COMMENTARY

By Barry Wilner

updated 5:11 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - His smile can light up a locker room, even a stadium. On Sunday, Donovan McNabb lit up the city.

Break out the cheesesteaks, because this long-suffering quarterback is taking the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl at last.

“I’m excited with this win, everybody in the Philadelphia area is excited,” McNabb said after Sunday’s 27-10 victory over Atlanta gave the Eagles their first NFC championship since the 1980 season. “It definitely was all I thought it would be. I was just waiting for the confetti to finally start flying.

“We know what happened the last three years, but this year was special and we have no reason to stop now.”

McNabb exuded a quiet confidence all week, and his teammates took his cue.

“We had to continue to stay patient,” he said. “A lot of people turned their backs on us and said we would never do it.”

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A lot of those people were Philadelphians. But make no mistake: That frigid rush of wind swirling over the East Coast was no arctic blast. That was the biggest sigh of relief this place has breathed in decades.

Other than Rocky, Philly hasn’t had a champion in 22 years. On Feb. 6 in Jacksonville, the Eagles will try to bring a real title home, the first since the 76ers swept the Lakers in 1983.

The Eagles had become one of the great teases in sports, losing three straight NFC championship games, the last two at home. Their close calls turned Philadelphia into the City of Brotherly Love — and Loathing.

As the focal point of that team, McNabb knows all the fans’ ever-present angst. Hey, the boobirds were out for him the moment he was selected by the Eagles in the 1999 draft.

Those fans wanted Ricky Williams then; anybody think they’re complaining now? He’s not even playing football.

“I think we convinced a lot of critics,” McNabb said. “This was a special game, it was history.”

History has not been kind to Philadelphia sports lately. Nothing was more agonizing than the NFC title losses, though, and McNabb struggled through all of them

But he swore this year would be different. And it was, because the Eagles didn’t let the past haunt them. Instead, they ignored it and prepared for this fourth try to make the Super Bowl with the certitude that epitomizes the very best athletes.

McNabb was on his way to becoming the quarterback who couldn’t win the big ones. He put that notion to rest by throwing two touchdowns passes to Chad Lewis and staring down the doubters, along with the Atlanta defense.

McNabb now gets the opportunity to join the truly elite quarterbacks of the NFL by winning a Super Bowl. He sure looks ready.

“When you’re playing the quarterback position, you get the good and the bad, and he handles that so well,” said coach Andy Reid, whose late-season tactics of resting his regulars now looks very wise. “I’m very happy for Donovan.”

True happiness, though, does not come with conference championships. Just ask the Buffalo Bills.

Their quarterback and leader, Jim Kelly, is in the Hall of Fame, and McNabb might eventually wind up there. He doesn’t want to emulate Kelly — or Fran Tarkenton or Dan Marino — by getting to Canton without a Super Bowl ring.

“I think what you’ve seen is a team that just continued to stay loose and stayed focused on the task at hand — to put ourselves in position to go to the Super Bowl and possibly win it,” McNabb said. “So maybe people will be happy about the Philadelphia Eagles again, maybe not. But, as you can see, we’re not worried about it.”

All of those worries about the Eagles not being good enough without McNabb’s favorite target, All-Pro receiver Terrell Owens, also proved foolish. And don’t think the injured Owens had no effect on the outcome.

The Eagles acquired the gamebreaking receiver to lead them over this mountain. While he couldn’t do it on the field, his ability to keep things loose permeated the locker room all season, right through to this victory.

Owens was leading most of the cheers on the sideline after greeting his teammates during introductions. By the middle of the fourth quarter, when it was clear there would be no collapse, Owens was busy handing out hugs and leading the raucous crowd in cheers of “Super Bowl, Super Bowl.”

When McNabb held up the conference championship trophy, Owens was nearby, and it seemed appropriate for the quarterback to chuck the prize over to his favorite target.

On this day, McNabb probably could have healed the crack in the Liberty Bell — with his smile.