DMac talks Obama

On the election of President-Elect Barack Obama and the fact that he is from McNabb’s home-state of Illinois:

“Anything is possible. We’ve made big strides from what could possibly have happened in the past. Here’s an individual who’s truly intelligent, smart, has a gameplan for change and I’m truly excited for him. I had a chance to meet him in 2005 and got a chance to talk. He’s a wonderful individual. I’m excited for him, I’m excited for the city of Chicago and just the world. I think everyone will be excited about what he expects to do and what he’s going to get done. For the first time, I had the opportunity to vote and I can say that I was a part of it.”

On how he met Obama:

“I met him at the President’s Dinner in [Washington] D.C. I believe it was around the first mini-camp of 2005. [Patriots QB] Tom Brady and I both were there and I got a chance to meet him and his wife and just talk about different things.”

On why this was the first time he has voted:

“I’m a registered voter now, so I had the opportunity to vote for the first time.”

On why he didn’t vote in previous elections:

“I wasn’t registered then.”

On whether he ever imagined, growing up, that the election of an African-American president would be possible:

“No, not at all. Obviously, growing up and seeing and hearing how some people may feel about having an African-American president, I didn’t think it was possible. But, when you have an individual who people have truly looked past his skin color and just listened to his thoughts and what his gameplan is of what he wants to do in office and how he would go about it, that’s the positive thing that I think people should truly focus on; how people have looked past his skin color and look to support him as an individual in what he plans to do.”

On whether Obama was helped by his strong Caucasian support:

“I think it truly helped. Not just his Caucasian backing, but he had the females as well and he just went about it business as usual. Through the criticism he received, he stayed strong, stayed on course and finished off on top.”

On whether he stayed up to watch the election last night:

“I did.”

On what he thought when he saw all the people in Chicago to support Obama:

“It was historic. He’s such a great speaker. It reminded me of, obviously, when Martin Luther King [Jr.] spoke and the messages that he spoke about. It was so similar. He’s a wonderful speaker and he really reached out. As a man, if you teared up, it was acceptable because it was that deep.”

On whether he talked about sports with Obama when they met:

“We did. I went to high school not far from his house in Chicago and he had an opportunity to watch me in high school and in college and, obviously now, in the pros. We talked about that a little bit. He said he was a big fan of mine and, obviously at that time, being a Senator, it was nice. Now, you look up and he’s the president. I got a picture with him. It will be in a frame. I’m definitely going to put it in a frame and maybe he’ll get a chance to sign an autograph for me. The thing that I think about now is, wouldn’t it be special if we make it to the Super Bowl and win and I get the phone call from Barack Obama? That would be excellent.”

On how much sports influences society:

“Sports play a major part in it. The percentage of African Americans playing in each individual sport and spreading the diversity of it and accepting the fact that there are some big-name African Americans playing in a sport that people didn’t expect them to play in. Jackie Robinson and the things that he was able to do in baseball. Basketball, you look at guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and those guys playing at that time. Now, looking at hockey, you have more than a handful of African Americans out there playing. No one expected it to get to that point, but now we have. We can make change, just like Obama said, and change will be made.”

On why he is willing to talk about the election now:

“The fact is, the election is over. You just hope for the best. I didn’t want to jinx anything by talking about it and it never getting done. Just continue to stay prayerful for it and have confidence that it would happen. What do you know? History was made.”

On whether he watched the way Obama dealt with criticism throughout the campaign and whether he learned anything about his own life:

“I think it was similar in his process and the things that he went through of the criticism that he received; people going back into his past and trying to really characterize him and figure out what type of person he was. For people to make assumptions without even talking to the guy or getting to know him, it’s similar to everything that I’ve been through. Obviously, it’s on a different level with him because he’s the president of the United States, but I just watched the way he handled it; standing strong up there, continuing not to get rattled. In that situation, it’s easy to get rattled and try to fire back, but he continued to stay even-keeled and stayed focused on his plan and his goal. He was able to accomplish that.”