Tom E. Curran • E-mail

PHILADELPHIA -

For the straight poop on how Eagles fans are feeling about Donovan McNabb, what better place to go than the men’s room at Chickie and Pete’s Crab House and Sports Bar in South Philly?

Darnell, the 43-year-old men’s room attendant in that establishment, is the proverbial fly on the wall to the rantings of famously hard-bitten Philadelphians.

“A lot of people say Donovan’s days are numbered and it’s time for him to leave,” says Darnell (no last name given). “I believe he’s done what he could for the team and this city. But I’d like to see a new spin.”

Darnell may soon get his wish.

With the Eagles at 6-5-1 and in last place in the NFC East, their dim 2008 playoff hopes could be snuffed out this weekend by the 11-1 Giants. The public blame for a promising season gone sour is falling on McNabb. And the Eagles themselves furthered that perception. Three weeks ago, Philly tied the hapless Bengals, 13-13. That result should have been embarrassment enough. Yet after the game, McNabb noted that he wasn’t aware NFL games could end in a tie. A week later, McNabb was benched for the second half of a loss to Baltimore.

After five Pro Bowl appearances, four conference championship games, a Super Bowl appearance, more than 130 starts and thousands of high-wattage smiles flashed, McNabb’s enigmatic run with the Eagles may be over. His 2009 salary is $9.2 million but that’s not guaranteed. The signing bonus he was given when he signed an extension through the 2013 season has all been counted against the salary cap as of this year. It’s not cheaper to keep him and McNabb’s understudy, Kevin Kolb (the 36th overall pick in 2007) is probably ready for his closeup.

From the outside, it seems the tumultuous marriage of McNabb and Philly has lost its spark. There were good times and lots of laughs since 1999 when the Eagles made McNabb the second overall pick in the draft (a decision that was jeered by many) but it’s grown stale. Irreconcilable differences. Great games like the one McNabb authored Thanksgiving night against the Cardinals aren't the norm. He’ll hurt them again. Or so the thinking goes.

But a visit to the city actually shows that there are plenty of Philly fans who believe McNabb’s not the primary problem.

Working the cab stand at Philadelphia International Airport is Ronald Taliaferro, 55. He’s been an Eagles fan “all the way back to Norm Snead and King Hill.”

“When I look at (McNabb), sometimes I don’t think he has heart. Then I also think he’s just doing what he’s told, so Andy Reid and the rest of the coaches are the ones to blame,” he says. “I hear a lot of people say, ‘Donovan needs to go.’ Other people say, ‘Reid need’s to go.’ One of them has to go. And the city’s not going anywhere.”

Steve Spera, 27, the general manager of JL Sullivan’s Sports Lounge in downtown Philly thinks people need to be cognizant of what moving away from McNabb means.

“Look at our winning percentage over the past few years. It’s pretty good,” he says. “You change quarterbacks or coaches, you’re bringing in an option that hasn’t proven itself and going away from one that’s been pretty successful.”

A reasonable point. 

“Yeah, well not many people in Philly are reasonable,” he adds. “And I can say that because I’m from here.”

A few steps up Broad Street in front of the Bellevue Hotel are Kenny Gilliam, Mustafa Hannible and Don Utley. All three back McNabb.

“Keep him,” announced Hannible. “We don’t got another quarterback to take his spot. We need to get rid of the coach. It’s not Donovan, it’s the coach.”

“Donovan still has a few good years left in him, and I’d like to see him end his career in Philadelphia,” says Gilliam, the hotel’s maintenance supervisor. “But he’s gotten away from what he does best. We have to run the ball more. The man can’t drop back and throw the ball 50 times a game. I’ll tell you this: he leaves, it’s a total rebuilding.

What about all the criticism McNabb’s constantly getting? What about the perception Philly wants to be rid of him.

“That’s Philly fans,” says Hannible. “If you don’t know by now, you’ll never know. That’s how we do. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

This sampling of opinion from different parts of the city actually validates a theory that Paul Jolovitz, a host on Philly’s sports talker WIP, espouses.

McNabb’s detractors are in the minority.

“He’s the most disrespected athlete in his own town that I’ve ever seen,” says Jolovitz. “There’s a vocal minority that doesn’t like what he does and who he is for whatever reason. We’re a tough town. The quarterback of the Eagles will always be on the firing line. And I think we have the best fans in the country. But that vocal minority, for whatever reason, really doesn’t like him. He smiled after a game a couple of weeks ago and everyone got all over him. (McNabb’s teammate) Brian Dawkins said, ‘I see buddies after games and smile with them and nobody ever says anything about me.’ Donovan is under a microscope with some people who just don’t like him. I can’t figure it out.”

It’s worth wondering whether McNabb even wants to stay. He’s 32, his wife just had twins this week, he’s been battling to validate himself in the city since the day he was drafted...

“I don’t even think of that,” he answers before the question about seeking a fresh start is completed.

But he did say Wednesday that he intends to meet with Reid, owner Jeff Lurie and team president Joe Banner after the season. The topic?

“We’ll discuss that when the time comes,” he said. “I think that at this particular point, it’s just really (important) for us to focus on who we are playing and that will be the Giants and continue on from there. And the conversation will happen.”

Asked if he’s secure in his position with the team, he answered, “I am the quarterback and I will be the quarterback, so if that’s where you’re going with it, I don’t look at anything else that’s happened.”

McNabb’s teammates are accustomed to dealing with the furor surrounding him.

“Everybody knows that he means a whole lot to this team,” says running back Brian Westbrook. “At some points in the game and season, he has meant everything. He has carried this team plenty of times on his back to victory, to [NFC] Championships, to the Super Bowl. Things like that. He has been a leader on and off the field. He has been a role model to a lot of guys on the team, as well. He definitely means a lot to this team.”

Still, it’s hard to deny that the end of McNabb’s tenure here is looming. And Reid’s decision to bench McNabb two weeks ago was a watershed moment. That Kolb played poorly in relief is moot. Yanking McNabb sent a signal that the Eagles can contemplate playing without him.

Reid, of course, is driving the Eagles bus like he’s in a blizzard. Hands clutching the wheel, focusing fully on the road immediately in front of him. Distractions? Negativity?

“I don’t go there,” he said Wednesday. “We have to prepare ourselves. All that stuff, why worry about that? You can’t worry about that. You have to worry about that football team that you’re playing and you have to worry that you have your assignments right and make sure you’re in the best physical shape you can be in, and so on. That’s where your energy goes. It’s not about the other things that you can’t control.”

Speaking about the birth of his twins, McNabb mentioned the unconditional love children give. A question contrasted that love with the fickle nature of Eagles fans.

“I knew that was coming,” he said. “I try to be a good role model. I try to set a good example and try to do the right things, obviously, off the field. But when it comes to family, whatever you may do, decisions you make, the mistakes that you make...I can always look into my daughter’s eyes and she tells me she loves me and that’s a different feeling.”

Different from the way some segments of Philly regards McNabb? Yeah, just a little bit.

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