Is Wearing a Donovan McNabb Eagles Jersey Acceptable Yet?

Philadelphia and Donovan McNabb always have and probably always will have a love/hate relationship. No one in Philadelphia denies what McNabb did as an Eagle, but in the end he didn’t deliver a parade, which is more painful than all he accomplished because of how close the Eagles were to winning a Superbowl through the early and mid-2000’s.

That’s about all the legacy talk I have right now. I’m sure when Donovan has his number retired prior to the Eagles welcoming Andy Reid and the Chiefs in for a week three Thursday Night Football showdown, I’ll have a piece responding to some clueless national reporter(s) who wrote a piece about how under appreciated McNabb was in Philadelphia. Until then, believe me I will survive a week without talk about Donovan McNabb’s legacy.

But an interesting discussion topic arouse in my mind when I was trying to figure out what Eagles jersey to wear Tuesday, coming off of the Eagles Monday Night Football win over the Redskins. Is wearing a Donovan McNabb jersey acceptably vintage at this point or is it still a complete violation?

I ended up wearing a Brent Celek jersey Tuesday, but after that I don’t have any other current Eagles players jerseys. I look through my closet and laugh at some of the jerseys that I have like L.J. Smith and Shawn Andrews because I know that I would never even consider wearing one of those jerseys in public. Then I searched further through my closet and found Brian Dawkins, Jerimiah Trotter, and Brian Westbrook jerseys, three jerseys that I would proudly wear because I consider all three to be Eagles legends at this point. But when I found a Donovan McNabb jersey, it didn’t feel like it was right to wear it yet.

Believe it or not, this will be the Eagles fourth season without Donovan McNabb. This will be McNabb’s second full season out of the NFL, which is only a year less than Brian Westbrook. Both McNabb and Westbrook left the Eagles after 2009, granted McNabb was traded while Westbrook had a more peaceful exit, but they have both been gone for a few years now and I saw someone wearing a Brian Westbrook jersey Tuesday and thought it was pretty cool. But I saw someone wearing a McNabb jersey and it felt strange.

I guess the reality is that Westbrook was never outspoken, and has never really taken underhand shots at Philly like McNabb has. I also think the fact that the Eagles have found another top-five running back in LeSean McCoy to replace Westbrook makes it feel like Westbrook has been gone longer than four seasons. The Eagles haven’t come close to replacing Donovan McNabb, with the exception of a few games from Michael Vick in 2010, and maybe that, in addition to the fact that McNabb is on Fox Sports Live every night, is why he remains so fresh in our minds.

Either way I think it’s safe to say that we are a couple years away from saying wearing a McNabb jersey in public is throwback. The only time it feels acceptable is if you wear it the week of the Chiefs game to honor McNabb’s Eagles career. And don’t get me wrong, his career deserves to be honored. I just think wearing his jersey is still a ways away from not being weird right now.

Oh I also found a Domonique Rodgers-Cromartie jersey next to a throwback Nnamdi Asomugha jersey. Those jerseys have since been donated to Good Will.