And Yet Another Attack on One of the Best

Will somebody explain the reasoning behind this? J. Whyatt Mondesire, the Philadelphia president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) shot off his mouth in the Philadelphia Sun, a newspaper for blacks. Mondesire’s target, who else?Everybody seems to take shots at this man. Donovan McNabb, the All-Pro quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Only two years after Donovan had to respond to then ESPN analyst Rush Limbaugh's claims that he received his praise because he is African American he’s got to defend himself again…this time from a black leader. McNabb took what Limbaugh said and turned it away like a would-be tackler. Donovan is now trying to elude these accusations from what this so-called leader of the NAACP said about him.

Mondesire wrote in his opinion piece on November 27th that McNabb is a “mediocre talent” and that he failed as a team leader during the Terrell Owens mess earlier this year. He continued saying that McNabb used the ''race card'' as an excuse for his poor play. Mondesire also said that McNabb's ability to run the ball much more early in his career "not only confused defenses, it also thrilled Eagles fans.” He said in his column that abandoning that element of his game "by claiming that 'everybody expects black quarterbacks to scramble' not only amounts to a breach of faith but also belittles the real struggles of black athletes who've had to overcome real racial stereotypcasting in addition to downright segregation." This idiot concluded that McNabb is “not that good.”

C’mon buddy, are you lost or just plain stupid? How can you as a black man not root for this great athlete? Donovan McNabb is a five time Pro-Bowl quarterback whose play is not even as great as his character. As a white man who has many friends that are African-American I find this more than ridiculous. It’s one thing to have an opinion about something, which I agree that we all should, but to be in such a high position where thousands and thousands of people wait for your column each week…you Mr. Mondesire are nothing more than ignorant.

The entire piece is something that turns my stomach, but there are several things in it that also are wrong. If Mr. NAACP had spent five minutes to look up Donovan’s career statistics, he might have realized (I’m not sure though) that McNabb's rushing totals have gone down each year since 2000, the year he became the starting quarterback of the Eagles. My point is simple, it hasn’t been a drastic revolution in Donovan’s play. In fact, in his All-Pro season last year of 2004, McNabb ran less than in any other season. Somebody should point out to old Mr. Mondesire that the Eagles came three points away from winning the Super Bowl. And by the way, Donovan runs the ball just as much as another elite black quarterback, Daunte Culpepper.

Passing is a very big part of the quarterback position unless you’re team runs the ball much more than you throw…and in the last twenty years you’d be hard-pressed to find a winning team that doesn’t throw the ball about half the time. McNabb has been one of the top passing quarterbacks in the NFL over the last 5 ½ years. In every full season he’s played he’s thrown for more than 3,200 yards and has thrown 134 career touchdowns to just 66 interceptions. That’s 2-to-1 Mr. Mondesire, which is very good in the NFL – better than most white quarterbacks.

This so-called leader of the black race also tried to compare Donovan critically with former Super Bowl MVP Redskins quarterback Doug Williams. Mondesire said that Doug led the Redskins to "35 points in the fourth quarter alone" during its 1988 Super Bowl win against the Denver Broncos. Since I’m the sports nut and he’s the idiot, I would like to point out that Doug Williams and the Redskins scored there Super Bowl record 35 points in a quarter in the second quarter, not the fourth quarter. My point is not to take anything away from the most remarkable single game performance that I’ve ever watched…It’s to again say to this Mondesire fool – take the time to get your facts straight.

Donovan McNabb's 2005 season ended last month when he had surgery for the sports hernia that had slowed him tremendously since Week 1. In all honesty, it was the first time in McNabb’s career that he had a season to forget.

I implore Mr. J. Whyatt Mondesire to apologize to Donovan McNabb. Although, I’m not sure it would do much good. McNabb probably will still find little respect in his classy body for this guy. I would also suggest to Mondesire to stick to the issues that really matter, education, poverty and the betterment of the entire black community. We’ve got a positive black role model and this is what he’s wasting his rhetoric on.

I’m still in disbelief that more members of the NAACP aren’t calling for his resignation. He went against what the great National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says it will do…Ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.