McNabb gets warm Philly welcome

McNabb gets warm Philly welcome

Donovan McNabb has drawn his share of cheers — and boos — in the Linc.

So McNabb couldn't be sure how he would be greeted as the Washington Redskins' new quarterback on his return to Philadelphia.

The response Sunday was as kind as the City of Brotherly Love can be: a standing ovation.

When McNabb was the final Redskin introduced before the game, nearly everyone in the stadium — many wearing No. 5 Eagles jerseys — stood in tribute to the quarterback who led the Eagles to five NFC title games before being traded in April.

McNabb raised his right arm to salute the folks in the stands and, soon after, embraced his successor, Michael Vick, near the 40-yard line. McNabb supported the Eagles' signing of Vick as his backup a year ago.

Vick left at the end of the first period with a rib injury.

Philly can be rough on its sports figures, but its fans also are knowledgeable enough to recall the good times. McNabb brought them plenty of those for 11 seasons, and they responded with an outpouring of kindness not often associated with this city.

Of course, there were no cheers when McNabb immediately led the Redskins on a 39-yard drive to a go-ahead touchdown. But lots of happiness in the stands when tight end Fred Davis couldn't haul in McNabb's long throw on his first pass midway in the first quarter.

And near silence after McNabb's perfect TD pass to Chris Cooley made it 14-0.

During warmups, McNabb exchanged hugs with several Eagles and spoke for a while with kicker David Akers, the only remaining Eagle who was with the team when McNabb joined it — to a chorus of boos at the draft — in 1999.

The prospect of venom being spewed at McNabb for never actually winning a Super Bowl certainly existed Sunday. There was plenty of nastiness in the parking lots, but no hatefest inside the stadium.

Outside the Linc, the biggest pocket of protest was the “boo parade” organized by WIP radio personality Angelo Cataldi — the same man who put together the 1999 outing to the draft in New York when McNabb was selected instead of Ricky Williams. About 35 people, including two men on stilts, a juggler and one dressed as a clown, walked to the Spectrum next door while voicing their displeasure with the quarterback they dubbed “Dontovan” and 'McChoke.”

“The lazy, national media harped on the (draft day booing) for 11 years and ignored everything else,” Cataldi said. “They wanted a circus today, so we're giving them a circus.”

But many fans recalled the five NFC championship games he got the Eagles into; they won only one of those, then lost to New England in the 2005 Super Bowl. And they remembered all the playoff berths: eight, seven for which McNabb was the starting quarterback.

“For as long as he played here and the success he had, he deserves some kind of respect from the fans and the team,” said Kyle DeRiemer of Philadelphia. “But I'd really like to see him before the game go up near (Eagles coach) Andy Reid and then walk right past him and not greet him.”

That didn't happen, then McNabb really made Reid feel uncomfortable by leading Washington to a two-touchdown lead.

Standing next to DeRiemer, wearing a Jason Taylor Redskins jersey, was Ashlen Stayrook of Phoenix. She had no trouble defending McNabb.

“He should feel like he's coming home,” she said. “I don't think he wanted to leave Philadelphia. But I think it will be a mixture of love and hate.”

Once the teams kicked off, McNabb became an enemy quarterback again, regarded the same way as Eli Manning or Tony Romo would be.

McNabb's legacy in Philly still can't be determined.

“I think a lot of fans feel McNabb didn't fit in with the fabric of Philadelphia,” Dan Perkins said. “He didn't show that outward emotion that a Charles Barkley or an Allen Iverson did. The fans responded to them because of that. They didn't see that from Donovan, and that's what they remember.”