I get mail from white male readers who tell me that I can’t have the brains that God gave garden slugs because I wear a fedora and have a beard. And because I’m a writer and have that beard, they then tell me I can’t write about the games because I never played any of them, or, if I did, I probably stunk. They can tell all that just by looking at me, and they don’t care whether any of it is true. I wear a hat so I’m a jerk. Guess what? If I shaved and took off the hat, then I’d be a jerk because I get mail from AARP. And if I were magically made 30 again, I’d be a jerk because I’d be too young to know anything. If all else failed, well, I live in New York — prima facie proof of jerkdom.

So I have no doubt whatever that McNabb gets his share of mail from people who took time from their busy days to inform him that he’s not as good as Peyton Manning because he’s black.

Manning probably gets mail from similar people who think he’s dumb because of his Southern accent.

That’s what McNabb is missing. Quit obsessing on the people who criticize you for superficial reasons and because of their prejudices. They’re always going to be around, no matter who you are and what you do.

Think about it. The list of people who are singled out is long: people with tattoos, dyed hair, long hair, braided hair, dreadlocked hair, piercings, different tastes in clothing; short people, really tall people, fat people, skinny people; atheists, homosexuals, libertarians, communists, vegans, tree huggers, adherents of certain religions; writers, artists, musicians, cops, soldiers, lawyers, dentists, accountants. (I once got an impassioned letter from an accountant accusing me of accountant-ism for telling an accountant joke. Hey, buddy, you picked the profession and you surely enjoy it, so if it comes with a joke now and then, shut up and balance another ledger.)

The problem with saying, “People pick on me because (fill in the blank),” is that once you’ve said it, what next? And are you really, really sure you don’t do the same thing?

McNabb is an athlete and I can tell you with utter certainty that athletes treat writers differently than they treat the rest of the world. And many African-American athletes treat African-American writers better than they treat white writers. Almost all athletes look at women writers as another animal entirely.

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I don’t really know if he’s singled out for criticism more than Manning and Carson Palmer, as he says. I will say that I have been more critical over the years of Peyton Manning than I ever was of McNabb; Palmer I rarely wrote about at all because he was never in a game big enough for me to bother with him.

But that didn’t have to do with color but with results. I thought Manning choked in big games and said so, and when he won the Super Bowl, I said, okay, Peyton, no more shots; you’re immune for life.

Until the Super Bowl two years ago, I never had reason to believe that McNabb was incapable of winning the big game. And even after the game I didn’t think that, but I’ve always been a McNabb fan.

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If anyone planted that seed, it was one of his teammates — an African-American. That same teammate — Terrell Owens — also said that the Eagles would have won with Brett Favre as quarterback instead of McNabb. I don’t think T.O. is racist; I just think he was speaking his mind.

And now McNabb is speaking his. I don’t disagree with what he says, but I do question why he’s saying it. Because the truth is, most guys like myself, not to mention his teammates and Philly fans, don’t give a damn what color he is. All we care about is his record.

Right now it’s 0-2. And that’s not good enough.

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