Talking with five legendary Eagles QBs * Didinger: Pieces of a dream signal-caller * Hofmann: Can Big Bird still wing it? * The complexity of QBing * Who's the best Eagles quarterback * Catching up with the passers * And much more
NO ONE IN Philadelphia is on the spot, year in and year out, as much as the quarterback of the Eagles. No one is so endlessly probed, scrutinized or as squarely in the crosshairs of public debate. The Charlie Manuels and Billy Kings are just seasonal fodder by comparison, packed up and stored away until the Phillies or the Sixers begin play again. But the quarterback of the Eagles has become an obsession to the point that if Donovan McNabb ordered a sandwich, there would surely be a followup question along the lines of "rye or wheat?"
If you take roll of all Eagles quarterbacks, there are MVPs (Ron Jaworski and Randall Cunningham), Pro Bowlers (Donovan McNabb, Roman Gabriel, Mike Boryla), a league recordholder (Adrian Burk) and two Hall of Famers (Norm Van Brocklin and Sonny Jurgensen).
IT HAS ALWAYS been Donovan McNabb's greatest strength and his greatest failing that he never wants to give up on a play. It has led him to excellence, to near the top of his profession. It also has gained him admission to the operating theaters of some of America's finest medical institutions.
THE DIFFERENCE between pro football today and pro football 30 to 40 years ago is the difference between the Pony Express and e-mail, between your grandparents' old black-and-white Motorola TV and your Panasonic 50-inch plasma.
James Darren, South Philly-born singer/actor: One of my favorites, if not my all-time favorite Eagles QB, is Ron Jaworski. Great arm! He could take it! Great plays. Great QB, period. It was a great era.
Michael Barkann, host of "Daily News Live" on Comcast SportsNet: Norm Van Brocklin. Championship. 554 yards in one game (in 1951, as a Ram). Championship. 1960 MVP. Championship. 9-time Pro Bowler. Championship. Hall of Famer. Championship.
Excellence must be measured over time, including when you are talking about the best quarterback in Eagles history. So, the best? You're looking at him. Donovan McNabb has said some things and done some things and thrown up some things over the years that have left Philadelphia talking and worrying and wondering. But when the test is time, he is the best quarterback the Eagles have ever had.
Mike Boryla * Eagles career: Drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of 1974 draft and traded to the Eagles. He started three games for the Birds his rookie season, throwing five touchdowns. Named the starter by new coach Dick Vermeil in 1976, leading the team to a 4-10 record. That was his last year with the team. "The most I remember about playing in Philly was my rookie year," he says. "I had moved to the Philly area in May after joining the team, and I watched a lot of film with coach Mike McCormack. So I felt like I was ready to play. I started the last three games and we won all three. Also, that was a time when quarterbacks called their own plays. So I would go with plays I felt comfortable with. That made things easier for me."
* Eagles career: Two games were in the books in the 1987 season when the NFL players went on strike and the league chose to have replacement players. Tinsley, who grew up in Oklahoma and played college ball at Southern Cal, got a call from longtime pal Jeff Fisher, then an assistant coach under Buddy Ryan. "I said, 'Yeah, man, I'd love to.' I had no idea what the situation was going to be," he recalls. "I wasn't even thinking union and nonunion and stuff like that. It was like, 'H
* Eagles career: First-round pick (14th overall) out of Florida in 1972. Played with Eagles until '74. Started seven games his rookie season and threw for 1,508 yards and 7 touchdowns. Pete Liske started the rest. Turned out to be his most productive season as a member of the Eagles. Backed up Roman Gabriel the next two seasons and threw just 39 passes. "They threw me in there when I was a rookie and I didn't know what I was doing," he says. "Back then, quarterbacks called their own plays, so I was trying to match wits with the likes of Tom Landry. Then the Eagles got Roman Gabriel and I pretty much watched from the bench." Played with the Vikings, Bengals, Oilers and Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL before concluding his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1987.
* Eagles career: A backup quarterback and punter from 1961 to '68, he endured some bad Eagles teams under coaches Nick Skorich and Joe Kuharich. After being second string behind Sonny Jurgensen for several years, he later was No. 2 behind Norm Snead. His most productive season was 1963, when he threw for 1,213 yards and 10 touchdowns (and was picked off 17 times).
* Eagles career: Was one of five quarterbacks during the bizarre 1991 season, when Randall Cunningham broke his leg in the opener at Green Bay. Kemp relieved Jim McMahon in that memorable 13-6 win at Houston's "House of Pain" and threw a TD pass to Keith Jackson, then took over for McMahon the following week and directed four scoring drives in a 19-14 win over the host Giants.
* Eagles career: Arrived in 1995 at the same time as coach Ray Rhodes and offensive coordinator Jon Gruden, and at the end of Randall Cunningham's long and successful tenure. "It was a great situation for me to go into," he says. He threw for 2,326 yards that first season, capped by three scoring passes in a 58-37 playoff win over Detroit. But he ruptured his patella tendon in his right knee in the fifth game of the '96 season, a 23-19 home loss to Dallas, sidelining him for the season. He made limited appearances the next 2 years. "I just felt that injury kind of sidetracked me as far as my Philly career was concerned," he says. "But I enjoyed it, man, I really did."
* Eagles career: Spent the 1993 and 1994 seasons in Philadelphia, but the seasons were distinctly different. Wound up throwing 309 passes, including 14 touchdowns, in 1993 when he replaced Ken O'Brien, who had taken over for Randall Cunningham, after he fractured his fibula against the Jets in Week 4. Threw only 76 passes the next season when Cunningham returned. Went on to serve as the backup quarterback for John Elway in Denver, winning back-to-back Super Bowl rings in 1997 and '98.
* Eagles career: Spent two seasons (1971 and 1972) in Philadelphia, memorable only for their awfulness. The 1972 Eagles went 2-11-1, including a 62-10 loss to the Giants at Yankee Stadium. His best year was his first, when he completed 143 of 269 passes for 1,957 yards and 11 TDs.
* Eagles career: Played here from 1952 through '57. Took the bulk of the snaps his first two seasons, in 1952 and '53, then shared the workload with Adrian Burk the next three seasons. "I don't remember getting pulled out, and I don't remember him getting pulled out," Thomason says. "It was more or less by the game." They combined for a league-high 3,250 yards in 1953, when Thomason threw 21 TDs.
