Gunzlingr
05-05-2003, 08:43 AM
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com
Who is this straight-talking fellow with the long goatee, and what has he done with Donovan McNabb?
The Eagles quarterback appeared before the microphones yesterday as the team wrapped up its first minicamp of the season. An obvious topic was McNabb's headline-grabbing turn Friday afternoon, when McNabb responded to a question about the Birds' offseason changes by listing them at length and calling the loss of stars such as defensive end Hugh Douglas and kick returner Brian Mitchell "tough to swallow."
Yesterday, McNabb stood up for what he had said, in calm, self-assured tones, noting that he had no control over the tone of the reporting of his Friday remarks.
"All I did was just express my feelings," McNabb said. "I didn't 'rip' anybody. I can't control what [headlines] are put in the paper, or I can't control what they may say on TV. But when you hear my quotes, obviously, you know that I'm not ripping anybody. I'm just expressing feelings. I'm not a guy who will sit here and pinpoint people within the organization and things of that nature, because that's not my job and not the way I go about things."
In fact, the way McNabb has gone about things traditionally has been to offer bland, general answers that couldn't possibly offend. But McNabb is 26 now. This will be his fifth season. A lot of those guys whose departures he lamented were older players, some of them - Douglas and Mitchell in particular - outspoken leaders in the locker room. If McNabb is going to help fill that gap, he might need to distance himself from management more than in the past
MORE (http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/5787826.htm)
bowenl@phillynews.com
Who is this straight-talking fellow with the long goatee, and what has he done with Donovan McNabb?
The Eagles quarterback appeared before the microphones yesterday as the team wrapped up its first minicamp of the season. An obvious topic was McNabb's headline-grabbing turn Friday afternoon, when McNabb responded to a question about the Birds' offseason changes by listing them at length and calling the loss of stars such as defensive end Hugh Douglas and kick returner Brian Mitchell "tough to swallow."
Yesterday, McNabb stood up for what he had said, in calm, self-assured tones, noting that he had no control over the tone of the reporting of his Friday remarks.
"All I did was just express my feelings," McNabb said. "I didn't 'rip' anybody. I can't control what [headlines] are put in the paper, or I can't control what they may say on TV. But when you hear my quotes, obviously, you know that I'm not ripping anybody. I'm just expressing feelings. I'm not a guy who will sit here and pinpoint people within the organization and things of that nature, because that's not my job and not the way I go about things."
In fact, the way McNabb has gone about things traditionally has been to offer bland, general answers that couldn't possibly offend. But McNabb is 26 now. This will be his fifth season. A lot of those guys whose departures he lamented were older players, some of them - Douglas and Mitchell in particular - outspoken leaders in the locker room. If McNabb is going to help fill that gap, he might need to distance himself from management more than in the past
MORE (http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/5787826.htm)