Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Roller coaster thriller vs. Raiders 10.02.83

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0000

This wasn't the biggest comeback in terms of sheer points, but it may well be the biggest from the point of view of points per minute. I've never heard a half-empty stadium so loud (yes, about half of the crowd were of little faith).

In retrospect, though, it may have been better if they Skins had dropped this one. They were somewhat overconfident when they played the Raiders in the one that really counted, that Black Sunday game that's a haze to many of us. Had the Radiers held on to win this one the Redskins might not have been quite so full of themselves when they went to Tampa.

Regardless, it was a hell of a game. From the pages of The Redskins Chronicle (now on sale).

RFK Stadium 10.02.83—This game had more ups and downs, twists and turns than the newest theme park roller coasters.

The Redskins dominated the early going. Interceptions by Curtis Jordan and Mel Kaufman set up scores to give Washington a 10-0 lead. The Raiders responded with the ultimate display of the vertical offense as Jim Plunkett and Cliff Branch hooked up on a 99-yard bomb.

After that quick lapse, the Redskins moved to reassert their control. A Mark Moseley field goal and five-yard touchdown pass from Joe Theismann to Joe Washington made it 20-7 in the third quarter. It appeared that the home team had some breathing room.

The breathing turned to gasping when Plunkett found Calvin Muhammad for touchdown passes of 25 and 22 yards, giving the Raiders the lead. When Greg Pruitt took a punt back 97 yards for a touchdown that gave the Raiders a 35-20 lead with just over seven and a half minutes left in the game, it was positively suffocating.

In fact, although most of them will probably deny it, nearly half of the crowd of 54,016 headed for the exits after that punt return. What ensued was one for the history books, as Theismann would say afterwards. Or, one for the storybooks.

It all got started on the first play after the kickoff when Washington took a screen pass and rocketed 67 yards down the right sideline. Three plays later, Theismann hit Charlie Brown with an 11-yard touchdown pass to draw the Skins within eight. Then Jeff Hayes kicked off and lined a low, hard one off the foot of a Raider. Greg Williams recovered, and the Skins drew within five after a Mark Moseley field goal with 4:28 remaining.

The Raiders managed to kill some clock, but could not get a first down as Plunkett threw to Todd Christensen for nine yards on third and eleven. Washington started at its own 31 with a minute and fifty seconds left. Plenty of time. Theismann completed three straight passes to Brown for nine, 26 and 28 yards, to the Raiders' six with 43 seconds left. On second down from there, Joe Washington snuck through the line, slid to the right and snared Theismann's pass for the winning touchdown. The Redskins won 37-35. The fans in the half full stands exploded in cheers, making more than enough noise to make up for those of little faith who had already departed.

Lombardi in Carlisle 07.10.69

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0000

It was 40 years ago today that Vince Lombardi had the first practice of his only training camp with the Redskins. It ushered in an era of hope that came to a crushing end when Lombardi died of cancer before he could conduct his second training camp. He brought the team its first winning season in 25 years.

We often think that Lombardi was relatively old by the time he came here but the man accomplished a lot in a hurry. He was 57 when he dies; Jim Zorn just turned 56

You can read an account of every game of Lombardi's Redskins career in my new book The Redskins Chronicle, now on sale.

July 10, was the day that the 1969 Redskins were to start training camp at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. For months, the Redskins players looked towards that date with a mix of hope and fear. The hope was that Vince Lombardi, who had been hired as head coach in February of that year, could lift the moribund Washington franchise to glory. The fear came from what they had heard of the methods he would use to do so. As cornerback Pat Fischer said, "Lombardi was preceded by his reputation."

That reputation came from comments such as those made by Henry Jordan, a player for Lombardi in Green Bay.

"He treats us all the same," said Jordan of his coach. "Like dogs."

Especially notorious was the grass drill. The players would run in place, knees pumping up high and then, on Lombardi's command, flop onto the ground. Failure to spring back up immediately and resume the fervent churning of the legs would usually result in a public tongue-lashing by the coach. In Carlisle he ran the grass drill unmercifully, cursing at the n on-performers so loudly that Dickinson secretaries working near the field complained to the dean of the college.

"There are two ways of motivation," said Sam Huff, who had come out of retirement to become a player-coach under Lombardi. "One is through fear and the other is through group motivation. Lombardi motivated through fear."

A big fear that players had was for their jobs. Being cut was always a clear and present danger for those who did not do things Lombardi's way. Even being a recent first-round draft pick didn't grant any immunity. When fullback Ray McDonald showed up late for the team's first meeting in Carlisle, Lombardi stopped speaking and asked the third-year player what his name was. "Ray McDonald," the player said. Those were his last words as a Redskin as Lombardi announced to the team right then and there that McDonald had been cut. From then on, job security dictated that one keep one's watch set to Lombardi Time, which was ten minutes faster than Eastern Time.

One player whose job appeared to be safe was quarterback Sonny Jurgensen. Not only did he have Hall of Fame talent, but also he fully bought in to Lombardi's methods. The signal caller who NFL Films' John Facenda once described as possessing "a=2 0hairline going north and a belt line going south" had once blown off his head coach's suggestion that he improve his conditioning, telling Otto Graham, "I don't throw the ball with my stomach." Now, however, he was flopping on the Carlisle turf with the rest of them.

Nobody was spared the wrath of Lombardi, not even his own flesh and blood. His brother Joe had recently been hired by a sporting goods company and thought he would take advantage of his family connection to bring a couple of the company's executives out onto the practice field. Lombardi ejected all three of them, using more of that language that made the secretaries blush.

As players such as McDonald and some rookies who packed up and bolted in the middle of the night fell by the wayside, replacements had to be found. Vince Lombardi wasn't a mere raving tyrant; he had an uncanny knack for finding talent. The coach was chatting with Jurgensen after the first practice when Lombardi pointed to a rookie running back out of Kansas State. "See that [rookie] over there in the overalls?" said the coach of the eighth-round draft pick. "When the rest of these guys are gone, he'll still be here." Lombardi was pointing at Larry Brown.

As camp wore on Brown continued to impress the coach with his ability, but the back always seemed to be a half step slow getting off the ball. "Does that Brown hear," Lombardi asked one night at a coaches' meeting. They decided to find out and, sure enough, a test revealed that Brown was quite deaf in one ear.

The team fitted Brown's helmet with a hearing aid that transferred sound from the side of his head with the bad ear into the good ear and the results were immediate and impressive. A couple of days later Brown scored two touchdowns in the exhibition season opener at RFK Stadium. A few days after that, assistant coach George Dickson saw Lombardi with his arm draped around Brown's shoulders. Later on, knowing that Lombardi doesn't show such affection to just anyone, Dickson went up to Brown and said, "Son, you've got this ball club made." Brown went on to rush for 888 yards in his rookie season and 5,875 in his seven-year career.

With Brown and a fit Jurgensen in starring roles, Lombardi led the Redskins to a 7-5-2 record, their first winning record since 1955.

