Courtesy of Yahoo Sports
Despite the way the season has gone, the fact that he was benched behind Rex Grossman and John Beck, and the fact that the Redskins are run by a rich, crazy person (and, in the 21st century, still have an incredibly racist name), Donovan McNabb STILL wants to be on Washington’s team next season. This isn’t something that requires a double take, but a quadruple take.
From Rich Maese of the Washington Post:
Demoted quarterback Donovan McNabb says despite the drama surrounding his status with the team, he hopes to return to the Redskins in 2011.
“I definitely hope so, and I expressed that,” he said Tuesday afternoon in his first public comments since Coach Mike Shanahan benched him last week. “I don’t want to go anywhere.”
The bigger question, though, is whether he expects to be back. Discussing the matter on his weekly radio appearance on ESPN 980, even McNabb didn’t have an answer to that one.
“I don’t know,” he said. “That will be a question that probably will be answered sometime this offseason. I don’t know.”
Asked if he wants to be traded or released, McNabb says, “No, I want to be here. I really do. …I don’t believe in starting something and not finishing.”
McNabb’s persistence to stay with Washington is admirable, as he doesn’t want to be seen as a quitter. I have to say, however, that if I were him, I would take this unbelievably great opportunity to get the hell out of there as soon as I could. Despite the fact that Shanahan’s decision to start Grossman turned into a shootout with the Cowboys, there’s no way anyone thinks Rex can be that consistent for a season.
Most Redskins fans (and football fans in general) are baffled by what Shanahan did. He took a quarterback signed this season who has proven himself without a doubt to be good and benched him for no particular reason. Hell, the previous week’s game against the Buccaneers, McNabb was 22/35 with 228 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. Right now, the majority of people you ask will point Shanahan out as the bad guy and McNabb as innocent, which is exactly the note on which Donovan should leave the team.
Think about it: there are a lot more problems with the Redskins than McNabb right now. They’ve got a seven-year, $100 million migraine right now, the chemistry in the locker room is ruined and the Redskins aren’t a team to choose as the NFC East division winner next season. With a healthy Romo for the Cowboys, an incredibly tough Eagles team and the defensive-minded Giants, there isn’t much room for Washington.
There are some other teams in the NFL that would appreciate a veteran quarterback like McNabb right now. Naming a few off my head, I’d speculate that San Francisco, Arizona and Minnesota would show some interest if McNabb was available.
There are so many problems with the Redskins that don’t even involve players, and they can’t have a competitive team with them. McNabb knows that he only has a couple more good seasons left in him, and I think that he should take his quest to get a Super Bowl to another team that would give him that chance. With all the situations it’s dealing with, the Redskins will not give him that opportunity.
No good reason for the benching? As a Skins fan who has sat through every fucking awful game this season, McNabb has been terrible all season long. One fourth quarter drive against TB does not make him what he once was.
I’m not saying that what Shanny did was right though because everyone on the Skins has been wrong about everything this year, but saying that McNabb getting benched was wrong is completely inaccurate.
The fact that McNabb wasn’t just benched, but demoted to third quarterback without anyone telling him makes it really seem like there was some other underlying reason for it besides the fact that he hasn’t been very good. You have a good point on the benching being warranted, but the way it was handled makes me believe that there’s no good reason he should be back there next season.