![[CSNPhily] No winners or losers in Terrell Owens-Donovan McNabb debate](https://media.nbcphiladelphia.com/2019/09/usa-owens-mcnabb.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=320%2C180)
It's been 15 years since the Eagles lost to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX, but Donovan McNabb isn't done talking about that game and its legendarily bizarre aftermath.
In a new conversation with Bleacher Report, McNabb went back in time and unpacked what went wrong during the Super Bowl - "I was trying to be perfect," he explains, "and so some of the balls I threw obviously ended up being intercepted" - before placing some of the blame elsewhere.
And by elsewhere, we mean on Terrell Owens, including a great story about watching Owens' offseason one-man show with Brian Dawkins during training camp:
"The lead into the following year, I'm thinking [Owens] will be back healthy, we have [Jevon Kearse], we have guys elevating their game, gaining experience, and I'm thinking, 'We're going to be back.'
Then the offseason goes on and all of a sudden there's turmoil here and there, different conversations going back and forth, and we had to answer those questions instead of focusing on what we need to do in order to get back to where we were. I thought that was the major distraction for us.
He's doing sit-ups, he's doing push-ups, he's playing basketball, he's ordering pizza for the people out there, and we're sitting there in training camp just like, 'You've got to be kidding me.' We're in our dorm rooms, and I'm just sitting there watching on TV. Brian Dawkins and Jeremiah Trotter were my roommates, and Dawk would come in like, 'What'd he do now?' I'm like, 'Take a look.' This is like "Days Of Our Lives". It was unbelievable. But that was something that kind of broke us up. That was the most frustrating for me, because I knew what we could do, and, if we decided to just come together, what we could accomplish."
It's hard to argue with McNabb's main point here. The Eagles, with Owens in tow, clearly should've been good enough to at least return to the playoffs, and probably make noise once again. Instead, Owens opted for a wildly dramatic offseason, featuring a contract dispute and the insane driveway workouts, which certainly didn't help team chemistry.
On the other hand, Owens was one of the best receivers in the league, and if the Eagles really felt they could contend for years to come with him on the team, they probably should've shelled out the extra cash to keep him, and by extension McNabb, happy.
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Watching Andy Reid continue to succeed in the NFL in 2020, with a wildly talented core of offensive players, makes you wonder what the Eagles could've accomplished if they had kept the McNabb-Owens tandem intact beyond 2004-05.
Instead, McNabb and Owens have maintained an icy relationship since things fell apart that offseason, and McNabb told Bleacher Report that the two still keep their distance.
"I give him a nice peace sign and keep it moving," McNabb said.
Yikes.
Owens later responded to McNabb's comments on Twitter.
