Philadelphia Eagles great Brian Westbrook recently sat down for an interview, offering his perspective on the franchise’s quarterback history, his time with the team, and a reflection on Super Bowl XXXIX.
When asked to name his Mount Rushmore of Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks, Westbrook quickly landed on three key names, before acknowledging the depth of quality at the position:
“Randall [Cunningham], Donovan [McNabb]… I think you have to put Nick Foles because he brought a championship here. I mean, there’s so many quality guys. I think Jaws [Ron Jaworski] was a very good quarterback for this team. You have guys that have won a bunch of playoff games; we have guys that have made it to the Super Bowl and of course you have a guy that has won the Super Bowl for the team.”
While Westbrook’s list acknowledges the championship legacy of Foles, the dual-threat impact of Cunningham, and the steadiness of Jaworski, he made it clear where he stands on the franchise’s all-time best signal-caller.
When asked who his former teammate Donovan McNabb reminded him of back in the day, Westbrook immediately pushed back on the premise, highlighting McNabb’s unique skill set.
“[smiling] Who did Donovan remind me of? I mean, Donovan was a special talent at that time. There wasn’t a bunch of quarterbacks that had the ability to run the way that he did early on in his career, but also had a rocket arm like Donovan. When you talk about the best quarterbacks in Philadelphia history, Donovan is the number #1 quarterback. There’s no doubt about that.”
The Villanova Transition: From “Basketball School” to the NFL
Westbrook, who was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2015, also reflected on his own journey to the NFL, coming from Villanova, a so-called “basketball school,” and how difficult that transition was.
On putting Villanova on the map and how big it was of a transition for him: “It was tough. You’re coming from a 1-AA school trying to find a spot in the NFL. I came into the league and I primarily played special teams in my first year and I had to work my way into an opportunity to play. Duce Staley was the starter; Correll Buckhalter was coming off of an injury… I had to find my way and luckily I was able to perform well and because of that, I was able to stay for a long time.”
Finally, the conversation turned to the team’s appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX against the New England Patriots. When asked if he could go back in time and change one thing for himself in that game, the answer was simple and focused on protecting the football.
“[smiling and thinking] We wouldn’t turn the ball over. We had three interceptions. I think we might have ended up with 3-4 turnovers and so, you can’t win against a team that’s not going to make any mistakes turning the ball over like that.”
