Donovan Mcnabb

If selected by the Flyers in next month's NHL draft, hulking defenseman Darnell Nurse would not feel an added burden playing in Philadelphia - and living up to the standard set in another sport by his famous uncle, former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. "There is a link there, but I don't see how the pressure crosses over," Nurse, a mature 18-year-old, said the other day from his home in Hamilton, Ontario. "It's a different sport, a different position. The pressure will be put on by myself to make a mark like he did. It won't come from other people.

Donovan McNabb said on his NBC Sports Radio show on Monday that he will officially retire as an Eagle this fall and that the team suggested he do it on Sept. 19 when former coach Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs visit Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles did not comment on the matter. Attempts to reach McNabb on Monday evening were unsuccessful. He first told a Syracuse radio station earlier in the day that he would retire as an Eagle, although that has always been the plan. The former Eagles quarterback has not played since 2011.

ANDY REID will return to Philadelphia on Sept. 19 when his Kansas City Chiefs face the Eagles in a nationally televised Thursday night game. Another prominent former member of the organization will be in the house that night, as well. Donovan McNabb. McNabb confirmed yesterday on his show on NBC Sports Radio that he will retire as an Eagle in September. He said the team has suggested doing it on the 19th, when Reid, the man who selected him with the second overall pick in the 1999 draft, will be there.

Every Eagles quarterback gets booed sooner or later. Donovan McNabb surely set the record yesterday. The Eagles selected McNabb with the second pick in yesterday's National Football League draft in New York. Moments after league commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced the selection, there were boos in Madison Square Garden. The jeering came from a contingent of Eagles fans organized by the local sports talk radio station to rally for their candidate, University of Texas running back Ricky Williams.

9 Donovan McNabb. The results are indisputable. Only four quarterbacks in NFL history have played in four consecutive conference championships games. And yet . . . "It's great to be in that class," Donovan McNabb said, "but you wish you could have won four and been in the Super Bowl four times. " Entering his ninth season, McNabb has a .663 career winning percentage, tops among active quarterbacks with at least 95 starts. His seven playoff wins are more than any quarterback in Eagles history.

Because of his grace, because of his demeanor, because he is Donovan McNabb, son of Sam and Wilma, he can do things like this. McNabb can flourish in a whirlwind life, treating it as if it were a breeze from a fan. He can spend his off day, yet another off day, going through appearances and being in the public eye, this time trying to do something for children. Not for one moment yesterday, not even a second, did the budding superstar complain. He kept on flashing that Donovan smile, that wide, yes-I-have-good-teeth smile.

WELL, HERE we go again. Another professional athlete, Donovan McNabb, gets a huge amount of money in a new contract and promptly heads toward a quarterback quagmire. Haven't we seen this before? Show me the money and watch me become mediocre at best. Isn't this a typical pro sports syndrome? (Anyone remember Von Hayes?) We've gone through many years of Philly teams on the brink but unable to deliver the killing blow and win a championship. Oh, yes, the fans keep paying and paying to watch these pitiful performances.

Donovan McNabb, already an analyst for the NFL Network, now has a national radio deal. He's joining the fledging NBC Sports Radio network, which launched Sept. 4, expanded to offer weekend-long programming on Jan. 5, and will go 24/7 on April 1. The NBC rollout is the latest challenge to turf once ruled by ESPN. On Jan. 2, CBS Sports Radio went national, offering a broad perspective at 610 on the AM band, while 94 WIP continued with its local lineup on FM. ESPN's represented in Philadelphia by 97.5 The Fanatic, also on FM. McNabb will be one of NBC Sports Radio's top NFL analysts, taking part in this weekend's Super Bowl coverage, and regularly talking by phone with shows on various affiliates.

The high-rent quarterback neighborhood has changed a lot since the Eagles were there last. That was a decade ago, when they made Randall Cunningham the highest-paid player in the NFL with a seven-year contract worth just over $20 million, including a signing bonus of a then-unbelievable $3 million. Last week, Dallas gave Troy Aikman a signing bonus of $20 million, equaling the value of Cunningham's entire deal, as part of a new nine-year, $88.5-million contract. But hold on. San Francisco's Steve Young is involved in contract talks that are expected to raise the bar once again.

It's the eve of opening night, and already there is more talk about the understudy than about the leading man. The talk doesn't bother Doug Pederson. Not really. All that will matter is what happens on the field, beginning with tomorrow night's preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens. And the simple fact is, Pederson's thorough knowledge of Andy Reid's offense is more important to this team right now than first-round pick Donovan McNabb's raw talent. "Everyone is writing me off," Pederson said.

If selected by the Flyers in next month's NHL draft, hulking defenseman Darnell Nurse would not feel an added burden playing in Philadelphia - and living up to the standard set in another sport by his famous uncle, former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. "There is a link there, but I don't see how the pressure crosses over," Nurse, a mature 18-year-old, said the other day from his home in Hamilton, Ontario. "It's a different sport, a different position. The pressure will be put on by myself to make a mark like he did. It won't come from other people.

ANDY REID will return to Philadelphia on Sept. 19 when his Kansas City Chiefs face the Eagles in a nationally televised Thursday night game. Another prominent former member of the organization will be in the house that night, as well. Donovan McNabb. McNabb confirmed yesterday on his show on NBC Sports Radio that he will retire as an Eagle in September. He said the team has suggested doing it on the 19th, when Reid, the man who selected him with the second overall pick in the 1999 draft, will be there.

Donovan McNabb said on his NBC Sports Radio show on Monday that he will officially retire as an Eagle this fall and that the team suggested he do it on Sept. 19 when former coach Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs visit Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles did not comment on the matter. Attempts to reach McNabb on Monday evening were unsuccessful. He first told a Syracuse radio station earlier in the day that he would retire as an Eagle, although that has always been the plan. The former Eagles quarterback has not played since 2011.

It is traditional, right about now, to remark upon all the fine college quarterbacks who crash and burn in the NFL. Matt Barkley, the 98th overall pick of the 2013 draft, seems doubly cursed. He is coming off a disappointing senior year that ended with a shoulder injury, and he is coming from Southern Cal, launching pad for such high-profile crack-ups as Matt Leinart, Todd Marinovich, and Mark Sanchez. One major factor is too often overlooked in these flameouts, though. Everyone talks about the quarterbacks.

Enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card by picking the first round of the NFL Draft:  Play the Daily News' Draft Challenge.  (Use promo code F73W.) NEW YORK - E.J. Manuel met his idol, Donovan McNabb, 2 years ago through quarterback guru George Whitfield. McNabb, a versatile, star quarterback long ago at Syracuse, counseled Manuel on focusing on development at Florida State. Manuel dined with McNabb on Tuesday night in New York, 2 days before Manuel will be drafted.

NEW YORK - Tackle is the new quarterback. The last time the Eagles held a pick among the top four in the NFL draft, it was 1999, the Year of the Quarterback . . . or so it seemed. Top pick Tim Couch's fragility helped shorten his career in Cleveland. Akili Smith never got the hang of things in Cincinnati. Daunte Culpepper's little hands misfit his giant frame and sped his demise, and Cade McNown had the name, but not the game. The Eagles, of course, held fast and selected Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 pick, just ahead of Smith, and McNabb changed the course of the franchise.

THE FIRST-YEAR coach who had the worst draft luck in Eagles history might have been Bert Bell. Bell, who helped found the franchise in 1933, took over as owner-coach in '36, just as the NFL adopted Bell's idea of a college draft. And Bell's Eagles got the first-ever pick, after going 2-9 in 1935. It was quite an opportunity. Bell used it on the first-ever Heisman Trophy winner, running back Jay Berwanger, of the University of Chicago. But Berwanger didn't want to play pro football, at least not for the Eagles.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Tony Romo has a chance to start for the Dallas Cowboys longer than Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman. The question is whether he will ever match their Super Bowl pedigrees. Romo signed a six-year contract extension worth $108 million Friday, with about half of that guaranteed to make him the highest-paid player in franchise history. The agreement, reported on the team's website, will lower the quarterback's salary cap number for 2013 by about $5 million, giving the team more room to sign free agents and draft picks.

Here are the answers to " Eagles and black quarterbacks: A quiz . " 1. Rodney Peete was the Eagles starting quarterback for 24 games from 1995 to 1998, including a memorable playoff win, 58-37, over Detroit in 1995. Donovan McNabb had an Eagles record 142 starts (five more than Ron Jaworski), Cunningham had 107, and Vick has had 35. Those 308 starts are equivalent to more than 19 full seasons. 2. Vince Young , a former Tennessee Titans starter, started three games for the Eagles after Vick got hurt in 2011, and played in three others.