Donovan McNabb says he’d be in the Hall of Fame if he won a Super Bowl

After Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs, Jalen Hurts now can say he’s a Super Bowl champion. Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb doesn’t have that luxury.

McNabb played 11 of his 13 seasons with the Eagles before retirement and the six-time Pro Bowler helped lead the team to seven playoff appearances, five NFC East titles, five NFC championship games, and one Super Bowl loss. McNabb believes the team’s failure to win the big game hurt his chances of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, despite being nominated three times.

When asked how different his life would be right now had he won a Super Bowl, McNabb responded, “I would have made it to at least the eighth or probably the final selection of the Hall of Fame.”

“I might be in the Hall of Fame right now,” McNabb said Sunday on The Stephen A. Smith Show before the Super Bowl. “Because then I would be looked upon as a true Hall of Famer, which in a lot of people’s eyes I am, including myself. But I think I would have definitely made it further in the voting for the Hall of Fame.”

McNabb was first eligible to be nominated for the Hall of Fame in 2017 but has failed to make it as a finalist. His 1-4 record in NFC championship games — and 0-1 Super Bowl record — could be a part of the reason he hasn’t made it thus far.

In his only Super Bowl appearance in 2005, the Eagles lost to the New England Patriots, 24-21, in a game that saw McNabb throw for 357 yards and three touchdowns but also three interceptions. Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens put on a heroic performance in the loss with nine catches for 122 yards, still recovering from a broken leg and a torn ligament in his right ankle that he suffered seven weeks before the big game.

When asked how Owens’ injury affected the game, McNabb responded, “We were who we were. And the thing was, we were that before and then it was an added dimension. Remember what we did. We did that during the course of 10, 11 weeks with him. That season he really didn’t play much in the later part of the year. So, I mean, you know. Life would have been a little different, but I can’t complain.”

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But it might not just be the lack of a Super Bowl win that has kept McNabb out of the Hall. His stats might not be good enough. in 167 games, he threw for twice as many touchdowns as interceptions (234 to 117) and racked up 37,276 passing yards (223.2 per game) but completed just 59% of his passes. He also never led the league in a major passing category (touchdowns or yards) in any of his 13 NFL seasons and has a career passer rating of 85.6. But McNabb was also a threat on the ground, especially early in his career, finishing with over 3,400 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns.

In all, 10 quarterbacks have made the Hall of Fame without winning a championship, including just three inducted since 2000: Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, and Warren Moon. McNabb’s career numbers are eerily similar to Kelly’s, but there’s one big difference: Kelly also played in five conference championship games, but he won four times. So while Kelly never won a Super Bowl, he did appear in four straight in the mid-1990s, while McNabb had just one appearance.

Although McNabb didn’t win the big game in 2005 — and he may not be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as of now — he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2013, when the Birds also retired his No. 5 jersey.