The Eagles drafted the player whom they expect to be McNabb's replacement. And they haven't exactly been loyal to their aging veterans. Once they determine that a player is past his prime, the Eagles show that player the door. Just ask Jeremiah Trotter, Duce Staley, Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor, Ike Reese, and the litany of others.
McNabb knows all of this. And frankly, he has distanced himself from the organization since it used its second-round pick in the April draft to select Kevin Kolb. Remember that off-campus media availability he had after the draft, orchestrated by a former Eagles media relations employee who had recently been let go?
So yes, I believe McNabb does feel that his days in Philadelphia are numbered. The real question is does he think that number is of the double-digit variety, or is it a triple-digit one?
The dicey part of the he-said, she-said dispute that ensued after Oliver's halftime report and McNabb's rebuke of it following the Eagles' win over the Dallas Cowboys is in the semantics. When Oliver spoke with McNabb during pregame warm-ups at Texas Stadium, she didn't take notes. Oliver, who could not be reached for comment, reportedly said she asked him four questions and wrote nothing down until after their conversation was over.
It's possible McNabb thought he was speaking in confidence with a reporter he has known since his rookie season. That would have been foolish, given that Oliver, as a sideline reporter, gets paid to deliver information. She wasn't hanging out at Texas Stadium on her own time. She was working.
Still, reporters and athletes can, and often do, have amicable working relationships that extend into the murky world of off-the-record. Not every conversation is meant to be repeated. Determining which is, and more important which isn't, takes skill and clarity, because violating a source's trust can be devastating.
