# McNabb didn't know NFL game could tie **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 17, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059 "2008-11-17T01:02:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/21 "2008-11-17T18:04:12Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I may be wrong, but wasn’t Meredith himself a former Quarterback? At SMU (Southern Meredith University) and then nine years with the Dallas Cowboys. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/22 "2008-11-17T22:46:41Z")
I thought McNabb’s followup comment was even more ludicrous… _“I hate to see what happens in the Super Bowl or I hate to see what happens in the playoffs. You have to settle with a tie.”_ ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/23 "2008-11-18T01:19:21Z")
Of course, what difference does it make? McNabb was trying to win, after all, just failing miserably at it. How would it have changed the outcome of the game if he HAD been aware of the rule? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/24 "2008-11-18T12:18:13Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Of course, what difference does it make? McNabb was trying to win, after all, just failing miserably at it. How would it have changed the outcome of the game if he HAD been aware of the rule? I didn’t watch the game, but if a QB thought that there was another OT period, he might be taking it easy and running the ball with 30 seconds to go instead of running the hurry up. And, as a coach, I would wonder what other rules he is unaware of.. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/25 "2008-11-18T12:46:48Z")
It’s okay, up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know that a high school game in this district would go into overtime if the score was tied at the end of regulation play. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/26 "2008-11-18T13:41:02Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > It’s okay, up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know that a high school game in this district would go into overtime if the score was tied at the end of regulation play. Do you get paid millions of dollars to lead a high school team in your district? If not, then you can be forgiven for being a casual fan. If you are the coach, or the starting QB, then it would be reasonable to question your judgement or your ability to lead the team. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/27 "2008-11-19T14:44:35Z")
I expect the QB to know the rules for his position, and the coaches to know the rules for the team. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/28 "2008-11-19T14:54:48Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > I expect the QB to know the rules for his position, and the coaches to know the rules for the team. So are you saying it’s acceptable for McNabb to not know that an NFL game can end in a tie? ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/29 "2008-11-19T15:21:31Z")
To be fair to McNabb, I didn’t think it was possible to tie the Bengals, no matter the rules. As if I, an Eagles fan, should talk. I want those four hours of my life back. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/30 "2008-11-20T05:30:45Z")
I like how Mike Ditka (I think it was him) put it: The guy didn’t know when the game ends. Another person, in defending Andy Reid for not making sure McNabb knew something so basic as when the game ends: “What’s he supposed to say? ‘Hey Donovan, there are four downs.’” ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/31 "2008-11-20T14:39:56Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > So are you saying it’s acceptable for McNabb to not know that an NFL game can end in a tie? Yes. Was I unclear? ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/32 "2008-11-20T14:49:26Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > Yes. Was I unclear? I just figured that you would have a little more sense than to think that. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/33 "2008-11-20T18:15:45Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > Yes. Was I unclear? Doctor: Nurse, what is that thermometer thing with the air ball attached to it that is hanging in the exam room? Nurse: Why that’s a blood pressure measure. You don’t know that? Doctor: You can’t expect me to know everything! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/34 "2008-11-20T18:49:49Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Doctor: Nurse, what is that thermometer thing with the air ball attached to it that is hanging in the exam room? > > Nurse: Why that’s a blood pressure measure. You don’t know that? > > Doctor: You can’t expect me to know everything! Actually the nurse would hopefully say: Why that is a [Sphygmomanometer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphygmomanometer#Types). Sorry, I used to work at a hospital and have too many nurses & a Doctor in the family. 🙂 (I did need to look up the spelling though.) ---
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/35 "2008-11-21T00:00:46Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > I just figured that you would have a little more sense than to think that. Really? I’d explain why you’re wrong (and why you make yourself sound like a blowhard) but Jason Whitlock is a far better writer than I.. [http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8822010/Media's-mistake-way-bigger-than-McNabb's](http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8822010/Media%27s-mistake-way-bigger-than-McNabb%27s) ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/36 "2008-11-21T08:22:47Z")
