After failing to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the lowly Cincinnati Bengals and had to settle for a 13-13 tie, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb made a startling revelation.
He had no idea that a regular season NFL game can end in a tie.
"I've never been a part of a tie. I never even knew that was in the rule book," McNabb said after the game. "It's part of the rules, and we have to go with it. I was looking forward to getting the opportunity to get out there and try to drive to win the game. But unfortunately, with the rules, we settled with a tie."
Now prepare for an even more stunning revelation.
"In college, there are multiple overtimes, and in high school and Pop Warner. I never knew in the professional ranks it would end that way. I hate to see what would happen in the Super Bowl and in the playoffs."
Are you kidding?
For the record, playoff games and the Super Bowl never end in ties. The game will go on until one of the team wins.
I don't expect players to know every rule in the game, especially some obscure ones like the tuck rule. But when your quarterback is not aware of such a widely-understood rule, that could be a huge problem.
The current OT rule has been in place since 1974, and 17 regular season games have ended in a tie, the last one coming in 2002. There is no way anyone can say that it is an obscure rule.
Imagine the Eagles have the ball late in OT. If the quarterback thinks that there will be a second OT, do you really believe that his decision-making will be unaffected?
To his credit, Eagles coach Andy Reid firmly stood behind McNabb. Some other veterans of the team also claimed that they had no idea of the OT rule either, in a blatant attempt to diffuse media attention.
Yet McNabb will forever be remembered as the quarterback who does not know the rules.
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