The Redskins Chronicle is now on sale

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0000

My book The Redskins Chronicle is (finally) on sale.

I just put up a special Real Redskins landing page for preordering the book. What's the deal with preordering?

You get a $3.00 discount off of the cover price. This applies to as many books as you order during this period so it's a good time to look at Redskins fans who have fall birthdays or are on your holiday shopping list.
I'll put a personalized autograph on your copy of the book. Anything you want, just not too long.
I'm doing a drawing to give away sets of four packs of books by yours truly. You can mix and match any of the three (The Redskins Chronicle, Hokie Games, The Redskins From A to Z). Again, a good way to reduce your Christmas list. There is no purchase necessary to be entered in the drawing for the books, check the site for details.
Of course, you'll be the first on your block to get the book!

In exchange for these perks, you'll wait about 4-6 weeks for delivery. My own company publishes the book and this helps with gauging demand and with cash flow.

If you don't know what the book's all about by all means poke around the site and decide if you want to order. If you do, use your back button to return to the Real Redskins landing page or just use the code RealSkins when you order.

Thanks much for your support, if you have any questions, shoot me an email.

Forgotten Classic: Sonny Engineers Late Drive in Dallas

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Since the Cowboys flashback was so popular the other day, here's another one. This one goes way back. It's the first Redskins game I remember. Actually I don't remember the whole game. I just remember Sonny standing there, with his hands on his hips watching the clock tick down. I was wondering what the neck he was doing but my dad said, just wait and see.

This Dallas team, by the way, would go on to lose to the Packers in the NFL Championship Game for the right to play in the first Super Bowl.

Played 12/11/1966, from the pages of The Redskins Chronicle, my new book that will be going on sale very soon:

Cotton Bowl—Charlie Gogolak kicked a 29-yard field goal with four seconds left to cap a wild fourth quarter and give the Redskins a stirring 34-31 win over Dallas.

The Cowboys put together a second-quarter drive to take a 7-0 lead on Don Perkins' 20-yard touchdown run, but the Redskins came right back thanks largely to Carl Kammerer. Midway through the second, the defensive end recovered a fumble, setting up a Gogolak field goal to make it 7-3. Later in the period Kammerer broke through to block Danny Villanueva's punt in the end zone and John Reger was right there to fall on the ball for the touchdown, giving the visitors the halftime lead.

After Villanueva kicked a field goal to tie the game at 10, the Cowboys drove 86 yards to reclaim the lead on Craig Morton's 23-yard touchdown pass to Bob Hayes. Washington came right back with a drive of its own. A 41-yard run by A. D. Whitfield got the Redskins down to the Dallas 11 and from there, Sonny Jurgensen threw a touchdown pass to Bobby Mitchell. The game was tied at 17 going into the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys made Washington play catch-up as Dan Reeves shook a tackle and went 67 yards for a touchdown. That's the kind of game Jurgensen likes and his 53-yard bomb to Charley Taylor led to his 11-yard scoring toss to Jerry Smith to even it up at 24.

It was Dallas' turn and they drove 72 yards, the last six on Perkins' second scoring run and recaptured the lead. No problem for Jurgensen, who promptly went long to Taylor again, this time for 65 yards and a touchdown with 3:11 remaining.

All the Cowboys needed was a tie to clinch the Eastern Division title, but they couldn't get it. Washington got the ball again and ex-Cowboy Whitfield busted loose for 30 yards to get his team in field goal range. Jurgensen stood next to the official, his hands on his hips, and watched the clock tick down to eight seconds before calling timeout. Gogolak trotted in and his game-winner from 29 yards was perfect.

Forgotten Classics: Redskins Beat Vikes Despite Foot Faults 11.02.86

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:00:00 +0000

I don't know if this was a modern era record, but the Redskins scored six touchdowns and didn't get the point after following four of them. Three of them were missed and the fourth touchdown didn't have a conversion attempt because it was the game winner in overtime.

In any case, this was a breathtaking classic, a prototypical game by a Redskins team that just never gave up.

Played 11/2/1986, from the pages of my upcoming book The Redskins Chronicle:

RFK Stadium—"It feels like we've been playing for about five hours," said Joe Gibbs after this one and the members of the Redskins secondary would have to agree. Tommy Kramer torched them for 490 yards and four touchdowns. Three of the touchdown passes were on plays of more than 65 yards.

Washington did not score the extra point following four of its six touchdowns. The last of those TD's, though, was the game-winner in overtime, so Max Zendejas didn't get an opportunity to blow this one after the Redskins won this wild affair 44-38.

Jay Schroeder managed "only" 378 yards in the air, but he led his team to the game's final three touchdowns, including the 38-yarder to Gary Clark to win it . . . but that's getting way ahead of things.

Washington bolted to a quick 10-0 lead, but the Vikings responded as Kramer heated up. A 67-yard touchdown pass to receiver Leo Lewis gave the Vikings a 14-10 lead by the time the first quarter ended.

They gave the lead right back to Washington when a shotgun snap went over Kramer's head and end Dexter Manley snared it in stride, racing unchallenged 26 yards for a touchdown. The shape of things to come was seen, however, when Zendejas' point after was low and got blocked, allowing the Vikings to claim the halftime lead at 17-16 as Chuck Nelson kicked a 39-yard field goal with about a minute left in the quarter.

The visitors quickly extended their lead in the third quarter with a 68-yard bomb from Kramer to tight end Steve Jordan. After a Zendejas field goal, George Rogers converted a fourth and one at the Minnesota 40 in grand fashion. He broke through the line, cut back and went all the way and the Redskins were up by two at 26-24 following the extra point. They enjoyed the lead for about a minute and a half as Kramer went to Lewis for 76 yards and a touchdown with six seconds left in the third quarter.

A much shorter Kramer TD toss—one yard to Darrin Nelson—followed a pass interference call in the end zone against cornerback Barry Wilburn. Minnesota was up by 12 with less than seven minutes left to play.

The home team responded swiftly, moving 65 yards in three plays, with a 30-yard catch by Clint Didier setting up a 34-yard scoring pass from Schroeder to Art Monk. It didn't seem to matter that Zendejas missed the point after as another touchdown would tie the game and surely, a professional kicker couldn't miss two PAT's in a row. Or could he?

We found out after Schroeder completed a bomb to Didier at the two, who was credited with the catch after replay reviews on the question of if he trapped it were inconclusive. After Rogers ran over from there with 1:03 left, Zendejas did the unthinkable: he missed his second extra point in a row. The roar from the RFK crowd quickly turned to grumbles of disgust as the game headed to overtime tied at 38.

The crowd did go home happy, though. The Redskins won the overtime coin toss. Four plays into the extra period, from the Minnesota 38, Schroeder threw a 15-yard pattern to Clark, who broke away from the Minnesota cornerback and raced down the left sideline for the winning score.

