Originally I was going to write an article about Philadelphia teams not signing our free agents (Brian Westbrook for the Eagles and Andre Iguodala for the Sixers). I was excited about writing the article too. I had spent about a half hour explaining to my girlfriend how profound and incredible my article would be. It was during that half hour that the Eagles and Westbrook agreed to a deal and my “profound” article went down the drain. While trying to pull my next topic to write about out of thin air , I watched some highlights of Philadelphia’s first pre-season game vs Pittsburgh.

While watching I noticed something maybe something minor but I noticed Donovan McNabb was smiling. Now at this point I am quite sure some readers are thinking “Big Deal!” , some understand and know what I’m getting at. McNabb is a better QB when he’s smiling. He’s a better leader and a better player when in that happy go lucky mood we saw a lot of in his earlier years. Now while I don’t have any “smile” stats to prove this , mostly because I don’t have time to watch every game he has ever played in seeking out facial expressions. It’s just something I noticed. The games where McNabb is playing through gritted teeth and with obvious pain on his face, he just doesn’t get the job done. He plays tense in the pocket and his field vision seems more narrow than ever. Carefree cheese smile McNabb however plays loose in the pocket and is almost impossible to sack constantly making a narrow escape from defenders. It’s true through out this season pay attention and see which McNabb is the one playing like an all pro QB.

Maybe it goes back to the days when he was just a kid playing for fun. Maybe he feels his Superbowl dreams are still with in reach. Either way I’ll take smiley McNabb any day. Now with Westbrook inking on the dotted line and a strong defense , maybe McNabb will stay smiling all season long. Right into the playoffs and even further maybe the Superbowl.