It’s 2-fer night for nostalgia fans down at Lincoln Financial Field tonight.
The Eagles welcome back Big Red - literally - as Andy Reid returns decked out in the red colors of the Kansas City Chiefs.
And the man whose career was tied at the hip to Reid, quarterback Donovan McNabb, also will be honored and have his jersey No. 5 retired at halftime.
The Thursday night game is a national TV game. Cue the obvious, tired, old rap on Philly fans.
This is a chance to prove all those national pundits wrong. They are no doubt all salivating over the prospect of Eagles fans showering these two recent icons of the franchise with our signature vocal element - lusty crescendo of boos.
I say we prove them all wrong. We show the world that not only are we the best, most passionate fans in the world, we are also first class. I say we offer a standing ovation for one of the greatest periods of Eagles football any of us have ever known.
It won’t be easy. I know.
I was never much of an Andy Reid. His gruff act of “Time’s yours,” and belittlement of those who dared question him - in the process thumbing his nose at the fans, got old real quick.
I always said Reid could get away with that act when he was 11-5. When he was 8-8 or worse, it wouldn’t fly. That’s why he was flying to K.C. a few days after being relieved of his duties last winter.
Reid, who got the job on the basis of his detailed preparation, never really seemed prepared on Game Day. Simply put, he wasn’t much of a Game-Day coach. In-game adjustments never seemed to materialize. Time management? Forget it.
Two weeks into the Chip Kelly Era, I’m flabbergasted at how Reid managed to misuse two of the best offensive weapons in the league, LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson.
As for McNabb, this one is real simple. He never got over the fact that a small group of zealots who desperately wanted the Birds to draft running back Ricky Williams instead took the QB out of Syracuse. Reid got that one right. McNabb was a very good quarterback, certainly the best of that very talented college crop.
But 14 years later, McNabb, who was paid millions to play a kids’ game, was still talking about being booed on draft day. Get over it, pal.
It’s emblematic of a goofy side of the quarterback that never connected with Philly fans. Anyone else remember the infamous “air guitar” session in the tunnel heading out for a playoff game in Dallas in which the Eagles would get massacred and thinking that was not a good sign? McNabb was traded a few years later.
The highs? We’ll always have 4th and 26. And the sight of McNabb being the Cardinals while playing on a broken leg.
The lows? Do I have to say it? Did he or didn’t he? Did Donovan lose his lunch during the drive against the Patriots in the Super Bowl that seemed to take forever.
But there is one thing I have always said - and admired about McNabb. There was never a single whiff of trouble around him. He always showed up. He always played. And he never made headlines off the field.
Tonight none of that will matter.
Let’s offer cheers for both Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb.
Let’s remember the highs from the last 14 years. Did they win a Super Bowl? No. Are they the greatest coach and quarterback in Eagles history. I don’t think you can argue that they are not.
This isn’t some sad-sack Santa. These are two of the biggest names in franchise history. They gave us everything they had. Was it enough? No. Did they win a Super Bowl? They did not.
That should not diminish what they accomplished, and what they gave us.
Tonight is the chance for Eagles fans to prove all the national pundits who think they know us just how wrong they are.
Booing won’t accomplish that. Cheering will.
On your feet, folks.
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