> [@vinniepaz](#): > > Really? I’d explain why you’re wrong (and why you make yourself sound like a blowhard) but Jason Whitlock is a far better writer than I.. > > [http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8822010/Media's-mistake-way-bigger-than-McNabb's](http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8822010/Media%27s-mistake-way-bigger-than-McNabb%27s) When did knowing when the game ends become an “insignificant detail”? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/37 "2008-11-21T16:23:47Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > When did knowing when the game ends become an “insignificant detail”? The NFL uses two different rules for when the game ends. McNabb only knew of the one they use in the playoffs, which is different than the one they use during the regular season. Since he’s been in the league, there’s been only one tie, so if he wasn’t paying attention in 2002 to two teams outside his division (although one was in his team’s state), the subject doesn’t come up very much. I say “big deal” :rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/38 "2008-11-21T16:27:55Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The NFL uses two different rules for when the game ends. McNabb only knew of the one they use in the playoffs, which is different than the one they use during the regular season. Since he’s been in the league, there’s been only one tie, so if he wasn’t paying attention in 2002 to two teams outside his division (although one was in his team’s state), the subject doesn’t come up very much. I say “big deal” :rolleyes:. But then again, he followed up with this: > [@Mixolydian](#): > > I thought McNabb’s followup comment was even more ludicrous… > > _“I hate to see what happens in the Super Bowl or I hate to see what happens in the playoffs. You have to settle with a tie.”_ So I don’t know what he thought. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/39 "2008-11-21T18:18:38Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The NFL uses two different rules for when the game ends. McNabb only knew of the one they use in the playoffs, which is different than the one they use during the regular season. Since he’s been in the league, there’s been only one tie, so if he wasn’t paying attention in 2002 to two teams outside his division (although one was in his team’s state), the subject doesn’t come up very much. I say “big deal” :rolleyes:. The Falcons were involved in that tie. Those same Falcons knocked the Eagles out of the playoffs that year. To be completely ignorant of the regular season record of a team you’re preparing to play in the playoffs is inexcusable. To get back to that Whitlock article linked by somebody else: > [@](#): > > Trust me, McNabb forgot more about football last night than most of his critics have learned in a lifetime of pretending to cover the game. > […] > But this focus on McNabb’s football intelligence is absolutely ridiculous. If McNabb is anything, he’s bright. His understanding of the game and the position he plays is exceptionally high. > […] > We better define “recent” because it wasn’t that long ago that Ron Artest ran into the stands to clock a beer-throwing customer. These points are poor. The actual story isn’t that McNabb didn’t know some insignificant minutia. (Knowing when the game ends is neither insignificant nor minutia.) The story is that a _quarterback_ – the one guy on the field that is supposed to know everything there is to know about his team, his opponent, and the intricacies of the game itself – didn’t know a basic fundamental of the game that the majority of fans knew. In other words, we’re supposed to think that a guy like McNabb forgot more about football last night than we could ever learn about the game. But his ignorance has proven that assumption to be shaky at best. If I knew this rule and he didn’t, what else do I know about the game that he doesn’t? Your QB is supposed to have knowledge of the most esoteric aspects of the game at the tip of his fingers just in case it’s needed. A couple weeks ago Eli Manning immediately went to his coach on an Illegal Forward Pass penalty because he knew his back leg was still behind the line, and the rule says the entire body must be across the line to be illegal. This directly translated into 4 points, since that failed 3rd down conversion was changed to a 1st & goal, which then led to a TD. Would McNabb have known that, and been able to tell his coach with confidence that he was within the rules? Judging by what we’ve seen of his general NFL knowledge, I would have to say no, he wouldn’t. Unless this one rule is the only rule he didn’t know – and he’s repeatedly maintained that nobody knows all the rules, so that’s not a fair assumption – his ability to handle unexpected game situations has to be called into question. I’ll guarantee you that a guy like Peyton Manning knew the overtime rules, and every other rule that has ever been in effect during his entire career. That’s what you want out of a QB. The absolute worst thing in all this is that the friggin’ ref told him the friggin’ rules right before the OT coin flip. They always go over the OT rules at the beginning of every single OT game. So he had to be willfully ignorant to not know the rules he was just explicitly told less than half an hour earlier. The Artest comparison is laughable. He’s flailing so wildly to come up with some kind of defense for a guy he really likes that he’s comparing a spur-of-the-moment emotional reaction to the cold hard knowledge of the rules of the game. Possibly the least apt comparison ever made. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059/40 "2008-11-21T18:50:27Z")
I didn’t know. Hangs head and quietly walks away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcnabb-didnt-know-nfl-game-could-tie/473059.md?page=3)