1999 Philadelphia Eagles season The 1999 Philadelphia Eagles season was Donovan McNabb ’ s rookie season . The Eagles hired Andy Reid away from the Green Bay Packers to be their new head coach . As of the start of the 2011 season , he is the longest tenured coach in the league . Offseason . NFL Draft . The 1999 NFL Draft was held April 17 – 18 , 1999 . The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season . The Eagles , with a record of 3 – 13 in 1998 , equal the record of the Cincinnati Bengals and the Indianapolis Colts and would normally have a chance at the number 1 pick in the draft but the new Cleveland Browns franchise will have it . The Eagles do win the 2nd pick in the Draft and select Donovan McNabb a Quarterback out of University of Syracuse . The Eagles , Bengals and Colts will rotate in each round picking 2nd , 3rd , or 4th after the Browns . Player Selections . The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick . It is possible the Eagles ' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with . Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away . Regular season . The quality of Andy Reid ' s work with the Packers attracted considerable notice throughout the league , leading to his being hired as the head coach of the Eagles on January 11 , 1999 . At the time , many in the local media in Philadelphia criticized the hiring , citing the availability of other candidates who had past records of success as head coaches . The Eagles , under former coach Ray Rhodes , finished in a three - way tie for the NFL ' s worst record at 3 – 13 the season before he took over . They improved two games in 1999 to finish at 5 – 11 ( including the team ' s first road victory in 19 games , a 20 – 16 win over the Bears at Chicago on October 17 , which was the first time the Philadelphia franchise had won an away game over the Bears since 1933 ) . Donovan McNabb was drafted second overall by the Eagles in the 1999 NFL Draft , a choice which was famously booed by Philadelphia fans present at the draft , most of whom were pushing for their team to draft University of Texas running back Ricky Williams . McNabb saw his first NFL regular season action in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 19 – 5 home loss on September 19 . He made his first career start at home against Washington on November 14 , completing eight of 21 passes for 60 yards in a 35 – 28 win . He also had nine carries for 49 rushing yards and led the team to a pair of successful two - point conversions ( 1 rush and 1 pass ) . With the win , he became the first Eagles rookie QB to win his first NFL start since Mike Boryla ( December 1 , 1974 vs . Green Bay ) and the first Eagle QB to win his first start since Ty Detmer ( October 13 , 1996 at NYG ) . McNabb threw the first TD pass of his career ( 6 yards to tight end Chad Lewis ) vs . Indianapolis in a 44 – 17 home loss on November 21 . McNabb went on to start six of the Eagles ' final seven contests ( missing the December 19 home game against New England , a 24 – 9 victory , due to injury ) as he became the first Philadelphia Eagles rookie to start in the quarterback position since Brad Goebel on October 13 , 1991 , and the first Eagles rookie draft pick to start since John Reaves in 1972 .