The Applause And Boos Will Affect The Fans More Than McNabb And The Players

There’s been a lot made out of how Donovan McNabb will be greeted when he is introduced today and comes out onto the Lincoln Financial Field turf during introductions, but it’s going to affect Eagles fans and their reputation nation-wide more than it will affect McNabb and the players during the game.

It could give sportscasters and commentators another opportunity to disparage the reputation of Philadelphia sports fans.  I hope this doesn’t happen, but….

The Eagles should use an electronic gadget to produce applause or it will be nothing but another black-eye on the city’s sports fans if there are more boos than applause.

The announcers on the national telecast are going to talk all game about how McNabb paved the way for Michael Vick to return to the NFL.  They’re going to talk about how he led the Eagles to the NFC Championship game five times.  If that’s set against a backdrop of boos, it’s not going to look good at all.

Fox broadcaster and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman may mention the time when the fans cheered as a motionless and possibly paralyzed Michael Irvin lay on the Veterans Stadium turf.

As for McNabb, he won’t have time to think about.  A quarterback has a million things to think about during a game.  McNabb will think about coming back home and playing in front of Birds fans before the game, but during it, there will be so many more things on his mind.  He’s got a hundreds of plays and defenses to remember.

The same is true of McNabb teammates on the Redskins and his former teammates on the Eagles.  To a large extent, the fans become the houses and streets you see every day on your way to work.  They become the background because you’re so caught up into things going on in your life.

Playing quarterback in the NFL is like trying to fly an airplane, with an occasional three-hundred pound behemoth coming into the cockpit to do you bodily harm.  Trying to get rid of the ball as somebody is trying to assault your body, while you’re trying to figure out the coverages and who is open, is enough to take your mind off of the fans.

It’s kind of like when I try to describe what playing in cold weather is like in the NFL.  I’ve had fans ask me how I was able to play in such cold weather.

I tell them it’s easy.  I have them imagine walking down a Philadelphia street on a frigid evening in the winter with the temperature at ten below zero, when all of sudden they are attacked by a muscular 270 pound raving maniac.

I ask them simply whether their mind is going to be on the weather, when they are attacked.  They reply, “Of course not”.  That’s what playing in the NFL is like, you are so consumed with attacking your opponent that you disregard the fans and the weather.

The best players and especially quarterbacks are able to focus on the game and the game alone.  Michael Vick has this ability because of his experience behind center in playoff games.

I predict there will be far more applause when McNabb is introduced as compared to boos.  On the television broadcast it will be talked about throughout the entire game, but on the field, McNabb and the players won’t be thinking about at all until they’re headed into the locker room after the game is over.