excerpt:
Donovan McNabb will make a little bit of involuntary history when the Eagles open training camp at Lehigh University this week.
He will begin a season with more pressure on him than any Philadelphia athlete in recent memory, maybe ever. McNabb may as well have equipment manager John Hatfield stitch the letters "A-T-L-A-S" over the No. 5 on his back, because he will have the weight of the world on his shoulders this year.
McNabb, and therefore the Eagles, could go either way. Pressure makes diamonds out of coal. It also turns mighty boulders into pebbles and dust.
Has anyone in this town faced this much heat (and we're not talking two-a-days under the July sun here) for so many reasons?
Eric Lindros, maybe, near the end. But that was ice hockey and this is football in an Eagle-centric town.
Mike Schmidt? His career was a constant tug-of-war with the fans here, but he was MVP in a championship season. Not many Philadelphia stars can say that.
Julius Erving after the "We Owe You One" season? There was pressure on the Sixers, but Doc was universally loved and respected.
Charles Barkley? Randall Cunningham? Allen Iverson? They've all taken turns under the klieg lights, but none experienced quite the planetary alignment that makes this season such a test for McNabb.
To be clear, a percentage of this is McNabb's own doing. If he had delivered a Super Bowl-winning performance in Jacksonville (or in one of those previous near-miss seasons), he'd be in the clear. His after-the-fact commentary on Terrell Owens in February may have been cathartic for McNabb, but it also added a few thousand pounds of granite to the load on his shoulders.
The "black-on-black crime" comment could stick to McNabb the way "For who, for what?" attached itself to Ricky Watters, the way Iverson will never fully be free of "Practice, we're talking about practice!"
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/15047150.htm
McNabb carrying a world of weight
McNabb carrying a world of weight
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