Jim McIsaac - Getty Images
INSCMagazine: Get Social!

Former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb believes he belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He stated his case and believes he’s got better career numbers than Troy Aikman.

Aikman played from 1989 to 2000. He went 94-71 in his career, threw for 32,942 yards, completed 61.5 percent of his passes and threw 165 touchdowns to 141 interceptions. It’s not difficult to see where McNabb is coming from in regards to regular season performance.

The Dallas Cowboys though did win three Super Bowls with Aikman at quarterback. Still he only had one stellar performance in the postseason and that was in 1992 when threw for 795 yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing 68.5 percent of his passes. He won the Super Bowl MVP as well. The remainder of his performances were mediocre. Which is bit of a shock with having wide receiver Michael Irvin around.

Dallas primarily relied on their defense and running the football with future Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith.

Overall in the playoffs Aikman was 11-4, threw for 3,849 yards, 23 touchdowns and 17 interceptions while completing 63.7 percent of his passes.

McNabb played from 1999-2011. He went 98-62 as starter, threw for 37,276 yards, 234 touchdowns to 117 interceptions and completed 59 percent of his passes.  There was only one Super Bowl appearance made and it was a three point loss to the New England Patriots. In that game McNabb threw for 357 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

That run was also his best postseason performance. He threw for 823 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. McNabb’s playoff numbers as a whole were similar to Aikman’s. He threw for 24 touchdowns to 17 interceptions, 3,752 yards and completed 59.1 percent of his passes.

As for McNabb he didn’t get the opportunity to consistently throw to a Hall of Fame receiver. Terrell Owens obviously the most talented player he got to throw to, yet he lasted only 21 games in an Eagles uniform.

Owens still managed to catch the most touchdowns of any receiver McNabb went to with 20. James Thrash caught the second most with 14. Running back Brian Westbrook ended up catching the most touchdown passes from him with 27.

In the regular season McNabb boasts the better winning percentage over Aikman, he threw for 4,334 more yards and his touchdown to interception ratio is far superior.

One can also point to Kurt Warner being inducted to the Hall of Fame as why McNabb belongs. The former St. Louis Rams quarterback had three tremendous seasons and two really good ones before injuries and poor play relegated him to the bench.

Twice he got beat out by rookie quarterbacks. Eli Manning in New York and Matt Leinart in Arizona. Also, the Rams didn’t miss a beat when Marc Bulger took over as starting quarterback for the Rams.

Warner’s stretch between 2002-2006 was horrible. He went 8-23 while throwing for 7,940 yards, 27 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. For his career he threw for 32,344 yards, 208 touchdowns and 108 interceptions with a 67-49 record.

Out of Aikman and McNabb, Warner did perform better in the postseason. Still that doesn’t make up for his lack of consistency in the regular season.

This means that McNabb is correct he is definite Hall of Famer.

 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.