Donovan McNabb Never Paid Chris Kluwe For His Jersey Number? (Plus Wildcard Picks)

by Eric J. Thompson on Jan 7, 2012 7:00 AM CST

Forgive me for not getting to this story earlier--the holidays, work, travel, yadda yadda yadda. Better late than never.

Daily Norseman reader Brian S. sent me this story from Yahoo! last week. As most Vikings fans are aware of, Donovan McNabb took jersey number 5 from punter Chris Kluwe when the way-too-veteran quarterback came to town for his disastrous stint in purple. In exchange for his troubles, Kluwe asked for two favors:

McNabb mentioning Kluwe's band, Tripping Icarus, at least five times in interviews.
McNabb donating $5,000 to Kluwe's Kick for a Cure charity.

Simple enough, right? McNabb sort of fulfilled his first obligation by mentioning Tripping Icarus twice before he was released. The second and obviously much more important condition? Not so much. According to the article, McNabb had yet to donate to the muscular dystrophy charity.

Not cool, Donovan. Your legacy has already been tarnished enough thanks to your brief stint with the Vikings--do you really want to make it worse by reneging on a charity?! If "C'mon Man" wasn't such a played out phrase in the NFL landscape, I'd totally say that right now. Hopefully he'll make it right in the near future.

But enough about washed-up quarterbacks--let's talk about playoff quarterbacks! After the jump I'll run down my Wildcard Playoff picks.

(As always, home team in ALL CAPS):

Bengals over TEXANS: I've gone back and forth on this pick roughly 687 times, and no matter what side I switch to, I hate my pick. Ultimately, I think Andy Dalton will make fewer mistakes than T.J. Yates. Let's just show the Gratuitous Picture of the Week before I change my mind again. Bengals 16, Texans 13

"The rookie QBs will miss some passes, so instead stare at our [CENSORED]!!"

SAINTS over Lions: When Matt Flynn is throwing for over 400 yards and six touchdowns against you, that usually isn't a good sign for your defense. It's NEVER a good sign for your defense if Drew Brees is lining up across from you at the Superdome. First team to punt loses? Saints 37, Lions 27

GIANTS over Falcons: Another game I've flip-flopped on throughout the week. I think the Giants are the better team, but that's the problem--they usually don't win when they're the better team. I think the Curse of Tony Gonzalez lives on because the Falcons can't decide who they are on offense. What, you don't know about the Curse of Tony Gonzalez? He's 0-4 in his career in the playoffs. Don't worry, I was surprised when I found out too. Giants 30, Falcons 24

Steelers over BRONCOS: Sure, Pittsburgh is banged up. But Tim Tebow would need a swarm of locusts and about three other plagues to help him do anything against the Steelers D. Steelers 24, Broncos 10

Disclaimer: I can almost guarantee that my picks will go 2-2. I do it almost every single playoff weekend. Hopefully you can pick against the two I get wrong and have an undefeated weekend!

Last week: 9-7
Regular season: 161-95

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Comments

Maybe we'd have a different season

If mcnabb paid up right away instead of not doing so and creating bad luck? Writing was on the wall with the 3×13 performance or 39 yards. Creepy

Vikings in 2012 will be a Wonder-ful year. Seriously!!
I also love the game of golf. My favorite golf GPS app is OptimalClub.
It is hands down the BEST golf aid you'll ever have for club distances
under current elevation and weather conditions. Stop guessing & score low!

by VikesFanSince1967 on Jan 7, 2012 7:36 AM CST via mobile reply actions

go to the source

Kluwe has tweeted several times saying that interview wasn’t meant to be bashing mcnabb. when donovan left there really wasn’t time to talk to him about fulfilling the jersey contract. kluwe has tweeted that mcnabb wasn’t expected to pay until after the season, and that he believes donovan is an upstanding person. kluwe didn’t really care about the 5 mentions as much because all this talk about the contract has already garnered his band much attention, and he believes mcnabb will pay in full in time. he was just merely stating that the money had not been paid to date, not that that was a bad thing.

not that any of this changes my views on mcnabb as a viking and his performance on the field, but don’t bash him for something on which the contract creator hasn’t bashed him.

by Mr. Fun-Pants on Jan 7, 2012 7:47 AM CST reply actions

The McNabb thing is old news

I realize the guy played like shit for us but this is just an excuse to run him down and nothing more.

by MrBungle85 on Jan 7, 2012 7:55 AM CST via mobile reply actions 1 recs

Seriously?

They run down people from YEARS ago….We will be running the McNabb thing down for YEARS to come…
Id get use to it.

2011 Vikings, keeping the liquor industry in the green ALL YEAR LONG!

by LeeleeX on Jan 7, 2012 9:33 AM CST up reply actions

He deserves to get run down until he mans up.

by dsludo on Jan 7, 2012 11:58 AM CST up reply actions

Hey

Wasn’t there an ice cream cone involved in this deal too?

by christian220896 on Jan 7, 2012 8:44 AM CST reply actions

"Still no ice cream cone," Kluwe said with a smile.

According to Viking Update, McNabb hasn’t paid up on the ice cream cone, but McNabb had called Kluwe and said he’d make the donation.

by kirkaracha on Jan 7, 2012 11:42 AM CST up reply actions

2 misses

I’m picking the Texans over the Bengals for four reasons:
1. Texans are at home.
2. Andre Johnson is back in the lineup.
3. Wade Philips is back from surgery and calling the defense.
4. They beat the Bengals on the road just 4 weeks ago.

I’m also picking the Falcons over the Giants. I don’t have as many reasons there, but I do think that Matt Ryan has a lot to prove and will be hungry for a victory. Tony Gonzalez will be looking for redemption as well. The Falcons have a balanced offense that is hard to stop, and a good defense that can stop the run and defend the pass well. The Falcons do everything well, but nothing “great” if that makes sense. The Giants on the other hand are totally dependent on Eli Manning. If he plays well, they win. If he doesn’t, they lose. Their defense is beatable, and their run game is stoppable. If Eli Manning gets hot, look out, because Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks are hard to stop, and Jake Ballard is becoming more of a weapon as well. But, if ATL can shut down Eli Manning, then they’ll win easily. Yes, ATL is on the road. Yes, ATL is playing outdoors. Yes, Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez haven’t won a playoff game. But, they are due. My gut says ATL wins.

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Jan 7, 2012 10:44 AM CST reply actions

Don't forget Julio Jones and Roddy White,

one of the few receiver tandems that can match up with Cruz/Nicks. And the Giants are experts at doing exactly the opposite of what is expected of them. As good as their defense is, I don’t see it taking over a playoff game if the offense is struggling.

by mg7505 on Jan 7, 2012 12:46 PM CST up reply actions

Your completion percentage

for the regular season picks: 62,89 %.
That’s about what a pretty ok QB is expected to have.
Well done!

6' 3", 209 lbs, long blond hair, moustache and beard.
As a Viking ought to be ;-)

by Tor 66 on Jan 7, 2012 1:28 PM CST reply actions

McNabb's a dick and has always been a dick...

IMO.

There’s just way too much smoke of stories like this for there not to be fire. And stories don’t match his “sterling” rep that he likes to portray. Just like Canseco was right about steroids in baseball (and all sports), TO was right all along about McNabb. I was so pissed when we got him, but at least it didn’t last long. Ditto for Favre.

by DJSkillz on Jan 7, 2012 4:26 PM CST reply actions