Flashback Friday: Skins Win in Dallas and Get In

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:31:00 +0000

The scenarios were simple going into the last game of the 1976 regular season. The Redskins needed a win to secure a playoff spot. The Cowboys needed a win to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. In a classic battle, the Redskins prevailed.

From the pages of my upcoming book The Redskins Chronicle:

Texas Stadium 12/12/1976—The Redskins moved past the Cowboys and into the NFL playoffs by scoring 14 points in a 50-second span in the fourth quarter.

Washington held a 10-7 halftime lead, but that evaporated less than three minutes into the second half. Roger Staubach hit Butch Johnson with a 43-yard touchdown pass to put Dallas up 14-10. That was largely the extent of Staubach's contributions to his team's effort; thanks to constant pressure by the Redskins defense, he completed just five of 22 passes on the day for 91 yards.

The visitors edged closer on Mark Moseley's 27-yard field goal about five minutes later. The Cowboys was still clinging to its 14-13 lead when they punted to Washington with 7:24 left in the game. Starting from midfield, a nine-yard reception by Mike Thomas and John Riggins' three-yard run earned a first down at the 38. After two straight incompletions, the Redskins faced third and ten. Then came what Billy Kilmer called "the play of the game."

Dallas came with an all-out blitz and safety Cliff Harris joined those rushing towards Kilmer. The quarterback barely got off a wobbly pass, but it found Thomas, who had snuck into the area over the middle that Harris had vacated, at the 10 yard line. He was tackled at the four.

A couple of penalties pushed the Redskins back to the 15 where they faced second and goal. Ex-Cowboy Calvin Hill followed Riggins around left end and swept in for the go-ahead score with 4:34 left.

Certainly, it was not yet time to celebrate, but that would come soon enough. On first down from the 21, Ron McDole sacked Staubach for a loss of twelve. On the next play, Diron Talbert swatted Staubach's pass into the air. It bounced off of Dallas center John Fitzgerald and possibly one other player before it fell into the arms of defensive end Dennis Johnson at the three. The game and the playoff spot were secured when Riggins took advantage of some brutal blocking that allowed him to score the clincher untouched.

Forgotten Classic: Williams Nails Down the Job

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

This game, the 1987 regular-season finale, had no significance in and of itself for Washington. The Redskins already had wrapped up the division title and their playoff seeding was set.

And, yes, even though both of the teams' records add up to 15 games it was the finale. This was a strike season and one game, the third one of the season, was cancelled. The replacement players started in week four.

Back to this game, the significance of it was the Jay Schroeder started the game and Doug Williams finished it. Based on the fact that Schroeder was ineffective in this game and that Williams rallied the team to an overtime win, Joe Gibbs gave Williams the nod to be the starter for the playoffs.

The rest, as they say, is history, such as the 35 points the Redskins racked up in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII with Williams pulling the trigger.

You have to wonder what might have happened if Schroeder had played well, or even just OK. I don't think that the Redskins win it all with Schroeder behind center, but you never know.

From the pages of my upcoming book The Redskins Chronicle:

12/26/87	Redskins (11-4) 27, VIKINGS (8-7) 24 (OT)						59,160
Was	0	7	7	10	3	27
Min	7	0	0	17	0	24
Min	Anderson 9 run (C. Nelson kick)
Was	Wilburn 100 interception return (Haji-Shiekh kick)
Was	Sanders 46 pass from Williams (Haji-Shiekh kick)
Min	Anderson 1 run (C. Nelson kick)
Min	Wilson 1 run (C. Nelson kick)
Min	FG C. Nelson 20
Was	FG Haji-Shiekh 37
Was	Sanders 51 pass from Williams (Haji-Shiekh kick)
Was	FG Haji-Shiekh 26

The Metrodome—Doug Williams replaced an ineffective Jay Schroeder at quarterback and, along with Barry Wilburn and Ricky Sanders, sparked a 27-24 overtime win over the Vikings.

Williams entered the game midway through the third quarter with the contest tied at seven. Washington's only score had come courtesy of Wilburn. The Vikings, already leading 7-0, were driving, perched at the Redskin seven. Quarterback Wade Wilson tried to sneak a pass through double coverage, but he found the belly of Wilburn at the goal line. Wilburn headed upfield, broke through the pack and got into the clear. The final obstacle to his team-record 100-yard interception return was removed when Todd Bowles dispatched receiver Anthony Carter with a block around the Minnesota 40.

Williams had an instant impact, throwing a 46-yard touchdown pass to Sanders on his fourth play to put his team up 14-7. After that things cooled for the Redskins and heated up considerably for Minnesota. Starting with the first play of the fourth quarter, the Vikings ran off 17 points in five and a half minutes of play and the Metrodome was rocking as the home team led 24-14.

The Redskins responded quickly, driving to a field goal by Ali Haji-Shiekh to cut the lead to seven. Then, with 2:21 to play, they regained possession at their own 40. On third and one at the 49, Sanders ran a hitch-and-go and was wide open to catch Williams' pass for 51 yards, tying the game at 24. Haji-Shiekh missed a potential game-winning 33-yard field goal attempt in the final minute and the game went into overtime.

The Vikings never saw the ball in the OT. Washington won the toss and Sanders returned the kickoff 36 yards. Sanders then caught two passes for 32 yards to key a foray down inside the Minnesota 10. Joe Gibbs immediately called for Haji-Shiekh, who displayed the kicker's best friend—a short memory—as he ended it by drilling it through from 26 yards.

Forgotten Classic: A Sonny Day

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:10:00 +0000

The Sonny Jurgensen era was coming to the end in 1974. In fact, he "retired" at the end of that season (actually, George Allen did not offer him a contract for 1975). But he did have his last hurrah in this game against the two-time defending champion Dolphins at RFK Stadium.

Although it's impossible to say for sure, this game serves as fuel for the argument that the Redskins would have beaten the Dolphins in Super Bowl VII.

From the pages of my upcoming book The Redskins Chronicle.

10/13/74	REDSKINS (3-2) 20, Dolphins (3-2) 17				54,395
Mia	7	0	3	7	17
Was	0	0	3	17	20
Mia	Ginn 6 run (Yepremian kick)
Mia	FG Yepremian 32
Was	FG Moseley 40
Was	Jefferson 33 pass from Jurgensen (Moseley kick)
Was	FG Moseley 41
Mia	Twilley 13 pass from Griese (Yepremian kick)
Was	L. Smith 6 pass from Jurgensen

RFK Stadium—It was a Sonny day.

The 40-year old quarterback led a fourth quarter rally that was the stuff that Hall of Famers are made of. This was the first meeting between the Washington and Miami since the Fins defeated the Skins in Super Bowl VII. There are many, both Redskins rooters and others, who believe that the outcome in that game at the LA Coliseum would have been different had No. 9 been taking the snaps that day. The reality is, though, that Jurgensen was out with an Achilles tendon injury and Miami completed its perfect 17-0 season with a 14-7 win

The stakes weren't nearly as high for this early-season game, with both teams just jockeying for playoff position rather than gunning for the Lombardi Trophy. Still, it was a chance to see how Jurgensen could do against the Dolphins, at this point the two-time defending NFL champs.

