Donovan McNabb Benched Because He Was Constantly Late And Didn't Know Offense

In what it rapidly becoming a sad end to what some thought at one point was a Hall-of-Fame career, Donovan McNabb will watch another game from the sidelines today.

With the promotion of Christian Ponder to the starting position, some might expect that there are some in Minnesota who oppose the move and perhaps this might cause some issue in the locker room.

They would be wrong.

A report by Michael Lombardi (NFL Network) is illuminating what kind of leader that Donovan McNabb has truly been in his three-month stay so far in Minnesota.  Apparently he's frequently late to meetings and practice, isn't putting in the kind of time required of a starting quarterback in the film room, and didn't know the offense to the point where he was finally forced to wear the wrist card with the plays on it.

Lombardi also says that lack of preparation and being late was a a frequent issue in Washington as well.

I have no doubt that the locker room was behind the Vikings coaching staff on this one.  I don't know how prepared Brett Favre was when he played, but I gotta think that (for at least his first season with them), his preparation was top-notch.  Bringing McNabb to Minnesota was a monumental mistake.  I thought originally it could be great for a team that seemed to only need a good QB to be successful, but I was massively wrong.

The worst thing, however, about Mcnabb being in Minnesota was that he showed Christian Ponder a faulty leader who didn't work hard.  Ponder doesn't really have much of a mentor there to teach him, from a quarterback's perspective, how to break down NFL film and how much prep is really needed to succeed.  I hope for the kid to be successful, but it might be a roller coaster of a year.

For McNabb, I think his career is over.  When you lose the will to put in the time needed to play well, it's time to go.  Being benched by two separate teams two years in a row should be the kick in the pants to get McNabb to retire.