Donovan McNabb arrived in Philly after I’d spent a couple of years of watching real mediocrities – Jim McMahon, Pat Kelly, Rodney Peete – play QB for the Eagles. I wasn’t a fan then, just a guy working the sports desk at the local, sports-obsessed tabloid. Over the last 10 years, though, I became one.

The guy’s not perfect. He’s not a particularly accurate passer; he has periods in which he’s darn-near awful; most cutting, over his career he’s come up short in the Big Spot more often than he’s delivered. In some ways, that’s made him more human, if less successful.

But he’s always been a classy guy. A guy who handles adversity in a way that serves as an object lesson for your kids. In this town, that’s something.

Now, he’s been thrown under the bus by a guy I’m far less charitable toward – Andy Reid, his coach of the last 10 years. Benched at halftime in a game his team trailed by just 3 points, McNabb’s time in Philly is over. There’s no going back. Worst of all, after 10 years, Reid wasn’t the guy who told him he was benched. Gutless.

Which is a shame. Because McNabb, on a team with a strong running game, would be absolute murder. After a decade and a half here, I am a fan, and I’d like that team to be the Eagles. But alas, that doesn’t appear to be happening. Instead, Reid has his scapegoat. And that seems unfair.

Thanks, Donovan, for 10 entrertaining years. And best wishes for a couple more – and, perhaps, that elusive ring!