Time betrays all athletes. But there is no position more susceptible to the wears and tears of time than quarterback. They spend their professional careers being targeted by 300 pound gorillas who drool at the chance of ending a quarterback’s season. A broken wrist or a severe concussion will do just fine, but the goal is always something more sinister. Ending a quarterback’s season or career is proof that heroes can be broken and that the NFL thrives as a league of villains.
This season has shown many good quarterbacks being battered and hitting the ground hard. It seems like Jay Cutler spends more time on the ground than on his feet. And defensive linemen seem to be lusting to end Michael Vick’s season, if only to wash away the memory of his previous MVP caliber season. But there is no greater tragedy among quarterbacks this season than the case of Donovan McNabb.
McNabb is on his third team in three seasons. He was a franchise god in Philadelphia, but he wrote his own obituary there when he pleaded that the ownership make a gamble and bring in the troubled Vick. And while he was never intended to be used as more than a third string ever again, Vick took the reins and has become the prophet that McNabb once was.
McNabb was traded to Washington last season, and had his troubles. He was benched at key moments and seemed lost in the offense from time to time. The end of the 2010-2011 campaign also marked the end of his time as a Redskin. McNabb then was traded to Minnesota to take over where another tragic quarterback, Brett Favre, was defeated. Now, halfway through the season, McNabb finds himself in an uncomfortably familiar situation: being benched
We may well have seen the last of Donovan McNabb as an NFL quarterback. The Vikings waited until after the trade deadline to reveal that McNabb was longer the starter, meaning they probably dangled his contract out to teams in need of a quarterback but found no takers. McNabb in his prime was a fine quarterback. Never an MVP, but he racked up some impressive stats and even lead his wayward Eagles to the Super Bowl, only to lose to the New England Patriots.
Apparently Minnesota is where the careers of veteran quarterbacks looking for one last shot at glory go to die. McNabb has put up some unimpressive numbers this season, but he is not the only one to blame here. He didn’t deserve what he got, but it is proven that the NFL is no place for old men.
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