I didn't see the argument which took place on the Comcast Sportsnet post game show between Ray Didinger and Vaughn Hebron, regarding the criticism which Donovan McNabb has received as compared to the criticism received by Ron Jaworski, but I did hear about it.
I felt I shoud weigh in on it.
First of all, I think it's impossible to look into the hearts of Eagles fans during Jaworski's career, and during McNabb's career and see who they were tougher on. I don't think that's the important factor in the argument regarding who faced the most criticism. I think without question McNabb has faced the most criticism of the two because of the advancement of communications technology.
You can’t compare the criticism of players before and after the tremendous success of cable television sports channels, sports talk radio and the internet. Previously fans weren't able to voice their displeasure so easily. Ask any players who played before and after these forms of media were created and they will tell you that it’s completely altered sports coverage. It's also affected the way both fans and players feel about each other. Things are much more constant and intense now. I see “saturation coverage” of McNabb but I never saw it of Jaworski, or anybody who came before him.
Before ESPN, Comcast Sportsnet, 610-WIP sports talk radio and the internet, most of the criticism took place in the newspaper. Nobody sat down and broke down every word or nod of a player.Now countless hours are spent emphasizing every negative about Donovan McNabb that could be dreamed up. There can be criticism of players 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week, nonstop. This didn’t exist before. Ron Jaworski has never endured criticism of his play and everything else about him 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week. It’s not even close.
The advent of these forms of media have changed the entire sports landscape, dramatically. I have been here since 1985, so I was here when the city went south on Jaworski. It wasn’t the same. Wilt Chamberlain and Dr. J are beloved in this town, but they wouldn’t be so popular if they had played now. Time and time again, the they failed to win championships. Eventually they both did win a championship, but if they were playing now they might not have been able to stay here as long as they did. They would both have been verbally tarred and feathered for years. They wouldn’t be so popular.
The media doesn't run a player out of town, but they can make it so toxic that the team and player are anxious to part ways. Many times doing this might not be in the team's and player's best interest, but the crticism can become much more intense now than it was in the past.
