McNabb Gives Vikings Fans – At Least The Smart Ones

To my surprise, the acquisition of Donovan McNabb by the Vikings, has been met in the twin cities with mixed emotions. Because I am not a native Minnesotan, I am often bewildered at the feelings, opinions, and thoughts that I often hear from Minnesota sports fans.

Of those, Vikings fans are certainly the most passionate. It's football, believe me, I get it. Something about football can make a little old grandma, scream and yell like a wild maniac. That's the beauty of it. And we all have opinions.

My opinion on McNabb is this. He is a winner, period. Follow me back, just for a quick second.

Donovan McNabb started for 4 years in college at Syracuse. He single-handedly made that program relevant. Syracuse at the time was a basketball school - and that's it. But McNabb led them to four straight winning seasons, and led them to four bowl games, winning three of them.

He was then drafted by the Eagles, but booed violently on draft day, because most of the Philly fans wanted Texas running back Ricky Williams. He had just won the Heisman Trophy, and the Eagles needed a running back, too. But Head Coach Andy Reid wanted McNabb, and that proved to be absolutely the right call.

The Eagles were a very prominent force in the NFC during McNabb's time in Philadelphia. McNabb led the Eagles to four consecutive NFC East division championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004), five NFC Championship Games (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008), and one Super Bowl, in which the Eagles were defeated by the New England Patriots. He is also the Eagles' all-time leader in career wins, pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns.

Remember, the Vikings have the best running back in the league in Adrian Peterson. The defense, especially the front seven, is still very good. The main question coming into this season was "what kind of play are we going to get from our quarterback?" Well, now we know we should get some consistency. And we know we have a proven leader.

The Vikings will win a lot more games this year with McNabb running the show, then they ever would've with rookie Christian Ponder.

Plus, the schedule is easy. There are only three games that are obvious losses (at San Diego, at Green Bay, at Atlanta). The Vikings are always good at the dome. A 10-6 or 9-7 season is certainly not out of the question.

I think this season is going to be a better one than many around here think it will be. Donovan McNabb will be a huge part of the Vikings turn around this year.

They may not be as good as the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers - but they are definitely better than the Bears or Lions - and a wildcard spot is certainly within reach.