burg apparently had some inadequacies the Eagles decided they no longer could live with, McNabb trusted him.

So after getting hammered for not publicly reacting to the Eagles' choice of Kevin Kolb with their second-round draft pick, McNabb decided yesterday to get some things off his chest. In most but not all cases in the NFL, the team would have arranged the interviews. McNabb asked Burg to do so.

The Eagles said they offered to issue a statement on McNabb's behalf last week and then offered to set up interviews for McNabb in advance of this weekend's minicamp. The quarterback is rehabilitating his right knee after a torn anterior cruciate ligament ended his 2006 season.

Told about the statement offer, McNabb said: "Really? Is that what they said?"

McNabb was told that the Eagles said he was not interested in offering a statement.

"First of all, that's a shock to me," McNabb said. "I'm not here to bash the Eagles at all. I felt like when the time for me to speak was there, I would speak. My main focus is on my rehab and to get myself back healthy and ready to go. I would love to participate in this camp. That was my focus, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to participate in this camp, so there was no need for me to put out a written statement or send a message.

"The quote for that should have been, 'Well, he's focusing on his rehab.' You're hearing different things of people speaking for me, or 'he's not available to talk because he's hurt.' I didn't know about that, either."

The team said McNabb rebuffed its offers with vague uh-huhs and maybes. Whatever the truth, McNabb clearly had his own plans, and he didn't feel the need to enlighten his employer about them. That's a problem for the Eagles. A me-versus-them dynamic appears to have developed.

Things might have started going south at the end of last season, when Reid abruptly canceled a McNabb news conference. McNabb wanted to give an update on his rehab and talk about his expectations for next season. Reid didn't think that was necessary.

"I wasn't told not to speak," McNabb said. "It was a matter of whether that was a situation: Was it the best thing for me to speak? We both talked about it, and I thought it was best that people understood that I was rehabbing and looking forward to getting back. That was kind of the statement I needed to get out. . . . Then you hear that injured guys don't talk."

And so it goes.

Plenty of NFL players employ independent publicists, so McNabb's decision is not unprecedented. But McNabb's displeasure has to trouble the Eagles. There is disharmony. He obviously feels people inside the organization are not looking out for his best interests, and that's not good.

"You hate to see somebody you've trusted and has worked wonders for you go," McNabb said of Burg. "That's why I'm working with him now, and we're hoping to change some of the things around that have happened. I trust Rich, and he has done wonderful things for me, and we will continue to work well together."

Granted, it could be much worse. But it's problematic nonetheless.

Wow, they waste NO time.

I swear I hate the media around here and especially that C you Next Tuesday.

She's brutal.

Guys-

Look how WELL his play has been when he is faced with a challenge or obstacle.

Just look at it.

When I say GOOD Jake, I mean for You and I- not nesecarily he or the birds.
He will be OFF THE CHAIN this yr. and we'll win more because of it.

Best part? Kolb receives High Praise for his fancy feet/running ability.

GOOD!~ Guess who's running more in 07? Supah 5.

McNabb will play very well this year, but don't kid yourself.

Have the Eagles ever fallen out of love with a player and mended that relationship over anything but a cut/trade and a "vet minimum" deal a couple years later?

They will find a reason to move him over the next couple of years no matter how well he plays. I don't think the article above was saying anything other than the Eagles and McNabb are headed for a nasty break-up.

I have no doubt you're right about him playing well this year.

Heard Donnie telling wolfboy that he has been the Eagles starting QB the last 8 years and he will be the Eagles starting QB the next 8 years.

Also heard Donnie stating that as long as he is healhty the QB job is his.

Prett brave words from a one-legged fat man.

Then we're not really in disagreement.

You said they'll move him on in a couple yrs. Ive said that all along.

I say 09, youve said 08 a couple times. I think he PLAYS 2 more yrs here minimum.

If Kolb doesnt seem to be "THE GUY" from training campS and preason gameS, then they could even have a "Do Over" in the 08 draft and select ANOTHER QB and move him (Kolb) on the same day. WOuldnt shock me.

I do think that a more independent McNabb is a good thing for us and he.

I cannot BELIEVE i find MYSELF defending McNabb after an interview- where i usually just see my distain for the man grow- not the player, the man, but COME THE HELL ON FOLKS!

If he said he was ready to go whenever they wanted- Section you and a million others would be saying "See that!? NO HEART!"

I LIKE that he said that- WTF ELSE do you want your FRANCHISE QB to say?
My LORD!~

Think it's funny that the 2 articles linked in #5 web sites are...


No controversy here -- McNabb still has his job

McNabb's treatment should trouble Kolb


Also not for nothing but I won't consider McNabb "independent" until he removes his Momma's link from his web site.

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