Besides the glaringly obvious difference, Lionel Messi and Donovan McNabb appear to actually have quite a lot in common. They both play(ed) football (albeit footballs of different varieties), they both are/were the leader of their team, and, despite their successes on the field/pitch, both failed miserably when asked to carry their team/country to the so-called promise land:
Messi at the World Cup = 0-for-3 (0-for-1 in the Final)
McNabb in the playoffs = 0-for-7 (0-for-1 in the Super Bowl)
Apparently, though, there’s one more item that needs to be added to the list. Messi and McNabb both have a history of heaving in the big moment. And by heaving, I don’t mean heaving passes into the end zone or heaving crosses into the box. I mean heaving their guts all over those freshly, perfectly groomed blades of grass as their teammates look on, wondering what the hell is wrong with them.
Lionel Messi
Photo source: Twitter
Here’s a blurb from an Associated Press article that ran earlier this week that detailed Messi’s upchucking from the World Cup Final against Germany on Sunday:
Argentina captain Lionel Messi vomited during the World Cup final, as he has done on many occasions both for Argentina and club team Barcelona.
It was during the first half against Germany that Messi doubled over and vomited on the pitch.
Despite several medical tests, Argentina and Barcelona team doctors haven’t been able to find the cause of Messi’s problem.
The striker has played it down, saying it’s just something that happens to him in training, during matches and even when he’s at home.
While Messi has embraced his soft stomach, Donovan has vehemently denied for years that he couldn’t keep lunch down on the NFL’s biggest stage. His teammates, though, have a different account of what went down on that Sunday in February. Thing is, guy has a history of this sort of thing…
Donovan McNabb
Photo source: Instagram
…hell it even goes back to his college days (fast forward to roughly 2:45 to see #5 spilling his guts all over the Carrier Dome turf)…
…so I don’t know why he’s trying to avoid who he really is. But that’s a different topic for a different blog post.