The End of the Philly/McNabb era!

The Philadelphia Eagles just traded their long time starting QB Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins for the No. 34 pick in this years draft and either another second or third in next years draft. McNabb was drafted with the No. 2 pick overall in the 1999 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.

When going into College only Syracuse and Nebraska offered him a scholarship. He was leaning towards going to Nebraska because he relished the thought of being coach by Tom Osborne. He finally picked Syracuse because he wanted to prove he was a pocket passer and Nebraska didn't use their QB's in the pocket very often.

He was redshirted his freshman year and then had a brilliant career starting every game for the next four years. He was elected Big East player of the Decade and lead Syracuse to the Orange Bowl in his senior year.

McNabb was the second QB chosen in the draft behind Tim Couch in a draft that was thought to be the best QB draft since the famous 1982 draft. But out of the 5 QB's draft in the top 12 that year only McNabb and Daunte Culpepper went on to succeed and in 2006 McNabb was the only QB who was with the same team that drafted him.

His first start ever was against the Washington Redskins on November 14 1999 when McNabb led the Eagles to a 35-28 win. He was the first rookie quarterback to start for the Eagles since 1972.

In 2000 McNabb finished second in the voting for NFL MVP behind Marshall Faulk. He led the Eagles to the Playoffs that year and in the first game they took down the favored Buccaneers 21-3 before losing to the Giants 20-10. He also made the Pro Bowl in 2000 and was named the Most Valuable Player of 2000 by CBS Sports.

In 2001 McNabb led the Eagles to win the NFC East and led the Eagles to the NFC Championship where they lost to the highly favored Rams. McNabb earned his second trip to the Pro Bowl in 2001 and broke the Eagles record with 2 consecutive 3000 yard seasons.

In week 11 of the 2002 season McNabb was sacked by Cardinals Adrian Wilson and broke his fibula in three places. He was sidelined until the playoff where he led the Eagles to a 20-6 win over the Falcons. In the NFC Championship a still hurting McNabb was not able to lead the highly favored Eagles to a win over the Buccaneers with a 27-10 loss.

In 2003 dispute a slow start and one of the worst wide receiving core's in the NFL he led the Eagles to the NFC Championship again. During the game McNabb had to leave because of injury after being hit while laying on the ground by linebacker Will Witherspoon. The Eagles lost the game 14-3 for their third consecutive loss in the NFC Championship.

In 2004 the Eagles majorly upgraded their receiving core by adding wide receiver Terrel Owens. McNabb throw for 31 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions in the season with help from Terrel Owens who caught 14 touchdown passes. They finished the season 13-3 and was the No.1 seed in the NFC going into the playoffs. After wins against the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons in which Owens did not play in due to injury the Eagles advanced to Super Bowl XXXIX.

The Eagles now where set to play the 2001 and 2003 Super Bowl Champion Patriots led by young quarterback Tom Brady. McNabb how ever was never able to get things going with 3 interceptions although he also through for over 300 hundred yards and 3 touchdowns. The final interception came on a final second Hail Mary which ended the game with a 21-24 defeat.

In 2005 everything went wrong, Terrel Owens said he refused to speak to McNabb, then McNabb was injured half way throw the season and finished the 6-10 season on injured reserve.

In 2006 McNabb again was sidelined by injury for the season after a 5-5 start. Also the Eagles lost Wide Receiver Terrel Owens after a fight with Donavan McNabb. But backup quarterback Jeff Garcia won 5 of the remaining 6 games to led the Eagles to a 10-6 finish and won the NFC East Division. The Eagles beat the Giants in their first game but then went on to lose to the Saints in the Divisional round 27-24.

In 2007 Injury sideline McNabb again after a poor season. After a loss on Monday night to the Dallas Cowboys Pam Oliver reported that McNabb would not return to the Eagles in 2008. McNabb how ever stated that he would be in Philadelphia in 2008 and that 2007 second round draft pick Kevin Kolb would have to wait a little longer before taking the starting job.

In 2008 many controversial comments led to question of who was the Eagles starter. But McNabb showed he wasn't done with a great first game. He stayed solid for awhile then he had an awful game against the Bengals in a 13-13 tie where he throw a career high three interceptions. In the following game McNabb was benched after a bad start against the Ravens. This was the first time besides injury he had been benched. They Eagles decided to start McNabb the next game on Thanksgiving day where he rebounded in a 48-20 win over the eventual NFC Champion Cardinals. In the final game the Eagles faced the Cowboys in a game which who ever won would advance to the playoffs. McNabb led the Eagles to a 44-6 blowout of the Cowboys this was now the 6th time in 9 years McNabb had led the Eagles to the playoffs. In the NFC Wildcard game against the Minnesota Vikings McNabb led the 26-14 win. In the Divisional Playoff game the Eagles beat their NFC East rival and No. 1 seed in the NFC the New York Giants 23-11 to advance to the NFC Championship. But after a great comeback by the Eagles the Arizona passing attack responded with a last second touchdown in a 32-25 win over the Eagles.

In 2009 the Eagles further upgraded their receiving core by adding Missouri star wide receiver Jeremy Maclin to the current core with rising wide receiver DeSean Jackson and veteran Kevin Curtis. In the first game, after throwing for 2 touchdown and running for another, McNabb broke one of his ribs that kept him out in the following game against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Saints in which Kevin Kolb was named starter in McNabb's absents. Kolb did a good job but the Eagles could not keep up with the Saints passing attack. But in week 3 Kolb was able to led the Eagles to a win against the Kansas City Chiefs. The following week was the bye week and the following week McNabb was able to return to the starting lineup. Once again in the season final the who ever won the game won the division but the Eagles where not able to beat the Cowboys and fell to 11-5. In the first game of the playoffs the Eagles had to play the Cowboys in a rematch in which McNabb was not able to get anything going against the Cowboys in a 34-14 loss. After the game Head Coach Andy Reid stated that McNabb would be the starting Quarterback the next season.

In the off-season Coach Reid was a believer in McNabb but the front office decided to trade McNabb to the division rival Redskins.

So McNabb, who could some day be a Hall of Famer, now ends a brilliant career in Philadelphia and starts a new one in Washington.