Donovan McNabb again responded to adversities with a stellar performance Thanksgiving night, leading his Philadelphia Eagles to a 48-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals.After being benched for the first time in his career last week, McNabb, the five-time Pro Bowler, completed his first six passes and threw for 260 yards and four touchdowns in front of his hometown fans. After turning over the ball seven times in the past two games, McNabb kept the away from the red jerseys opposition with no turnovers.

McNabb showed great poise and class through the benching that followed him admitting not knowing the “tie rule” for OT games in the NFL. That’s like a real estate agent not knowing there are closing costs in a real estate transaction; like a NCAA basketball player in a championship run not knowing something as simple as how many timeouts remain (Google-Chris Webber).

We all make mistakes including people like McNabb and Webber but what matters is how we respond to them.
Webber responded to the time out ordeal by facing the cameras like McNabb did and admitting the mistake making no excuses. He was later selected #1 overall in the NBA draft, was a five-time NBA All-Star and actually utilized the exposure of his blunder to create The Timeout Foundation in 1993. The foundation’s mission was to
provide positive educational and recreational opportunities to youth.

It’s hard not to cheer for a guy like McNabb who manages to keep his sense of self in check in a sports world overflowing with over-inflated egos.

Eagles coach praised his QB after yesterday’s win over the Cardinals, “He was under some scrutiny and he was able to block everything out and he went about his business. That’s a credit to him and the kind of person he is.”

McNabb added, “I don’t focus on what people may say on the outside or how one may feel about me. When it’s all said and done and I decide to hang the shoes up, how do you want to be remembered? This is all important to working on your legacy.”

It’s time for Philadelphia fans to stop living up to their reputation and stop emotionally stoning a player to death like they do McNabb. After completing his first six attempts, the seventh pass fell incomplete and the fans booed and let the QB have it.

Expect McNabb to handle questions about those boos with class to make up for the Philly fans lack of it.

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