In the first half, the answer was "not very well". The Dolphins took the opening kickoff and drove in for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. After that, Jurgensen threw three interceptions, and the final one killed a promising drive near halftime.

Miami got a field goal in the middle of the third quarter to extend its lead to 10-0. Larry Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 57yards to set up a Mark Moseley field goal. The special teams pitched in again when Dennis Johnson forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Brad Dusek recovered it on the Miami 33. Jurgensen converted immediately, throwing a perfect pass to Roy Jefferson on the next play to knot the score at 10 early in the fourth quarter.

On the next drive, the Redskins took the lead after a 19-yard connection from Jurgensen to Jefferson set up a 41-yard Moseley field goal. Washington had a chance to extend its lead with five minutes left, but Moseley missed from 45 yards and opened the door for Miami. Bob Griese converted a third and 10 with a 48-yard completion to Nat Moore that put the Dolphins in business at the Washington 24. Soon after that, Miami faced third and 11 at the 13. Cornerback Mike Bass blitzed, Griese just got his pass off into the area vacated by Bass and Howard Twilley caught it for the touchdown to make it 17-13.

To call to ensuing drive great just doesn't do it justice. Nor do other adjectives such as heroic or clutch. Here's what happened, and you can come up with your own superlative:

Starting with 1:54 left from the Washington 40 following Herb Mul-Key's 32-yard kickoff return:

Jurgensen to Moses Denson for six yards.

Jurgensen to Jerry Smith for 10.

Jurgensen to Charley Taylor for four

Jurgensen to Taylor for 18

Jurgensen to Jefferson for 16

From the Miami six, Jurgensen pass intended for Larry Smith incomplete

Jurgensen to L. Smith for six yards and a touchdown with 16 seconds left on the clock.

Wow.

Larry Smith was tackled by linebacker Doug Swift, a clear infraction that went unflagged, on the incompletion prior to the touchdown. Jurgensen called for the same pattern, a slant, and this time Smith caught the ball over the middle and battled his way through linebackers Swift and Nick Buoniconti to inch the ball over the goal

Radio Spot in Richmond Wednesday PM

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:08:00 +0000

I'll be on the radio this afternoon with a 4:45 appearance on ESPN 750 in Richmond. That's the Red Zebra affiliate here. I'll be talking about the tailgate dustup and about the Redskins' offseason.

I also will do my best to work in a mention of The Redskins Chronicle.

If you're not in Richmond you can listen live at http://www.espn950am.com/

Tailgate-gate settled?

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:37:00 +0000

It appears that those who were concerned that a new Redskins policy dealing with tailgating prior to games at FedEx Field have little to worry about.

The relevant portion of the press release that came from Redskins PR a short time ago is below. It appears that the only people who might get their feathers ruffled are those who have been conducting full-bore tailgating with tents, grill, and tables in the middle of a given parking lot. They will need to move to the fringes of the lot in order to allow people who just want to park and walk into the game will have more convenient spaces.

It could lead to a great atmosphere, actually, with all of the activity focused in one area in each lot instead of being spread around.

I fully expect the execution of this to be completely botched during the first few home games with plenty of angry tailgaters being told to move from the spot where they've been since the stadium opened. I'm not sure how they're going to segregate the tailgaters from the non-tailgaters from the single-space tailgaters as they come into the stadium without causing horrendous traffic problems. Maybe they should ask those who will want to park in the tailgating area to take a Sharpie and put a big "T" on their parking passes to help the attendants. But it should all work out eventually.

From Redskins PR:

The most significant new procedure will have parking attendants directing fans who wish to tailgate in more than one space to the back of lots, where they will be allowed to occupy two spaces until required for additional vehicles. Fans who wish to only park, or tailgate within their single parking spot, will be directed to the front of lots, filling the lot from front to back. Tailgating is permitted in all lots, except Platinum. Platinum lot parkers who choose to tailgate will be provided passes for Purple lots.

"Everyone who wants to tailgate should be able to tailgate. We absolutely believe that," Gershman said. "This is designed to improve
the experience for fans who want to tailgate."

"Our outside consultant analyzed the flow on roads and in the parking lots at FedEx Field, with cameras recording the traffic patterns. What we found was that when tailgaters spread into multiple spaces, it caused congestion in the lots, and resulted in inconvenience to everyone - the fans tailgating and the fans who were just looking to park in their assigned lots," Gershman said.

The team will no longer maintain game-day, cash parking lots since there are numerous private operators in the stadium vicinity providing the service.

During post-game congestion periods, cars exiting lots will be directed to dedicated traffic lanes, a procedure that has been in effect for pre-game traffic for several years. The team is also in discussions with Prince George's County officials on the possibility of making traffic one-way leading to the Beltway during peak post-game congestion around the stadium, amongst other changes that can improve the game day experience.

Flashback Friday—Revenge of the Body Bags

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:06:00 +0000

I put up a Redskins Chronicle excerpt from the 1990 season up on the website and this game has drawn a few comments. About two months before this first-round playoff game the Eagles had physically whipped the Redskins, beating them 28-14 in a game that was not nearly as close as that score would indicate. The loss dropped the Redskins to 5-4 and their playoff prospects were dim.

A 5-2 finish got them in and, as luck would have it, their playoff draw had them returning to the scene of the crime, Veterans Stadium. The Redskins got their revenge.

1/5/91	Redskins 20, EAGLES 6				65,287
Was	0	10	10	0		20
Phil	3	3	0	0		6
Phil	FG Ruzek 37
Phil	FG Ruzek 28
Was	Monk 16 pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick)
Was	FG Lohmiller 20
Was	FG Lohmiller 19
Was	Clark 3 pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick)

In their Monday night game eight weeks earlier, the Redskins got physically crushed by the Philadelphia Eagles in the "Body Bag" game. That was bad enough, but the Eagles chose to rub it in their faces, taunting and trash talking until the final gun on the field and in the locker room afterwards.

Sometimes, things just fall into place. Washington qualified for the playoffs as a wild card entry, and the seedings called for the Redskins to return to the scene of the crime, Veterans Stadium, for a first-round playoff contest. They would have their shot at revenge.

When facing the press in the days prior to a game, Gibbs was usually overly gracious in his comments about the opposition, making a 2-10 outfit sound like the '60's Packers and their coach the second coming of St. Vincent. Not this week, though. When asked about Ryan, Gibbs stood stone-faced and talked about the challenges ahead.

One reporter caught Gibbs in an unguarded moment. It was January 3, the day before the game. Snow had fallen on New Year's Eve and the journalist noted that the snow still covered Gibbs' car in the parking lot at Redskins Park. In the hallway, the more Gibbs talked about Buddy, the madder he got. "I live to play a game like this one. I live to play this guy," Gibbs said, turning red-faced with rage. While this was hardly headline material or Eagle bulletin board fodder, it was very telling of the mood of the coach and team. They were clearly on a mission as they entered the Vet for the game.

