Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Donovan McNabb’s nephew says it’d be ‘special’ playing for Flyers

Darnell Nurse

Darnell Nurse knows about the history his uncle, former Eagles QB Donovan McNabb, has with the city of Philadelphia.

In fact, it’s what makes Philadelphia special to him.

"[It’s] a great hockey and sports market,” Nurse told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “They have real passionate fans, and to play anyplace like that would be special.”

Nurse, 18, is coming off a stellar campaign with OHL Sault Ste Marie, racking up 41 points for the Greyhounds in 68 games.

At 6-foot-4, 195 pounds, he’s a physically imposing blueliner -- and the No. 2 rated North American defenseman in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings.

What’s more, he models his game after two rearguards with ties to Philadelphia: Shea Weber and Chris Pronger.

“Anytime you get a guy his size, who skates as well as [Nurse] does and plays a physical game, it’s fun to watch,” NHL Central Scouting’s Chris Edwards said, making the Nurse-Pronger comparison. “In the one game at Guelph, I saw him fight twice and he did very well in both. The fights happened while both players were going for the puck and they just got into it. He handles himself very well.

“I like everything about this guy, and defensemen like him are hard to find.”

The Flyers draft 11th overall at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, which will go on Sunday, June 30 from the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

It’s unclear if Nurse will last until the No. 11 pick -- one NHL.com mock draft has him going as high as No. 6 to Calgary -- but it’s clear Nurse has an affinity for Philly, thanks in large part to the 11 seasons McNabb spent with the Eagles.

“When he played, I used to go to Philadelphia for two or three games a year until I got busy with hockey,” Nurse said. “I got to see all the work he put in.

“Our relationship is really tight. We talk all the time, and he’s been a special person in my life. I go to him for advice whenever I need it.”