Former Eagles offensive tackle Shawn Andrews took further aim at Donovan McNabb and his teammates for the locker room culture they purveyed around him.
First former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Shawn Andrews spoke to 97.5 The Fanatic's Mike Missanelli earlier this month and compared Donovan McNabb to Richie Incognito , and yesterday went on record to describe his time as an Eagle as a living hell, in spite of collecting $17.5 million over five seasons.
The former All-Pro took further aim at McNabb and his Eagles teammates in a sit-down interview with Sync Weekly. While Andrews certainly complained of bullying, he also went on the assault against the NFL culture he was placed into.
“There were so many people that were Christian and going to church and saying, ‘Rookie, be seen and not heard,’ and then I see them in the back of the club doing some not-so-cool things being married. Everything under the sun — trying to tell you how to act. One guy out of the two who I thought I would fully respect during my time in Philadelphia, one of them let me down big time. Every time you see him, he’d have a Bible in his hand, and be coming from Bible study, but I know so many things about him that so many people would not be happy about.”
Andrews, who is married with a son, did not hesitate in the piece to dispell rumors that were spread during his time with the Eagles about him being gay, and puts McNabb at or near the center of that controversy as well.
“I could be sitting in the players’ lounge with a group, having some laughs, and he’d get his say in so the attention can shift,” Andrews says. “He was the type of person that had everything in the world he could want, but that still wasn’t enough. He wanted the attention on him. There was a whole lot of that behavior. He wasn’t just that way with me. I’m thinking, ‘Every day I strap on my shoulder pads and helmet, I’m here to protect you.’
“[McNabb] was a big part of it — he was a big part of my issues there. Bully is a strong word, but he was degrading to me and spread rumors. It’s bothered me that I haven’t really spoken about it.”
Andrews says that there came a point where he even considered suicide to be an option.
“There have been times where I have said, ‘I hate that I am here. Why am I here?’” Andrews says. “But one time I had a crazy idea of flipping my car. I knew I didn’t want to kill myself because I wouldn’t use a gun. I was a coward in that regard. Because if I flip my vehicle and I’m paralyzed and I live … that’s the kind of stuff that went through my head. I was kind of at my wit’s end, but I was still afraid to talk to somebody. The very first person I opened up to was a paid psychiatrist. It was hard to do.”
The University of Arkansas product finished his playing career in 2010, and called retiring one of the greatest thrills of his NFL career.
Andrews now lives in Little Rock, Ark. with his wife and son.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
