Everything anyone says on the Eagles 2010 quarterback decision gets read over and over, analyzed to death. With good reason — after all, we’re just trying to figure out what the hell is going to happen here.
The problem is, its tough sometimes to tell who’s putting more spin in their words: Andy Reid and other members of the Eagles front office, or the newspaper reporters who write about them.
For example, here’s Les Bowen on Andy’s latest statement regarding McNabb:
There was no indication yesterday that No. 5 will be moving on, however. In fact, when Eagles coach Andy Reid was asked who will pick up the leadership slack with Westbrook gone, he said: “Well, Donovan is obviously here.”
Reid keeps saying McNabb will be here. Perhaps notably, other team officials, instead of enthusiastically endorsing the wisdom of sticking with McNabb, continue to affirm Reid’s status as the guy who will make the call.
“Andy Reid is the leader of this organization, and he speaks for all of us,” general manager Howie Roseman said yesterday.
Andy made a seemingly clear statement: McNabb is the team leader. And Roseman backed him up.
But Bowen puts a particular spin on it, telling his readers that when Howie says “he speaks for all of us,” the new GM isn’t supporting Reid’s decision on the matter, he’s just loading him with the responsibility.
The point here is not that Bowen is wrong. Certainly the Eagles front office is very tricky. We know that even if they were shopping McNabb it would be in their best interest to pretend he’s in Philly to stay.
Rather, the broader point is that any statement from anyone can be read and interpreted to mean whatever they want it to mean. These quotes could be presented as, “Eagles Front Office Stands United, Backs McNabb for 3rd Time.” (Update: Just to prove my point, PFT does exactly that.) Or, they could be used as Les does.
Welcome to the spin zone, everyone. Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle.