This Eagles Legends Spotlight will be on Donovan McNabb. This article will take a look at his accolades in college, as a Philadelphia Eagle and what he is doing during his retirement from the NFL. McNabb is synonymous when one thinks about quarterbacks in recent Eagles history. He took the Eagles to many winning seasons and even a run to the Super Bowl. He spent 10 years in Philadelphia before going to a couple of other teams at the end of his career. This will take a look back on the legendary Eagles quarterback.
McNabb spent his college career playing for the Syracuse Orange. He was named Big East Player of the Year for three straight years, which was from 1996 to 1998. He also ranked number one in passing yards per attempt in the Big East. The Syracuse quarterback had 9.6 passing yards per attempt in 1995 and 9.4 per attempt in 1997.
All four of his years at Syracuse was impressive, but his last two stand out the most. During his junior year in 1997, McNabb had 2,488 passing yards and 20 touchdowns that year. He took care of the ball that year as he only had six interceptions compared to his 20 touchdowns. McNabb was just as impressive during his senior year with the Orange. He passed for 2,134 yards and racked up 22 passing touchdowns. His touchdown to interception ratio was even better that year as he only had five interceptions to his 22 passing touchdowns.
McNabb was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1st round of the 1999 NFL Draft. During his rookie season in the NFL, McNabb started six games for the Eagles. He had 942 passing yards and eight touchdowns during the year. McNabb did have seven interceptions that year, but that comes with being a rookie and getting use to the National Football League. He had his first Pro Bowl season the next year in 2000. McNabb had 3,365 passing yards and 21 touchdowns. McNabb also had 13 interceptions in that 2000 campaign.
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After that season, the Eagles quarterback was selected to the Pro Bowl five years in a row after that. In 2004, McNabb really showed what he was made of and led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl in many years. He passed for 3,875 yards and 31 touchdowns. He also only had 8 interceptions that year, which is shades on how he did in that category in college. The Eagles Legend ended up leading the team to a 13-2 record and an NFC east title. That team would end up losing to the Patriots in the Super Bowl that year.
During his long career with the Eagles, McNabb would lead them to five NFC East titles with four of them being in consecutive years from 2001 to 2004. His other division title was later on in his career during the 2008 season. McNabb could very well be an NFL Hall of Famer in the future. He definitely has the eye raising stats, but a Superbowl win did elude him.
McNabb has served as a football analyst for TV stations such as Fox Sports and the NFL Network. He also spent some time as a broadcaster on ESPN radio. He does still appear on sports shows and give analysis on one-off occasions.
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