McNabb says he's had a "Hall of Fame" career

[joeybee12]

Free-agent quarterback Donovan McNabb had a one-word reply when asked recently if he believes he should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- "Absolutely."

"See, one thing that people don't realize -- I never played the game to make it to the Hall of Fame. I played the game because I love it," McNabb, a 13-year veteran, told Fox Sports. "I played the game to win. I'm a competitor. When I step out on the field, I feel like I'm the best player on the field."

McNabb has yet to find a job since being waived last season by Minnesota after a 1-5 start. McNabb spent the 2010 season with the Washington Redskins, where he was benched twice. The team finished 6-10, and McNabb later said that coach Mike Shanahan "misused" him.

"Even these last two years, when people may look at it and say, 'Oh, he's done, or whatever.' I'm 34, 35 years old, but still, I played at the pinnacle, I played at the highest level of my career. I played there," McNabb told Fox Sports. "And I would vote for myself for the Hall of Fame."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7832621/donovan-mcnabb-says-hall-fame-quarterback

[trumad]

1. The Newt Ginrich of football.

[bluedigger]

2. Hall of Very Good. nt

[joeybee12]

3. Hall of Very Good...yes...

Hall of Very Never Quite Got to that Top Level.

[madinmaryland]

4. Heh! Donovan has plenty of room in his trophy case for the HoF honors...

[El Supremo]

5. LOL!

[fishwax]

6. Not quite a HOF'er, but still the most famous person I've ever seen vomit

I think he's borderline but don't think he'll get in. (Hall of Very Good from upthread is about on the mark.) A few years ago I figured he'd get there, but it seems his legs got old in a hurry these last couple of years.

[joeybee12]

8. I think his last few years will really play against him...

If he was playing well now, not even exceptional, he'd have a better chance...as it is now, people willer call how spectacularly bad he was at the end.

[hughee99]

10. I was actually thinking Poppy Bush.

When he threw up on the Japanese ambassador.

[fishwax]

12. true, but I wasn't there to see that

I saw McNabb throw up at a college game at Oklahoma in 1997. It was a very hot day and the Sooners D-Line ran him pretty ragged. At one point he stepped up to survey the line, addressed the center and then stopped, stepped back, turned his head to the right and threw up rather viciously. Then he put his hands back underneath the center and led his team to a touchdown on that drive. Threw up again later in the game, but I didn't have a good view of that. The first time he was right on the yard line and he turned my direction and I saw it very clearly. The Sooners won that day--it was one of the few high moments at Owen Field in the mid-90s. McNabb took a beating, though, and played well in spite of obviously feeling the effects of the heat and the defense.

[JonLP24]

7. I'd put him there

just because he torched my Cardinals for 4 touchdowns with a broken leg. In that game, Cardinals were playing better until McNabb broke his leg.

Anyways here is the PFR similar players list

Explanation of the similarity scores
At baseball-reference.com you'll find, for each player in baseball history, a list of players similar to that player. These lists are generated by a method introduced by Bill James in the 1980s, and his aim was to find players who were similar in quality, but also similar in style of play.

The similar players lists here at pro-football-reference are NOT the same thing.

Unfortunately, football stats just aren't descriptive enough to capture players' styles. So we have settled for a method that attempts to find players whose careers were similar in terms of quality and shape. By shape, we mean things like: how many years did he play? how good were his best years, compared to his worst years? did he have a few great years and then several mediocre years, or did he have many good-but-not-great years?

Essentially, if you run across a player you've never heard of before, and if the list of similar players has some names you recognize, this gives you a quick way to (very roughly) figure out where the guy fits in history.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/about/glossary.htm#sim

Career - Mark Brunell, Steve McNair, Terry Bradshaw*, Jim Kelly*, Troy Aikman*, Boomer Esiason, Roger Staubach*, Drew Bledsoe, Ken Stabler, Bob Griese*

11 years - John Elway*, Terry Bradshaw*, Bob Griese*, Jim Kelly*, Troy Aikman*, Joe Montana*, Steve McNair, Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason, Drew Bledsoe

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McNaDo00.htm

I believe the * indicates hall of famers.

[madinmaryland]

9. Everyone with an asterisk has won at least one Super Bowl, except for Jim Kelly who appeared in four

straight Super Bowls.

[hughee99]

11. A Drew Bledsoe sighting...

My grandfather used to say (back in 97) "Bledsoe is the kind of QB that could turn a 5-11 team into an 8-8 team. Unfortunately, he's also the kind of QB that can turn an 11-5 team into an 8-8 team". For the last couple years of Favre's career, I though the same about him.

In any case, McNabb is a definite first ballot entry into the Hall of Very Good.

[JonLP24]

13. I'm not exactly making a case for his enshrinement

Except for the broken leg thing which I'm not serious about, but I was in awe that day.

I would say no except for one reason, he is #19 all-time in career adjusted YPA which is (pass yards + 20*(pass TD) - 45*(interceptions thrown))/(passing attempts) --- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_adj_yds_per_att_career.htm

He is also #3 all-time in pass intercept %.

This indicates that was very good at throwing the ball, while throwing very few picks in comparison.

[Jamaal510]

14. Yeah, and I'm the Emperor of Canada...

[hifiguy]

15. Not a HOFer, I am afraid.

He never won a Super Bowl, appeared in only one and was HORRIBLE the last two years he played. As someone said upthread, the Hall of Very Good.