TO: What I Think

A friend asked me “where I was on this whole T.O. thing” after the Dallas loss. He went on to offer his own take of the still volatile relationship between TO-McNabb-the Eagles- and the Fans.

 

“ I have never really understood why the public perception is that the Eagles did the right thing by deactivating him and banishing him from Philly,” says my friend. “I have always thought this was a big mistake and lost respect for McNabb, a guy I always thought was a top tier qb, for pretty much forcing that result by being a baby about it (his comments this week blaming others for the 3-5 start doesn't exactly make me think better of him).”

 

Fair enough. But here’s my take

 

 

What do I think of the whole TO thing?

 

I think TO is one of the two best receivers in football, arguably the best, and absolutely the best when Randy Moss chooses to quit on his team from week to week.

 

I think TO is a future Hall of Famer.

 

I think TO is a certifiable head case.

 

I think if TO hadn't gotten hurt and broken his ankle in 2004 the Eagles would probably have won the super bowl.

 

I think that coming back early from the injury, playing with screws in his ankle and risking a career ending injury in the super bowl speaks to his impressive desire to win.

 

I think that his 9 catches for 122 yards in the super bowl with a not-yet-fully healed ankle was one of the greatest and most overlooked performances in any athletic championship game in recent memory.

 

I think that if the Eagles had won the super bowl TO would have been a god in Philadelphia for the rest of his and his children's lives.

 

I think that Jeff Lurie disgraced himself and the franchise by not giving TO an assurance or guarantee that if he played in the super bowl and suffered a career ending ankle injury that the Eagles would honor the remainder of his contract.

 

I think that after the game with all of the above, TO got clued in to the fact that he signed a bad contract which was essentially only a two year deal, the Eagles commitment to him was temporary and they were going to let him go after the 2005 season, and that he wasn't going to see a dime of the out-year escalator annual salaries.

 

I think TO deliberately waged a 10 month war to sabotage and undermine McNabb with the team and the public in a bizarre attempt to get the Eagles to renegotiate the contract.

 

I think the Eagles made a huge mistake in not cutting or trading TO in the 2005 pre-season after he was initially suspended from the team during training camp.

 

I think TO got the better of Hugh Douglas in their famous locker room fight.

 

I think TO tried to divide the Eagles team and players.

 

I think TO was grossly insubordinate to the coaching staff and particularly the offensive coordinator.

 

I think TO should have been and was rightfully suspended by Andy Reid for the last nine games of the 2005 season.

 

I think TO made McNabb a better quarterback.

 

I think TO and McNabb may have been able to co-exist for the whole 2005 season and maybe advanced far into the playoffs if McNabb hadn't gotten hurt.

 

I think that the TO experience means that the Eagles may never try to acquire a premier in -his-prime WR while Andy Reid is still head coach because of the baggage such players usually bring.

 

I think the lack of a premier WR will doom this Eagles team/era (McNabb, Dawkins, Westbrook) to nothing more than a playoff caliber team at best.

 

I think TO is an ungrateful prick for disparaging former teammates, particularly his starting QBs (Garcia- McNabb).

 

I think TO is very smart.

 

I think TO is often disingenuous.

 

I think TO is behaving himself in Dallas in an attempt to restore his image and that he realizes disrupting another franchise may get him blackballed.

 

I think McNabb has more class in his left hand than TO will ever have.

 

I think TO is the worst kind of diva, one with a severe inferiority complex but with truly extraordinary God given talent.

 

That's what I think.