Great Expectations

Comments () | Published August 19, 2010

The last of three mini-camp practices in June are over. McNabb has taken a few snaps, thrown a few passes, handed the ball off, huddled with Kyle Shanahan, offensive coordinator and son of the new coach.

Two young fans stop McNabb on the way to the locker room. Colin Carpenter, 12 and a student at Eagle Ridge Middle School, gets his McNabb jersey signed.

“He’s a role model to me,” Colin says. “He inspires people to go after their dreams. And he shows you can have fun even though you are working hard.”

McNabb started working on his Redskins family as soon as he signed with the new team. In April, he started breaking bread with his new teammates. He showed up at every practice, sweated with them in the weight room.

“He has an aura about him,” cornerback DeAngelo Hall says. “With him, you have a chance to win.”

McNabb was practicing with backup quarterback Rex Grossman, who led the Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl berth in 2006.

“I was curious to see what he was like,” says Grossman. “He’s nothing but very professional. A nice guy, fun to be around. You have to be yourself in any sport, any job, life in general. You can’t fake it. Donovan is truly passionate about the game, and that comes through.”

McNabb invited his receiving corps to Arizona to see what kind of man he is. The crew worked out through passing drills for a week in the Phoenix sun.

“Hell week,” McNabb calls it.

The McNabb family likes to vacation together every summer in Costa Rica.

“We play some golf,” says Sam.

“We shop, go to the spa,” says Wilma.

But there’s no vacation this year. Donovan McNabb has devoted his summer to working out in Arizona and moving his family to Great Falls.

“He says he feels like he’s been drafted again,” his father says. “He’s trying to be as successful or better than he was in Philly.”

On July 27, rather than meet up to frolic in the sun, the greater McNabb family has gathered in Rosslyn to pitch the DC business community. Mama McNabb, Sam, and Sean have come from Chicago; Raquel McNabb has left the kids in Arizona for a few days. Team McNabb is playing for money.

“How can I help your business improve?” the Redskins’ new quarterback asks. He can be seen all over town looking mean in his uniform on posters designed to sell Redskins tickets; here he’s dressed in a four-button gray suit with a light-blue windowpane pattern. He’s come to sell the McNabb brand.

“It’s not just about football,” he tells the meeting of executives organized by the Greater Washington Board of Trade. “My thing today is to take the helmet off, take the shoulder pads off, and move more into the business realm and help you guys.”

McNabb already has a few endorsements—Nike, Verizon, and AirTran—and his Dr Pepper commercial is on the tube, but he’s after equity and partnerships.

“Donovan is committed to the greater Washington community,” says Andrew Stroth, the Chicago-based attorney who manages McNabb’s business-and-marketing side. “He sees this is a game-changing opportunity on the field and for his brand.”

And for good measure, McNabb would like to help First Lady Michelle Obama, another South Side native, sell her exercise initiative.