Shawn Andrews accused Donovan McNabb of bullying him while they were both playing for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2004 to 2010.
Andrews told 97.5 The Fanatic that he was “disgusted” over the way McNabb treated him, including abiding by a different set of rules than the other players.
“I could be sitting in the players’ lounge with a group, having some laughs, and he’d get his say in so the attention can shift,” Andrews said, according to Sync Weekly. “He was the type of person that had everything in the world he could want, but that still wasn’t enough. He wanted the attention on him. There was a whole lot of that behavior. He wasn’t just that way with me. I’m thinking, ‘Every day I strap on my shoulder pads and helmet, I’m here to protect you.’
“Bully is a strong word, but he was degrading to me and spread rumors,” he said. “It’s bothered me that I haven’t really spoken about it.”
But McNabb on Thursday responded to the allegations, calling them “ridiculous.”
“I don’t know what comments you expect to get from me, but that is news to me and completely false,” he told Philly.com. “For me to bully anybody, that sounds unbelievable.”
McNabb said that he worked to be open to Shawn, and invited all the guys over to his home for holiday dinners and team functions, especially the offense.
“I’d buy all the guys gifts, if I made the Pro Bowl or not, for an appreciation,” he said. “Shawn was one of the most talented offensive linemen we had. I was always happy to have him.
“Does this seem kind of odd that all of a sudden my name would pop up in a situation like this?” McNabb said. “I haven’t played with Shawn in years. I haven’t said anything bad. It’s odd to me because again, my name is a lightning rod anytime it’s mentioned. If there were issues that were going on, wouldn’t that have come out?”
Andrews stood by his comments in a follow-up call with Philly.com.
“I just did it for my conscience, man,” said Andrews.”The normal thing to do is deny it, especially if I was in that position. So many people are coming at me, defending him because of his superstar status, but they didn’t work with him. Shawn Andrews worked with him and for him. I laid it on the line for him.”
