Taking a poll here
Of course they should. I am really not sure how you could argue otherwise given he is easily one of their top 5 modern players ever and a borderline HOF.
I think they at least should have waited. If he gets into the hall of fame, which I doubt, I could see the Eagles retiring his number. But he never won the Super Bowl, and never played very well in the last game in each of the five seasons Philadelphia was on their NFC championship game run (with one S.B. appearance).
I’ll admit this was a borderline call for me, but ultimately, I had to come down to what did the guy do while a member of the Eagles. And he didn’t win a Super Bowl. If he would have won just one, probably retire his number and he is a borderline HOF’er… But I don’t like retiring anyone’s number just because they were a good player for a decent stretch of time and/or were the best player they had on the team. That’s just not enough for me. But, YYMV.
He’s pretty easily the best (and *very *easily the most successful) quarterback the Eagles have ever had. Of course they should retire his number. The only reason not to is the fan base’s perplexing distaste for him. I guess that’s a relevant factor given the nature of the honor, but it is nonetheless a mystifying one.
Yes, they should. McNabb had his flaws but he was very good and they had a lot of success with him as their QB.
28/47, 375, 3/1, with 31 yards rushing doesn’t do it for you?
Is it possible that it’s your intense personal dislike for the man and not his on the field accomplishments which are motivating this opinion, do you think?
Speaking as someone who loathes the Eagles and McNabb, absolutely. One of the best players they ever had.
And the “but he never won a Super Bowl!” argument is ludicrous… By that standard, there shouldn’t be any Eagles with retired numbers.
Do the Eagles have any guidelines/rules for retiring player numbers?
For example, the Raiders have never retired a number. It’s not their thing.
No… The Eagles DID win NFL championships (last in 1960, I believe), so retiring numbers tied to that would be appropriate.
And FTR, I don’t think a player has to win a championship to have his number retired for the team he played for. Players who have shined on the field and off, who have been one of the teams outstanding players over the years, that should be enough. And I can see how McNabb meets those.
I don’t have a major problem wi it. I just wouldn’t have done it, especially not this soon. I think McNabb’s playing career will look much better over time. But right now, it hasn’t “aged” well enough.
But that’s just my opinion.
I don’t have an intense personal dislike for McNabb. I am, however, no fan of his and that is well documented on the board. I don’t know him personally, so I don’t hate him. He could be a swell guy. However, I did watch most of his career play out, and although he was an above average NFL QB, he wasn’t what I would call HOF quality.
Your stats need to be looked at in depth, and I confess I don’t remember the game completely. However, you know as well as I do that QB stats can get blown out of whack when its garbage time, and the defense is trading yards for time off the clock. That stat line looks ok, but which game is it for, and what was the result? If it was the Super Bowl, the Patriots had a 10 pt lead in the 4th quarter, and gave up a TD with less than 2 minutes to go.
Actually, I don’t think that stat line is from the SB, because if memory serves, he threw 3 ints in the game.
But your question does have some merit. I would like to think that I could see through my personal dislike for someone and reward their on-field accomplishments. For example, compared to Barry Bonds, I LOVE McNabb. And yet, if the Pirates were ever inclined to retire Bonds number for the time he played in Pittsburgh, it wouldn’t be an automatic NO from me. He played in Pittsburgh “supposedly” drug free, and he won two MVP’s. My personal dislike of Bonds stems from his use of HGH and steroids. He used HGH so much, his hat and shoe sizes grew in his late 30’s.
My feelings about McNabb come from watching a guy not able to deliver the big pass in stride, or bouncing it at a receiver’s feet. I also think that if McNabb wasn’t drafted by Andy Reid, he would have been benched long before he was traded to Washington. When he was traded, I openly suggested he would be out of the league in two years, and he would be a flop in Washington. I was right on both accounts. The only thing I missed was his exit from the Redskins and his short stink with the Vikings.
I saw a lot of parallels between MscNabb and Kordell Stewart, and that also added to my dislike of him as a player. He was always over-rated to me, and retiring his number is just a continuation of the over-valuing of his ability.
