Donovan McNabb may be a backup quarterback, but he's still a first-string captain. Number 5 joined the rest of the team captains such as Casey Rabach, London Fletcher, Mike Sellers and Lorenzo Alexander to midfield for the game's opening coin toss.
No wonder he had to make the trip with the team. I'm sure Mike Shanahan let Donovan know that even though he won't play again the rest of the season, his presence at the opening coin toss is still important. There he is, fulfilling his captain-like duties at midfield.
Looks like the rest of McNabb's career in D.C. will be nothing more than watching referees flip coins at the beginning of games, coaching up Rex Grossman on the side line and, of course, doing this:
(via Dan Steinberg)
Obviously this could easily be viewed as another slap in the face of McNabb, as it seems Shanahan has reduced his value on the field but still wants his leadership in the locker room to stay present. That doesn't seem to work in this situation, especially after Shanahan has embarrassed his former starting QB the way he did this past week. Either he is the leader of the team or he isn't, he can't kind-of be the leader of the team.
Other than that, I don't know what all the hub bub's about. Sounds like a pretty awesome way to ride out a brief, drama-filled tenure in D.C. Good times.