Donovan McNabb Trade: Philadelphia Dries Its Own Well

There wasn't an upgrade in the wings. She hadn't cheated on me or berated me in public. She had done nothing medieval on my nether regions.

She was funny, kind, wrote great love letters, affectionate, clever, and nicely slim. Oh, and she liked Berke Breathed cartoons and Anita Baker. Major bonus points.

What she had done, though, is imbue me with a confidence I didn't have before I met her.

I was reminded of my shortsightedness Monday as a playoff quarterback was unceremoniously shuffled off to the glee of a myopic and ungrateful fan base.

And Godspeed to Marc Bulger.

Oh you thought I was talking about that OTHER guy.

You remember Bulger, don't you? Not the walking Incessant-Interception-in-the-playoffs Marc Bulger. I mean the Marc Bulger who won 6 straight regular season games replacing a once and future MVP after his injury. "That guy's over the hill" they said. "It's time for the future" "Let the Marc Bulger era begin." He was named the starter next season, the St. Louis Rams went 12-4, and all was right with the world. That is, if you leave out a 1-2 playoff record, and a rapid deterioration after 2005

"That Guy" in case you haven't guessed, was named Kurt Warner.

The Bulger and McNabb episodes are emblematic of a hubris that is becoming paradigm in the NFL. Teams are treating the coaches or players who took them from the hinterlands to the townhouse like stepping stones, but those stones often overlook a cliff. Mike Shanahan to Josh McDaniels. Jon Gruden to Raheim Morris. Nothing wrong with trading in, but when you do, you must upgrade or move laterally. Kevin Kolb for Donovan McNabb? Think Brad Pitt leaving Jennifer Aniston, and showing up at the Golden Globes with Lindsay Lohan.

The coaches and quarterbacks who enter these Faustian maelstroms will find no comfort in reaching the pinnacle. In no other sport do so many coaches who have won championships get forced out so frequently. Shanahan got Denver over the hump twice where they had failed 4 times. He was fired for not getting back enough. John Gruden was dumped after a winning season for a franchise once known as the "Suckaneers." Oh, and have we forgotten Brian Billick? Either these men forgot how to run football teams or their titles were the product of dumb luck. If the successors don't win at a Bill Walsh or Bill Belichick clip, they will find themselves on the same business end of a pink slip. This is called irony.

NFL fans and front offices are not cognizant of the odds game. To win the games, you must be in the games, and McNabb and Reid put the Eagles in the game. But instead of thinking "God, we're so close" and changing the other variables, they think, "we should be winning championships every year." Such myopia sets these teams and their fans up for falls worthy of Greek Tragedies.

As a franchise, the Pittsburgh Steelers never had such a fall. Their previous coach also lost his first Super Bowl. He didn't get back for another decade. He won. Ditto the Denver Broncos and John Elway. Remember him? He's the guy who needed 15 years to win his first Super Bowl. In year 13, Mike Shanahan stepped in. Eagles fans should keep that in mind.

For the record, Marc Bulger never won another playoff game after 2004. We know what Warner did for a theretofore guttersnipe franchise.

For the record as well, I've had some great success with women since my high school girlfriend and although I would not trade in the journey, I've never had as good a girlfriend as her. Like the Rams, Broncos, Buccaneers and now Eagles, I forgot what I was before I met her. For these franchises, the journey is certainly uncertain, and will likely prove far more perilous.

Sources: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players
www.nfl.com