Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb recently revealed his reasons for why he thinks he should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
After acquiring Donovan McNabb in a trade with the Washington Redskins in 2011, the Minnesota Vikings were hoping the veteran quarterback had at least one or two good seasons of football left in him.
Following his first few games with the Vikings, however, the team quickly found out that McNabb didn’t even have half a good season left in him, let alone a full one. The quarterback ended up only appearing in six contests for Minnesota in 2011 before the team eventually decided to cut him with five weeks left in the season.
McNabb’s lone year with the Vikings was easily his worst in the NFL. But his play prior to joining Minnesota is what caused the team to trade for the quarterback.
McNabb spent the first 11 seasons of his time in the league as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. With the Eagles, he earned six trips to the Pro Bowl, he helped lead Philadelphia to five NFC Championship appearances and one Super Bowl, and he developed into one of the best scrambling quarterbacks in the NFL.
He ended up getting traded to the Redskins in 2010, who then sent the veteran quarterback to the Vikings after just one season.
McNabb’s career may not have ended the way he would have liked, but he believes that everything he did prior to playing for Washington makes him deserving of the most prestigious honor in professional football.
The former Minnesota passer was recently asked by TMZ if he believes he deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and he didn’t hold back with his answer.
"“Absolutely, and I’m not hesitating on that. I am a Hall of Famer. My numbers speak for itself. My numbers are better than Troy Aikman, but he has Super Bowl rings and he’s played with Hall of Famers as well.”"
McNabb is right about his numbers being right up there with some of the best to ever play the game. He finished his time in the NFL with more career passing yards than Aikman, Jim Kelly, Steve Young, and Kurt Warner. McNabb also has the fifth-most playoff wins of any quarterback in the league since 1999.
What may be hurting the chances of the former Vikings passer from getting into the Hall of Fame is the fact that his stats don’t really look that impressive anymore.
Quarterbacks in today’s NFL are throwing for over 4,000 yards in a season with ease and this is an amount McNabb was never able to surpass during his career. He also tossed more than 25 touchdowns in a single season just once during his time in the league.
Did McNabb accomplish a lot during his NFL career? Yes, of course he did. But was his play worthy of an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Probably not.