McNabb breaks silence on Eagles draft

By ROB MAADDI, AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA - Donovan McNabb had the same reaction most fans had when the Philadelphia Eagles selected quarterback Kevin Kolb with their first pick in last month's NFL draft. "It was shocking," McNabb said Tuesday in an interview on WIP-AM radio.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the draft on April 28-29, McNabb downplayed the perception he's upset the Eagles selected his eventual successor.

The five-time Pro Bowl quarterback also said his rehab is going well following surgery for a torn knee ligament and he expects to play in the preseason.

"When you draft somebody at the position you're in, of course you have questions of 'What does that mean?'" McNabb said. "The most important thing for me is to make sure I'm healthy and 100 percent and get back out there competing and do the right thing on the field."

McNabb met with coach Andy Reid soon after the draft, but wouldn't reveal details of their conversation. He doesn't have to worry about his starting job, especially since backup Jeff Garcia signed with Tampa Bay after leading the Eagles to the NFC East title and a playoff victory last season.

"If I'm healthy, it's my job," said McNabb, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 11 last season.

The 30-year-old McNabb has led the Eagles to four NFC championship games and a Super Bowl loss in eight seasons in Philadelphia. He's finished the regular season on the sidelines three of the past five years.

"I don't think I'm close to the end of my career," McNabb said. "People say when you hit 30, it goes down hill. I think it gets better after that. It's unfortunate I've been hurt the last few years, but things happen."

The Eagles traded out of the first round and chose Kolb in the second round with the 36th overall pick. Kolb threw for 12,964 yards, 85 touchdowns and 31 interceptions in four years at Houston. He passed for 3,808 yards, 30 TDs and only four picks last season.

"I think Kevin Kolb is going to do an excellent job for us," McNabb said. "I'm going to try and help him as much as I can. I'm sure he's going to do great. I look forward to working with him this weekend."

The Eagles open their first minicamp on Friday. McNabb won't participate in practices, but will be working out at the practice facility. He said he isn't sure if he'll play in the preseason opener on Aug. 13, but expects to be ready for the second or third game.
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Really Donovan?? your worried about Kevin Kolb?? You should be having NO Trouble sleeping at All!!!

On Thursday, April 26th, Wil Mara, Bill Chachkes, and I headed over to an establishment called "Merchants NY" after the NFL Media Lunch at Chelsea Piers. There, in the cigar bar, we met Wade Burch, the executive chef at Merchants and a man with an interesting background. He severed as chef for EDS Founder and CEO Ross Perot, Tom Landry, the first Head Coach of The Dallas Cowboys, and Jerry Jones, the current owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Over cigars, Wade told us exactly what he thought of all three men, based on his personal contact with them in his role as chef.

It was eye-opening, and provides a view to why former Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells may have left the Dallas Cowboys.

In the video, Wade starts by explaining that he wasn't very happy with "The Tuna" as Parcells is referred to, in response to Wil Mara's question. "I think he gave up too soon, but I think there were some mitigating circumstances we don't know about. I can only know from having cooked for Mr. Jones 25-odd times and the way he treated me (and I was born in Arkansas) he treated me like shit. He tried to treat me like one of his employees and I wasn't;. He's not the sweetest guy."

By contrast, Burch expresses complete admiration for Perot and Landry, two legendary figures in Texas pop-culture.

Burch's rant about Jones gives a unique view into the inner workings of the Cowboys organization and essentially points the finger at the football organization's head man -- and not Terrell Owens -- as the reason for the departure of Parcells. This window may also explain why Jones has gone through so many coaches during his tenture as Cowboys' owner. By stark contrast, Clint Murchison, the founder of the Cowboys had one coach -- Landry -- from 1960 to 1985, when he sold the team to a group led by H.R. "Bum" Bright.

As my Great Uncle Louie would say if he were still with us, “New?”, which is a Yiddish slang greeting for What’s new. If he were around today and he asked me that I’d tell him how I lost my voice Working at the Draft. Being an Eagles fan with South Jersey roots, Uncle Lou might have said “So vat about this Kolb? He’s so good that he’s a 36th pick?” So my question to our readers and listeners: Is Kevin Kolb really worth the 36th pick? Is Ted Ginn the 9th Pick? Is Anthony Spencer the 26th Pick?

I can’t really argue much with Picks 1-8. The level of talent is in line with those choices. The same can be said for most of the rest of the first round, with the exception of the Packers Pick of Justin Harrell, who was a low 1st to high 2nd rounder. In breaking down the 1st round I don’t see any other outrageous selections. I do see teams that went safe, for the sake of being safe. Get It? Again, as we like to say, any grade you give a teams' Draft class right now is just too premature. Skill Players take 2 to 4 years to develop, and “Pit” players 3-5 years. So giving a draft grade now on a player who has yet to show his full potential is just wasting time. You CAN grade a team’s draft now as far as value in relation to the slot of that pick.

Some other observations: I thought the Saints gettting Meachem at #27 was a steal, and the Jets pulling the deal on Revis took guts, as well as jumping ahead of the Steelers to get their home town college star. Not that the Steelers made out so bad either. Smart teams will always have a plan B (and C and D and E) regarding when a player they zeroed in on gets drafted in front of them. Timmons was plan “B”. Some teams didn’t bother with “lets see who the next best player is at that position” but rather, “the Next best player available”.

While the trend is leaning towards more and more draft day or just pre or post draft dealings, are these trades really worth making? Who makes them? When Oakland got a 4th for Randy Moss on Sunday, did they settle for less? Or did they know that the market for talented but head cased wide outs was a 4th round pick? One NY based but nationally known scribe trumpeted Monday “lets just give the Pats the title now” Why? Playing the games means that little? One thing that struck me as funny this past weekend was that teams began “reaching” for “project” type players much sooner then in years past.

Next post: breaking down the second and third rounds…..