It took them a quarter to get untracked as Philadelphia got two FG's for a 6-0 lead, but the defense stiffened after that, sacking Eagles QB Randall Cunningham five times and forcing three turnovers. Mark Rypien threw two scoring passes and Ernest Byner and Gerald Riggs shared the rushing duties and combined for 94 yards on the ground.

A turnover reversed by replay was the game's turning point. The Redskins had taken a 7-6 lead and were driving for more when the ball popped loose from Byner's grasp when he was tackled at the Philadelphia six. Cornerback Ben Smith scooped the ball up and ran 94 yards for an apparent touchdown. Fortunately for the Redskins, instant replay showed that the ground caused the fumble and the call was reversed, with the Redskins retaining possession. The reversal became a 10-point turnaround as Chip Lohmiller connected on a short field goal and instead of a six-point deficit, the Redskins had a four-point lead. The Eagles' offense never could get untracked and the Redskins won 20-6.

During a players-only meeting in the week before the game, the team had made a pact that they would not sink to the level of Philly and deliver "I told you so's" to the classless Eagles after the game. But the message was delivered to Buddy and his losing team after the game with a certain degree of subtlety.

Clark said, "You'd better not question someone's character unless you're sure of the character you're talking about. This team has character, and hopefully this is just one step."

"People threw dirt on this team all year but they didn't know we had shovels and would keep digging our way out," Coleman added.

Quick hits 06.18.09—Tickets, training camp and the Chronicle

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

I just got an automated phone call from the Redskins offering me Redskins season tickets. It's at least the third, maybe the fourth one I've received in the past couple of months. On top of that I've received two mailings offering the same thing. On top of that I'm not the only person I know that has received such communications. It's evident that the league's most mediocre team playing in the leagues largest stadium is a tough sell these days. It appears that the vaunted waiting list has shrunk from 20 years to the amount of time it takes to make a phone call. Will there be local TV blackouts this fall?
I've ranted about this annually but I can't figure out why the Redskins have only eight training camp sessions open to the public. Most other teams have 20 or 30 that their fans can come to see. Yes, there are some expenses involved but maybe the Redskins could build their fan base if folks could come and see them for free on a few summer afternoons. And then, just maybe, they might not have to send multiple communications to people in order to sell season tickets.
I've been on an all-out effort to get my book The Redskins Chronicle done in the next week or so. I'm still putting some polish on the web site but I do have it open to the public. Drop by if you get a chance and let me know what you think. I also have the Facebook page up, please take a look and become a fan. And, as long as I'm dispensing social media information, I'd welcome all of you as friends on Facebook at http://facebook.com/rich.tandler and I always love Twitter followers at @RealRedskins.
Just because I haven't been cranking out a lot in the way of new content doesn't mean that some other bloggers out there aren't doing so. Redskins Examiner Mark Newgent has a well-researched story on the integration of the NFL in general and the Redskins in particular. It's a three-parter and a great read. And Ben Folsom at the Curly R has a two-part rant about the Redskins' involvement with the Virginia Lottery. I'm not so sure I follow his logic about a voluntary purchase being a tax of any sort, but I do agree that the team's involvement with a scratch off game, especially one that costs $20 (twenty dollars!) a ticket is unseemly at best.

Plenty of jobs available in Ashburn

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:02:00 +0000

In contrast to what we're seeing in many businesses, the Washington Redskins will be hiring later this summer.

There is opportunity aplenty in Ashburn. Of the 53 players on the roster for the last game of the 2008 season, 13 of them will not be reporting to training camp on July 30. That means that the Redskins roster will experience at least a 25 per cent turnover.

Actually, in practical terms, it won't be quite that dramatic. Chris Samuels and Phillip Daniels weren't a part of that 53 because they were on injured reserve. They are certain to make the team. And the team already has hired two replacements, handing out a large free agent contract to Derrick Dockery and a monstrous one to Albert Haynesworth. Also, Hunter Smith will be taking the roster spot vacated by punter Ryan Plackemeier.

That still leaves eight jobs, or about one sixth of the roster, up for grabs. The departures of Khary Campbell and Marcus Washington create opportunity for someone like Robert Henson. The sixth-round draft pick was a special teams monster for three years at TCU before becoming the starting linebacker and that was Campbell's job description.

There are a few other plug-ins that seem obvious. Shawn Springs is out, third-round draft pick Kevin Barnes is in. Jason Taylor out, Brian Orakpo in.

There will be fierce competition for the backup spots on the offensive line. With Jon Jansen and Jason Fabini gone and that final 2008 roster carrying players who are not certain to make it in '09, players like Wil Montgomery and Devin Clark, the backup jobs are wide open.

There are 11 wide receivers on the roster. Four of them—Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, Devin Thomas, and Malcolm Kelly—are virtually guaranteed roster spots. The Redskins carried five last year and it's not unusual for teams to carry six. Marko Mitchell, Keith Eloi, Marques Hagans, Roydell Williams—get the suit pressed, show up early, and be ready to make a great impression. You each have a big, month-long job interview coming up.

I'll be posting my stab at the final 53-man roster sometime before training camp and I have to say that it's going to be more difficult to figure it out than it has been the past few years.

I suppose that competition is healthy but you can have too much of a good thing. The wide open nature of the O-line, for example, tells me that even thought the starters are aging there is no succession planning going on. You'd like to see at least a few reserves that are considered to be too valuable to even consider letting go. While some players like that may emerge as training camp unfolds as of right now none exist.

Redskins say no to Vick

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:39:00 +0000

After considering the possibility of signing Michael Vick, the Redskins quickly decided against making that move.

The news, coming from John Keim at the Washington Examiner, isn't surprising. In fact, I would say that it wasn't exactly man bites dog news, but that would be a bad pun of questionable taste.

Other than the fact that there really isn't a place for Vick, the primary reasons for rejecting him are location, location, location.

The location of Washington, D. C., the political correctness capitol of the world, would make Redskins games a magnet for protests. They're in enough trouble among the PC crowd for the team name. Adding a convicted dog killer to the mix would make it toxic.

The other two location factors in play have to do with the location of Newport News, Vick's home town. First, the further away Vick is from the old crowd, the atmosphere that helped make him think it was a good idea to spend his NFL offseasons playing the dual role of owner and henchman for a dog fighting ring, the better. And on top of that, the headquarters for PETA is in Norfolk, just a few hours by car from the entrance to Redskins Park. This would virtually assure a 24/7 circus in Ashburn.

There was one other nugget in Keim's piece that I did not realize. Vick and Jason Campbell share the same agent. It would not be a good situation for Joel Segal to have two quarterbacks on the last year of their deals competing for playing time on the same team. It shouldn't matter, but it does.

Is the end near for Thrash?

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:25:00 +0000

It appears that James Thrash has a decision to make.