That’s why I made the poll. I am curious as to what the other sports fans of the dope feel. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. And his number IS retired, so there isn’t much I can do about it anyway. 
You seem to be making an argument about why McNabb doesn’t particularly belong in the HoF.
That’s a fair debate. I wouldn’t personally put him in the Hall of Fame.
But whether or not the Eagles should honor his contributions to the franchise? That’s almost a no brainer. Retiring a player’s number is rarely ever solely about his athletic achievements and abilities but about also about the person, player, teammate, and member of the community.
Case in point: Frank Tripucka had his #18 retired by Denver (he called them up to allow Manning to wear it). He’s not a HoFer, nor was he a particularly memorable QB for the rest of the country. But he was certainly a big part of that team and community.
I doubt it. No team that I know of has any rules about retiring numbers. Many teams have rules about NOT retiring numbers, and that includes the Raiders.
The Steelers, for example, have retired only one number (70 -Ernie Stautner). There is an unwritten rule that certain player numbers are never handed out again, and that’s why you have never seen 12, 32, 52, 58, 59, and 75 on any player since the 70’s. but the Steelers do give out numbers for some of their all-time greats, and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for it.
For example 88 and 82 were the numbers worn by Swann and Stallworth, two HOF’ers. But they were giving Swann’s number out almost immediately after he retired due to the limited amount of numbers available for wide receivers (80-89). Now, a receiver can wear any number in the 80’s and also 10-19, so the Steelers could safely tuck away 82 and 88 and never give them out again. But they continue to do it. Also, I recently remember seeing Mel Blounts 47 on the back of some rookie, and that really surprised me. I don’t know I’d anyone is wearing 47 currently, but Mel Blounts number was thought of as an untouchable for two decades. Don’t know what happened there. I’m also pretty sure that Rod Woodson’s 26 hasn’t been given out very often, which is odd considering he left the Steelers to play for the Ravens and Raiders. He’s still highly regarded by the Steelers, and I believe he went into the HOF as a Steeler.
I also don’t know why the Steelers decided to stop retiring numbers, but my guess is that during their run in the 70’s they would have had a ton of numbers that would be up for consideration, especially for those players that were part of all 4 Super Bowl winners in the 70’s. maybe they were afraid of being like the NNY, where so many numbers are retired, they don’t have very many numbers left below 20. (They only have 2 single digits left, and one, Jeter’s number 2 will be retired for sure. That leaves the number 6, and I think it should be retired… Joe Torre wore that number while he managed the Yankees to 4 straight WS Championships.)
Anyway, apologies for the slight hijack, but I thought it was interesting. All teams have the ability to retire numbers. Some retire numbers for odd reasons. The Seahawks retired the number “12” for the fans (the 12th man), and the Tampa Bay Bucs have number “5” retired (I think) because the owner wanted to have his own number retired. It’s his team, I guess he can do what he wants. :dubious:
I think the Steelers should retire the numbers that are no longer assigned to players. It would be a nice thing to see in the stadium. I guess the Rooneys figure Lombardi trophies are better to look at than retired jerseys,
I think you are right. However, McNabb was not the most popular Eagle. In fact, I think there were 45% who liked him 45% who didn’t, and 10% who couldn’t make up their minds. He was one of the most polarizing players I can remember.
But perhaps I’ve let my own feelings dictate what I feel on this subject. But for me, I would have retired Brian Westbrook’s number before McNabb’s. Maybe that will happen someday, but Westbrook, in my eyes, was the key part of the Eagles offense (well, Westbrook and the o-line).
Anyway, on with the poll!
Poll has pretty much ground to a halt, and its 2-1 in favor of retiring the number.
I’m surprised it wasn’t closer to 50%-50%.
I should have asked if the voter was an Eagle fan, but it’s too late now. And since it isn’t a question of cosmic significance, I’ll leave it be. Since I’m not an Eagle fan, I’m not too upset.
Thanks all for your participation and opinions!
SFP