Donovan McNabb announced Monday, he will be retiring as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
"it's a special day," McNabb said at a press conference. "I'm not one for emotion, but it's a tough one."
The six-time Pro Bowl quarterback will have his No. 5 jersey retired by the Eagles on Sept. 19 during halftime of their game with the Kansas City Chief who are now led by former Eagles head coach Andy Reid. McNabb will also be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame.
"The number 5 has become synonymous with one of the greatest eras of the Eagles football and ensuring that no one else will ever wear Donavan's number, we honor one of the greatest playmakers to ever wear an Eagles uniform," owner Jeffery Lurie told reporters.
McNabb tweeted before his retirement news conference at the Eagles' facilities.
"Officially retiring as a Philadelphia Eagle today. Unbelievable feeling, Dreams do come true," he wrote.
McNabb played 11 of his 13 seasons with the Eagles, leading them to eight playoff appearances, five NFC East titles, five conference championships games and one Super Bowl lost,
According to ESPN, McNabb is the Eagles' leader in many passing categories, including attempts 4,746; completions 2,801; yards 32,873 and touchdowns 216. He led the team to 100 wins, including nine in the playoff. He is ranked sixth on the NFL's all-time list.
"I think when you've played this game for so long, you've just got to know when to say when, McNabb said. "You get to later in your career and you want to win a championship. You don't want to go through a rebuilding phase. You don't want to be kind of a stop and shop guy. You want to go somewhere where you can kind of get settled. And I just felt like my best move was to go on to my next phase."
McNabb has not played since 2011.
MaNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins before the 2010 season and played 13 games for the Redskins. He was benched late in the season, due to issues with Washington head coach Mike Shanahan. McNabb was later traded to Minnesota but lasted six games with the Vikings before being benched in October and released in December.
McNabb will be the ninth player to have his number retired by the franchise, joining Steve Van Buren (15), Brain Dawkins (20) and Tom Brookshier (40).