According to Dave Elfin of the Washington Times, Thrash has been struggling with a neck injury all offseason. Medication took care of the pain during the offseason down time but once workouts started in March the bulging disc flared up again. He has yet to participate in any of the team's OTA's.

It appears increasingly likely that Thrash will need surgery if he is to play for the Washington Redskins this year. That has the 34-year-old receiver/special teams demon contemplating retirement.

Although the coaches love him because of his work ethic and his eagerness to do whatever they ask of him, Thrash may be very much on the bubble this year when it comes to making the roster. As the third wide receiver last year, he caught nine passes, the same number that he caught the year before.

Four receiver spots are set in stone—Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, Malcolm Kelly, and Devin Thomas. A fully healthy James Thrash would have a tough time holding off speedy rookie Marko Mitchell for the fifth and probably final WR roster spot. A wounded Thrash, who has spent 12 seasons in the NFL, certainly would be facing an uphill battle.

His choices seem to be fairly clear cut. He could try to rehab his neck without surgery and give it a go in training camp. Or he could have the surgery and hope that he's ready to return to fight for his job. I'm not sure how long the recovery from his surgery would be—the doctors themselves don't know until they go in and do the procedure—but one would have to think that being ready for the July 30 start of camp would be very difficult.

Or Thrash could retire. He appears to be fighting that but it may be inevitable. He has seen seven specialists about the injury, perhaps hoping that he can find an optimistic prognosis.

For now, the Redskins are not pressuring him to make a decision. However, when they start signing their draft picks they will need to release players in order to stay at the 80-man limit. They will need Thrash to make a commitment by then.

I'm not about to make any recommendations here. Regardless of whether he retires this year or a few years down the road I certainly hope that Thrash will be able to walk away from the game with a decent quality of life rather than needing a cane.

Jansen, Moss salary cap implications

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:40:00 +0000

When I wrote about Jon Jansen's release a week ago, I was imprecise in communicating a number that is important when evaluating the move and I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify.

I said that by releasing Jansen "the Redskins took a cap hit of some $6 million." That's true. The Redskins will take a dead cap charge of $6.1 million.

However, unless you are the one writing out the checks that's not the relevant number to look at when judging the move. Jansen would have counted $4.5 million against the cap had he stayed on the roster. So, the net cap hit was $1.6 million. That is the more meaningful number.

This is not to say that the $6.1 million in dead cap that will be on the 2009 books doesn't matter. The Redskins will be tying up 4.7% of their available cap space in one player who no longer is on the roster.

Add to that the $5.3 million (4.1%) they're carrying on the books as a result of the Brandon Lloyd fiasco and the $2.7 (2.1%) million of prorated bonus left on Shawn Springs' deal and you'll see that the Redskins have over a tenth of their entire salary cap tied up in players who will be playing for other teams.

Certainly, all NFL teams carry some dead cap on their books but the Redskins are annually among the league leaders.

The Redskins "paid" for the Jansen move by restructuring Santana Moss' deal. They converted most of Moss' 2009 and 2010 salaries into signing bonus. So he got a check for $6.2 million to help him celebrate his 30^th birthday last weekend and to help the Redskins neutralize the effects of Jansen's release. The move lowered his 2009 cap charge by $1.7 million.

In order to make this work, the Redskins added a year to Moss' deal but that 2011 season voids automatically. All of this means that the Redskins will be facing a 2011 dead cap charge of $5.2 million.

If there is a salary cap in 2011—that is likely but far from certain—the Redskins will redo another player's deal in order to squeeze that dead cap in under the limit.

As long as the cap continues to go up this approach has its advantages. The total cap charge for Moss over the next three years does not go up. You do have to pay the piper but you are repaying him in dollars that are worth less than they were when you spent them. Just two years ago when the cap was $107 million, a $5.2 million dead cap charge would have represented almost 5% of the cap. Should the cap grow at the same rate the next two years as it has in the past two, it will be at $153 million. That same $5.2 million would be just 3.4% of the cap.

Certainly there are drawbacks as well. The Redskins' way of doing things hasn't worked. They have been unable to get out of the NFL's muddled middle.

The timing of Jansen’s release

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:42:00 +0000

Jon Jansen's release, a move that the Redskins announced earlier today, came as a surprise. Dan Snyder flew Redskins One to Michigan to pick up Jansen so that Jim Zorn could deliver to news to him in person.

By releasing Jansen the Redskins took a cap hit of some $6 million. On the surface the timing is somewhat puzzling but once you dig a little deeper it makes more sense.

Apparently this is a move that Zorn has wanted to make since the end of last year. However, had the move been made at the start of free agency it would have been very difficult to fit the contracts of Albert Haynesworth, Derrick Dockery and DeAngelo Hall in under the cap.

Also, at that time, Jansen was the only experienced depth the Redskins had at the tackle spot. Even though, in the view of Zorn and just about anybody who watched more than five minutes of the 2008 Redskins' offense with Jansen in the lineup, his skills had slipped considerably from his prime seasons it would have been foolhardy to release him and leave nothing in reserve. The fact that the penciled-in starter is Stephon Heyer, who still is a work in progress, make it even more important for the Redskins to have a solid reserve at right tackle.

Then, just before the draft, one shoe dropped for Jansen. The Redskins signed Mike Williams. The fourth overall pick in the 2002 draft was about 70 pounds overweight and hasn't played since 2006. He's a veteran project but a warm body (actually, Zorn said that he was as big as two bodies) nonetheless.

The other shoe fell when the team signed Jeremy Bridges. The Southern Mississippi product has started 39 games in six seasons with the Eagles, Cardinals, and Panthers. At his low end he represents quality depth and at the high end he could beat out Heyer for the starting job.

So the Redskins had two potential replacements for Jansen. During minicamp and OTA's they tried him at backup center but he failed to impress there.

They may have given him a shot in training camp but he was due a $1.5 million roster bonus in July. If they had him participate in the second round of OTA's starting on Monday to give him a last shot they would have been gambling. If he were to sustain a serious injury during the OTA's the team would have been on the hook for the roster bonus and his 2009 salary.

Some have asked why they didn't wait until after June 1 to spread the cap hit out. Since 2010 currently is an uncapped year, June 1 doesn't exist. Well, it's on your calendar but there is no cap hit break for releasing a player after June 1. They don't want teams prematurely dumping dead cap in next year.

Jansen, of course, is the longest-tenured Redskin. He never quite got his play up to a Pro Bowl level but he was a solid a tackle as there was in the game from about 2000 through 2003. Although he repeatedly expressed frustration with Steve Spurrier's blocking schemes he resigned with the Redskins prior to becoming a free agent in 2002.

That contract made sense. The one that didn't make sense was the one that Joe Gibbs signed him to in 2007. The $23 million deal carried $10 million in guarantees and it is the leftover money on that deal that created the nasty cap hit the Redskins sustained today.

