Earlier this month, former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Shawn Andrews made some serious bullying allegations against former teammate Donovan McNabb. In his statement, Andrews claims that the bullying got so bad he contemplated committing suicide and has had to undergo psychiatric treatment.
“It just felt like I was in a living hell,’’ the 30-year-old Andrews told Sync Weekly, a website affiliated with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Andrews, who last played in the NFL for the Giants in 2010, played collegiately for Arkansas.
Yesterday, Donovan McNabb spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer and said that he was “really taken aback” by the bullying accusations from his former teammate. Via ESPN:
“That is ridiculous,” McNabb told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I don’t know what comments you expect to get from me, but that is news to me and completely false. For me to bully anybody, that sounds unbelievable.”
“I don’t really understand why this would come about, one, and two, how this would even be an accusation,” McNabb told the Inquirer. “If there’s anything I can say, I was more than open to Shawn. I always tried to be open to all the guys.”
The Inquirer’s story also included corroboration of McNabb’s version of events from three other former Eagle teammates: Brian Westbrook, Jeff Garcia, and Reno Mahe.
“I never saw anything negative or evil come out of [McNabb],” Garcia said.
With the bullying situation going on in Miami, I foresee a lot more players coming forward with bullying allegations and the NFL making it a priority to change its culture. In this particular case I don’t understand what Andrews thinks is going to come from this. Both him and McNabb are no longer affiliated with the NFL so it seems like a cry for attention more than anything. Either way the situation is unfortunate and I’m glad he received the help he needed.