Donovan’s Revenge

At the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice complex one day last week, the producer of quarterback Donovan McNabb’s weekly local TV show asked if he would be available for an interview a day before Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Fla. With mock seriousness, McNabb warned that the hoopla of the game, between the Eagles and defending champion New England Patriots, might leave him stretched for time. “Worst case, just get some guy off the street in Jacksonville to go on,” McNabb joked. He then found a problem with that plan. “The guy would say, ‘Donovan who? A quarterback? You mean like Peyton Manning? Sure you don’t mean The Tom Brady Show?'” The room erupted in knowing laughter. Asked McNabb: “Where’s the love?”

No athlete has a lock on that question quite like McNabb, 28, a five-time Pro Bowler who has guided the Eagles to their first Super Bowl appearance in 24 years. In 1999, upset that the Eagles chose him over Heisman-trophy running back Ricky Williams as the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft, Philadelphia’s raucous fans booed McNabb before he took a single practice snap (Williams has since retired from football to travel, study holistic medicine and, by his own account, smoke weed). Rush Limbaugh thrust an unwitting McNabb into a firestorm in 2003 with his idiotic statement about black quarterbacks being overrated. Among veteran quarterbacks, McNabb has the highest winning percentage. But before this year, he had lost three straight NFC title games, sending Philly fans to the edge of the Schuylkill.

Manning has the gaudy numbers. Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons, trounced by the Eagles, 27-10, in the NFC title game, is a backfield thrill ride. Even in McNabb’s Chunky Soup ads, his mother Wilma steals the scenes. Most important, Brady the matinee idol has the Super Bowl rings, and his Patriots are the deserved favorites. “It’s hard to say that Donovan is underappreciated, because he can do it all,” says Rex Ryan, defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, who lost to the Eagles, 15-10, in October. “But if he wins the Super Bowl, he’ll finally get the attention he deserves.”

Throughout his NFL career, McNabb has shaken the doubters as if they were lumbering linemen. “I smile about it,” McNabb tells TIME about his skeptics. “People think I’m crazy. But it’s like, ‘Hey, thanks for trying to bring me down, trying to upset me, but that just can’t happen.'” When Limbaugh said the liberal media hyped McNabb because he was black, it was his father Sam who spoke up, calling Limbaugh “insensitive.” Donovan just played football. “I tried to show class, show that you can’t let someone else’s mind-set change what you set out to do,” says McNabb. “It’s sad that it had to happen to me. But I’d rather it happen to me than to anyone else.”

McNabb inherited his humility from his parents. Sam McNabb is a retired electrical engineer, Wilma McNabb a nurse. Long before the Limbaugh snub, Donovan got a harsh lesson in racism. When he was 8, the McNabbs moved from the South Side of Chicago to suburban Dolton, Ill. They were one of the first African-American families to settle in Dolton. Shortly after they arrived, someone vandalized their home. Neither McNabb nor his parents carried a chip. They sent him to Mount Carmel High School, a diverse Catholic school on the South Side, where he honed not only his passing game but also his stand-up act. He would mimic the coaches, break-dance in the locker room–anything to keep the team loose. He hasn’t stopped. When asked to name something he admired about rotund Eagles coach Andy Reid, McNabb said, “His healthy eating.”

Jokes aside, McNabb clearly knows the score going into this year’s Super Bowl. Only one other black quarterback, Doug Williams of the 1987 Washington Redskins, has won the big game. “It’s not overblown,” McNabb says of his place in history. “But I won’t make it into a big issue.” So his teammates will. McNabb’s favorite receiver, superstar Terrell Owens, recuperating from a broken ankle, insists he’ll play against doctor’s orders to get his QB the ring.

The Patriots are also rushing toward history as they try to become the first team since the Dallas Cowboys (1992, ’93 and ’95) to win three Super Bowls in four years, giving the Patriots a legitimate claim to best-team-ever status. “I’ve heard this matchup called ‘dynasty versus destiny,'” says McNabb. “I’m going with destiny.”