Redskins are the NFL’s most mediocre team

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:05:00 +0000

The 2009 Washington Redskins will be about a .500 team.

I say this with confidence and not because I possess a crystal ball that allows me to peer into the future and see events to come with clarity. It's because I can see the past and recognize that a .500 team is what the Redskins are.

From 1995 through 2008, a span of 14 seasons, the Redskins have been within two games of the break even mark every year but two. Those two years, 2003 and 2006, they were just three games off the mark of mediocrity, finishing 5-11.

The Redskins are so average, in fact, that they are distinctively mediocre. Since 1995 every NFL team has either lost 12 or more games in a season or has won 12 or more at least once. Every team, that is, with the exception of the Redskins.

They are the NFL's perpetually half-full, half-empty glass.

They have tried to break out and either fill or empty the glass but the fates work against them. The '06 team could easily have dropped a dozen games but Troy Vincent blocked a late game-winning field goal attempt against Dallas and Sean Taylor's brilliant scramble—and a face-mask penalty committed in the process—set up a Nick Novack game-winning field goal on an untimed down.

On the other side of the coin the 2005 team won ten and could easily have won two more but they suffered close, frustrating losses to Denver, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Oakland, and San Diego.

It's clear that the Football Gods have determined that the Redskins of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries are a middling team. There is no compelling evidence to suggest that they will escape that fate this year.

Defensively they added strength to strength with the additions of Albert Haynesworth and Brian Orakpo. Those two could move the Redskins D from good to great.

But there is little chance that the offense will be even good. Jason Campbell is in his make or break year and even if he makes it he won't be anything approaching an elite quarterback. Was Clinton Portis' slump at the end of last year an indication that his career has hit the wall?

The receiving corps could be good if at least one of the two receivers drafted in the second round last year, Malcolm Kelly or Devin Thomas, has a breakout year. That could happen, but holding your breath waiting for it is not advised.

The offensive line has potential—the potential to be a train wreck. The ten that they keep on the roster mostly will be a combination of the old and injury prone and the young and untested.

If the Redskins are to finish on the upside of the fated limit and win 10 games the defense must provide the offense with short fields. Haynesworth needs to collapse the middle and allow the defense to increase significantly its sack total from the 24 it posted last year. The pressure needs to make the opposing quarterback throw the ball up for grabs to force turnovers.

Should Campbell and company get opportunities to make some 14-yard touchdown drives or, better yet, watch from the sidelines as the defense records a pick six, life will be a lot easier and the Redskins could record a double-digit win total.

But if the defense merely remains strong but is of limited help to the offense in terms of providing highly favorable field position, the Redskins are likely to trend towards the down side of their potential. They simply aren't strong enough offensively to drive 80 yards to score every time they get the ball.

Where will the 2009 Redskins fall within the range of six to 10 wins? It says here that Haynesworth is enough of a difference maker on defense that the team will be able to overcome a leaky offensive line and score enough to post a 9-7 record.

Redskins’ fate will be in Goodell’s hands

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

The Washington Redskins are in line to take a slap on the wrist for possibly jumping the gun in signing free agent defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. According to a Yahoo! Sports report, the NFL is investigating the Tennessee Titans' complaint that the Redskins tampered with Haynesworth prior to the start of the free agency period.

From what we know, the evidence that negotiations started prior to the permitted hour is mostly circumstantial. Dan Snyder had dinner with Chad Speck, Haynesworth's agent, at the combine and some players made some comments indicating that they had knowledge of early contact that could constitute tampering.

The fact that Haynesworth signed about six hours after the start of the signing period, by the way, is meaningless. It's possible to get it done that quickly if both sides are motivated to do so. The team has the numbers loaded into a spread sheet and, as negotiations commence, all of the "what if" scenarios can be run immediately.

The Redskins came up with numbers that Haynesworth liked and, rather than risk the Redskins taking their money elsewhere, Haynesworth and Speck agreed to the deal. The actual paper contract gets drawn up as the player travels to Ashburn and he signs on the line in the afternoon.

Although the actual evidence may seem to be somewhat flimsy, there doesn't have to be a smoking gun for the Redskins to get nailed here. This isn't a trial where a jury has to find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Roger Goddell can do whatever he wants. He can decide that there was enough smoke to deduce that there was a fire.

Goodell's discretionary power can work in the Redskins' favor, too. He could reasonably conclude that the Titans were not going to sign Haynesworth under any circumstances. Their final offer just wasn't close.

But if Goodell thinks there was tampering it's not likely that his call will be, "no harm, no foul". If the wide receiver lines up too close to the line and covers the tight end, they throw a flag and walk off five yards even though the infraction has no material impact on the result of the play. A fifth-round pick is about the equivalent of a five-yard penalty.

The guess here is that it's 50-50 that Goodell sees enough to bust the Redskins for tampering and if he does the Redskins will get hit for their fifth-round pick and Snyder will have to write out a check for about $100,000.

PFW “Whispering” to itself

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:01:00 +0000

Last week, in its "Whispers—NFC" section, Pro Football Weekly "reported" the following:

Would the Washington Redskins take a chance on Michael Vick? Don't rule it out. Owner Daniel Snyder loves the big splash and might be willing to gamble on Vick, who grew up in nearby Newport News, Va. There's no question that the Redskins would like an upgrade at quarterback with Jason Campbell entering the final year of his deal, and they likely would be willing to gamble on players with questionable character, given the $54 million deal they gave to CB DeAngelo Hall.

Where to start with this nonsense? First of all, there is no source cited. The title "Whispers" implies that the content is some sort of inside information that was discreetly passed along to an investigative journalist. This is "Voices in My Head". This is a writer sitting at his keyboard just dreaming stuff up. He is connecting dots that he drew.

Also the thought of jettisoning Jason Campbell in favor of a quarterback whose career rating is five points lower than Campbell's is questionable at best. Add in the fact that said quarterback will have accumulated at least two and possibly three years of rust and the notion that Vick would be an "upgrade" is just plain stupid. Yes, Snyder likes the "big splash" but putting the quarterback postion in the hands of Vick would not be a splash, it would be lunacy.

Even if Snyder was prone to engage in lunacy he isn't likely to make a move that would take cash out of his pocket. Vick is a lightning rod and Washington is the political correctness capital of the world. It appears that the Redskins are having difficulty selling season tickets (I've received two phone calls offering me non-premium seats in the past month) and Snyder would be risking disaster from the backlash that would come from the convicted dog killer taking snaps for the home team at FedEx Field.

PFW isn't the first media outlet to talk about Vick going to the Redskins and they won't be the last. What makes this little entry so ridiculous, though, is the last part equating DeAngelo Hall's character to that of Vick.

Certainly Hall is not angel and a case can be made that the Redskins took a gamble in giving him some $23 million in guaranteed money. He whined and pouted his way out of two organizations and had some noteworthy clashes with coaches. In 2007 he was fined $10,000 for showing support for Vick, his teammate both with the Atlanta Falcons and at Virginia Tech, by displaying "MV7" in the black shade under his eyes. The "MeAngelo" moniker is well earned.

