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By Les Bowen
Philadelphia Daily News | Saturday, November 08, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
PHILADELPHIA | If an African-American can win the presidency, what else might be possible?
Mt. Carmel graduate Donovan McNabb was talking about winning the Super Bowl on Wednesday. In fact, he was envisioning what might happen immediately after winning the Super Bowl, which will be held in Tampa on Feb. 1.
"The thing that I kind of think about now, what would be special, if we make it to the Super Bowl and win, and I get the phone call from Barack Obama. That would be excellent," said McNabb, who declined several requests to talk about Obama's candidacy before the election, fearful of jinxing the historic moment that unfolded Tuesday evening.
McNabb's roots trace to the South Side of Chicago, where Obama worked as a community organizer in the late '80s. McNabb said when he met Obama at a White House dinner in 2005, the senator mentioned having followed McNabb's career since he was in high school at Mount Carmel, not far from where Obama lived.
Inspiration from Obama's victory resonated deeply within the Eagles locker room, where currently 64 players dress, including practice-squad and injury-list members. Forty-three of those 64 are African-American.
McNabb said he was a first-time voter, having finally registered this year, as he approaches his 32nd birthday, Nov. 25. Sometimes athletes don't vote because they aren't registered where they play; weakside linebacker Omar Gaither said he took advantage of the North Carolina early-voting option and cast his ballot for Obama back home in Charlotte during the bye week.
"Because Barack was in this election, it made me want to (make a special effort to) vote," Gaither said. "I'm not even going to deny that."
Free safety Brian Dawkins said he stayed up until about 2 a.m. watching TV coverage. Dawkins, who grew up in Jacksonville, said, "I thought about some of the stories my granddaddy told me before he passed, of how things were. Things my father told me about, about the way things were. Things that he kind of sheltered me from, my father, that is, the racism that is around. To live to see this day, to see an African-America as the president ... maybe 40 years ago, in the '60s, there is no way possible you would ever think something like this could happen. But here it is. Here he is."
McNabb also said he was stirred by Obama's speech, delivered around midnight from Chicago's Grant Park.
"It was historic," McNabb said. "He's such a great speaker. It reminded me of, obviously, when Martin Luther King (Jr.) spoke, and the messages that he spoke about. It was so similar. He's a wonderful speaker, and he really reached out. As a man, if you teared up, it was acceptable, because it was that deep."
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