Is Donnie McNabb totally overrated? Yes.
Does the media dote on him? Yes.
Is he a black quarterback, and one of the better ones in recent memory? Yes.
I think that the media dotes on Donnie McNabb as one of the best (Top 5) QBs in the league because (1) he's black, (2) he's a charismatic, likeable guy. I think that both things help. Kurt Warner was doted on because he was (1) a former bag boy and (2) a likeable, charismatic guy. Forget the fact that 75% of the QBs in the league could light up the scoreboard like a pinball machine in that offense in the NFC West at the time Warner was playing.
No one in the media even HINTED that McNabb might be overrated until his team started the season 0-2 and he wasn't doing anything to help his team. I don't even like Rush, but he was right in saying that it was Philly's D that has carried that team for the past three years or whatever. If the Eagles fail this season, it's because Reid thought that his offense could pick up the slack of losing top-tier players to free agency every season.
It's a very, very similar situation with Jason Seahorn. He got that huge contract with the Giants, but never went to a Pro Bowl, and was never really an impact guy on their D, but he was white in a basically all-black position, and a handsome, charismatic guy who's married to uber-hottie Angie Harmon. No one wants to say that Urlacher is overrated, but he is, and it's because (1) he had Ted Washington and Keith Traylor protecting him and (2) because he's white at basically a "black" position.
A person is not racist because he might recognize that race is an issue in America. Nidan constantly asserts that the media is loathe to criticize the Bengals because Lewis is a black head coach, but no one (except Ouchie and Cheese) ever jumps all over him on it.
For the record, Brian, when someone says something, that represents their opinion. If I say, "You're a bad poster," does that make it true? No. It's my opinion. We've all been taught in school that when writing essays, don't write "in my opinion," because when you're writing an essay, that's pretty obvious. When you're hearing from Rush, or any other color commentator, it's pretty obvious that what they're saying is an opinion, and should be understood as such. It's also his opinion that the media makes excuses for him because he's black. Just because he says it doesn't make it a fact.