Jeff Garcia

Once upon a time Donovan McNabb got injured and Koy Detmer stepped into his place. Detmer proceeded to get injured and young AJ Feeley became the starter of an Eagles team that went to the NFC championship (although under McNabb in the postseason). Fans loved Feeley and some were even dull enough to believe the Eagles were a better team with him as the starter rather than McNabb. Feeley then went off to play in San Diego and Miami, before returning to Philadelphia.

In the meantime a man named Jeff Garcia signed a contract with the Eagles to be the backup for McNabb. The deal was if McNabb were to go down, Garcia would command the ship on the field in his absence. Sure enough McNabb went down and the fans clamored for Feeley to play. Garcia got the nod, heard the boos in his first full game, and the AJ fever continued. But then a funny thing happened. Garcia lead the Eagles to five straight wins, clinched the NFC East, a home playoff victory and came down to the wire on the road in a playoff loss. Along the way Garcia became the most popular athlete in town since Ryan Howard won the MVP in baseball. Garcia was everywhere. T-shirts were made. Public appearances were scheduled. Garcia was the most popular Eagle since T.O. Admit it.

But now I'm listening to people dogging the Eagles, and perhaps over blowing the situation where the Eagles did not offer Garcia a contract but signed Feeley to a three year deal. I would have liked to see Garcia stay here, but is it really worth the time and energy to debate who the backup quarterback is going to be? Does anybody really think the starting job could possibly go to anybody besides McNabb? If you honestly think McNabb has reason to worry about losing his starting spot, look at the money. Stop worrying about who the backup is. Garcia was fun to watch but in the end he lost in the second round of the playoffs.

If the Eagles are in a situation where we need to know who's filling in for McNabb, the season is very likely a lost cause anyway. So calm down people! It's not exactly like the Eagles are passing on Joe Montana or John Elway here.