Before he dropped the ball with Redman, Tepper made an even bigger mistake in 1993 when he failed to recognize the quarterbacking potential of a kid from Chicago’s Mt. Carmel High School by the name of Donovan McNabb.
According to
a Chicago Tribune story from 2010, McNabb and his father, Sam, took an unofficial visit to Champaign, where Tepper told him that he probably would be a better fit as a receiver or defensive back because he was such a great athlete.
“Then coach Tepper asked me if I had any questions,” McNabb recalled, according to the Tribune. “I said, ‘Yes, I was just wondering if I could play quarterback?’”
Apparently, the answer was “no.” Because McNabb went to Syracuse, where he merely was named the Big East’s Offensive Player of the Year three times all while playing, yep, quarterback.
In regards to McNabb, Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti
once told USA Today that Tepper told him, “My guy doesn’t want Donovan as a quarterback,” in reference to Landry, the offensive coordinator Tepper would later fire.
Lenti added, “I respect coach Tepper for telling me that to my face. Of course, a couple of years later they were all out of a job.”
McNabb, meanwhile, went on to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to five NFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl appearance during a decorated NFL career at, yes, quarterback.