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PHILADELPHIA - Donovan McNabb has been to three straight Pro Bowls, two consecutive NFC championship games and was runner-up for league MVP in his first full season as a starter.
Still, commentator Rush Limbaugh questions his credentials.
Before McNabb led the Eagles to a 23-13 victory over the Bills, Limbaugh said on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown that McNabb is overrated. The comment contained racial overtones that set off a controversy.
"I don't think he's been that good from the get-go," Limbaugh said. "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."
An ESPN spokesman said Tuesday he did not think the comments were racially biased.
"He was comparing McNabb's performance on the field to his reputation in the media," spokesman Dave Nagle said.
A decade ago, there were few black quarterbacks in the league. This season, at least 10 of the 32 teams are likely to start black quarterbacks in at least one game.
Seven black quarterbacks started games last weekend and two of the best, Michael Vick and Daunte Culpepper, were on the sideline with injuries. Veteran Rodney Peete also has started a game for Carolina, meaning that when Vick returns from his broken leg, he will be the 10th to start a game this season.
McNabb got off to the worst start of his career this season and was the league's lowest-rated starting quarterback after losses to Tampa Bay and New England.
"It's sad that you've got to go to skin color. I thought we were through with that whole deal," McNabb told the Philadelphia Daily News.
Nagle said with Limbaugh on the show this season, ratings for Sunday NFL Countdown are up 10 percent overall and 26 percent among 18- to 34-year-old males. Sunday's show drew its biggest audience in the regular season since November 1996.
Limbaugh is best known as the radio host of the conservative politically focused Rush Limbaugh Show, which is syndicated in more than 650 markets worldwide.
CLARETT RULING: Lawyers for Maurice Clarett and the NFL met in New York, with the judge saying he hoped to rule by Feb.1 on the suspended Ohio State tailback's lawsuit against the league. Clarett is challenging the rule that a player must be out of high school three years to be eligible for the draft.
Clarett was suspended by Ohio State for the season for accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to NCAA and university investigators. Clarett, a sophomore, is not eligible for the draft until 2005 under current NFL rules. The suit asks U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin to throw out the rule and declare Clarett eligible for the 2004 draft or require the NFL to hold a special supplemental draft sooner.
COWBOYS-PACKERS TRADE: Dallas traded receiver-kick returner Reggie Swinton to Green Bay for a conditional draft pick. Swinton averaged 21.7 yards on three kicks this season.
BENGALS: Free-agent running back Kenny Watson signed and fullback Chris Edmonds was waived. Watson had 534 yards rushing, 253 yards receiving and scored two TDs in 16 games for the Redskins last season. Also, starting running back Corey Dillon (strained groin) is expected to miss Sunday's game at Buffalo.
EAGLES: Cornerback Daryon Brutley, who was released after the preseason, signed and defensive end Frank Ferrara was released.
JETS: Cornerback Leonard Myers was signed from the practice squad, and cornerback Jacoby Shepherd and linebacker Khary Campbell were waived. New York also signed free-agent linebacker Quincy Stewart. Myers, a third-year player out of Miami, spent his first two seasons with the Patriots. Stewart played the past two seasons with the 49ers.
PANTHERS: Kris Jenkins signed a five-year, $31-million extension, a deal that locks up Carolina's starting defensive line through at least 2007. The All-Pro defensive tackle received a $9.175-million signing bonus that keeps him in Carolina through 2009.
He is considered one of the cornerstones of the defense, which ranked second in the league last season. Defensive end Julius Peppers is signed through 2008. Defensive end Mike Rucker and defensive tackle Brentson Buckner are signed through 2007.
Jenkins ranked third among NFC defensive tackles last season with a career-high seven sacks. He also had 60 tackles. He has 12 tackles and one sack this season.