Hall is not, however, has not been convicted of multiple felonies. He has not spent two years in the federal pen. He did not drown dogs. To compare his character to that of Vick, who has all of that on his character resume and much more, is an outrage.

Let's say I hired someone who had been convicted of picking pockets. By PFW's logic, I also would hire Bernie Madoff. Both the pickpocket and Madoff stole money, right?

PFW used to be a reliable source for NFL news and views. Made up hit pieces like this one have brought it down to the level of the National Enquirers of the world.

Robert Henson could be a “special” player

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:40:00 +0000

As the Washington Redskins' sixth-round draft choice, linebacker Robert Henson knows that he will have to wait his turn to play with the defense and contribute on special teams in the meantime. He has been down that path before.

For three seasons at TCU he got three starts on defense and played on virtually every special team unit. He performed so well that he received honorable mention All-Mountain West honors all three years.

Finally, his senior year his chance to start came up and he made the most of it. Henson recorded up 73 tackles, nine of them for losses, and intercepted two passes. His performance earned him first-team all conference honors. It also propelled TCU's defense to a #2 national ranking and the Horned Frogs to an 11-2 record and a final ranking as the #7 team in the country.

Robert went back home to Longview, Texas (getting some nice local TV coverage while he was there) after the Redskins' minicamp to prepare for OTA's in June. He was good enough to answer a few questions about his minicamp experience and his adjustment to the NFL:

Rich Tandler: Which are you finding to be more challenging, the physical aspect of the NFL or the mental, playbook aspects of it?

Robert Henson: Honesty the physical game was easy to adjust to, of course we have not put on pads just yet. I have struggled a bit with the mental aspect of the game, for example getting everyone lined up with only seconds before the ball is snapped.

RT: Last year Coach Zorn commented that some of the rookies came into training camp not physically or mentally ready to handle it. What will you be doing in between now and the end of July to make sure that you're not one of "those guys"?

RH: I really believe in the weight room and so far it has not failed me yet, so I am sure preparing my body for the rigors of the NFL is a must. Then second of all I believe you have to be mentally tough in order to be successful, it's a long season and you have be prepared in every way possible.

RT: Is there a current Redskins player who you think has a game similar to yours? Or, if not, who in the NFL is your game modeled after?

RH: I have always tried to model my game after two current NFL linebackers. I have always tried to play with a high emotion and motor like Ray Lewis. He is always wired up and in attack mode. I also love the way that Brian Urlacher prepares mentally. He is rarely caught out of position and studies the game so well he always knows what is coming.

RT: What linebacker positions are you learning with the Redskins? You said in your Facebook update that you're moving up the depth chart—any details you can share?

RH: Right now [linebackers coach Kirk] Olivadotti has me playing "Mike" Linebacker, which is the middle linebacker in the defense, it is very good position I feel very comfortable playing there. Ultimately I will have to learn all three linebacker positions. I also know in order to make the team better I will have to contribute as well as focus on my play in the in the kicking game. So because of my effort on special teams I have moved up a little on the depth charts for these teams.

RT: What is the main thing you need to work on as far as technique goes?

RH: The things I need to work on technique wise are footwork and learning how to approach and take on blockers. Coach Olivadotti has done a great job tearing down my bad habits and rebuilding technique to make me more effective and productive. I am constantly asking veteran London Fletcher how I can improve also, so between two great influences like them I can do nothing but learn and reach full potential.

RT: What special teams units did you play at TCU? What do you enjoy about playing special teams?

RH: When I was at TCU I played on all special teams units, except extra point and field goal. I love the special teams phase of the game for 2 reasons. It can change the momentum as well as the outcome of the game very quickly Also it is man to man most of the time and there is nothing like beating another person and making a play, it gets the whole team pumped and motivated.

Three-way battle looms at tackle

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:30:00 +0000

The hay is in the barn for the Washington Redskins.

Free agency essentially is over and the draft is done. They went into the process with holes a defensive tackle, defensive end, guard, linebacker, and right offensive tackle. The hole at offensive tackle remains.

They could have chosen Michael Oher of Mississippi with their first pick in the draft to plug that hole but instead they chose Brian Orakpo. He actually will be used to fill two of those needs, defensive end and linebacker, so it's hard to argue against that selection.

However, that means that an aging veteran, a third-year player who hasn't been able to hold on to the job, and a former top-five draft pick who hasn't played a snap since 2005 will be battling it out for the starting job.

The aging vet is Jon Jansen, 33. The Redskins took him in the second round in 1999 and plugged him in at right tackle from Day One. He didn't miss a start for five years, gaining the nickname The Rock. Then an Achilles' tear cost him the entire 2004 season and in '06 a broken ankle knocked him for the season before halftime of the season opener.

Jansen lost the starting right tackle job before the season opener, gained it back due to an injury, and kept a tenuous hold on it the rest of the year. His play against the run was passable but speed rushers went by him like cars through the EZ-Pass lane at rush hour. There was talk of cutting him during the offseason but the $5 million cap hit for doing so was prohibitive. He lives to fight another year.

Stephon Heyer, 25, is in his third year after making the Redskins as an undrafted free agent out of Maryland. As a rookie he found himself pressed into action much sooner than he or anyone else thought after Jansen went down early in the year. His performance in 2006 was good enough to earn him a hard look last year and Jim Zorn named him the starter over Jansen at right tackle just before the season opener. A shoulder injury knocked Heyer out of the lineup, however, and he was in and out of the lineup the rest of the year.

If you tried to predict Mike Williams' career path when he was drafted fourth overall out of Texas in 2002 you probably would have guessed that in 2009 he'd be a perennial Pro Bowl performer working on a lucrative contract. Instead, he finds himself in a battle just to make a team and get a veteran minimum deal. After getting cut by Jacksonville early in the 2006 season, Williams, 29, was unable to latch on with another team. His weight ballooned well north of 400 pounds.

Earlier this year he began to work out with fellow Longhorn alumnus Derrick Dockery. As Williams shed the pounds, he began to get the itch to play again. Dockery recommended him to the Redskins and he signed just before the draft.

Williams has a shot at making the team as a reserve but he won't be the starter unless disaster strikes in the form of injuries or utter ineffectiveness on the part of Jansen and Heyer. The former is a matter of luck; it isn't completely out of the question that the latter situation will happen.

Since the Redskins want to get younger on the offensive line Heyer goes into camp as the favorite. But if Jansen is fully healthy, his pride will make him push Heyer hard.

The most likely scenario is that the two of them will end up splitting the starts. And if you have two—or three—starting right tackles, well, you don't have a right tackle.

Flashback Friday: The 1986 Redskins

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

It's one thing to climb the mountain and win the championship once. Many teams have done that.

The hard part is getting knocked down and then winning it all again.

In 1986, Joe Gibbs and the Redskins showed that they could get back to the top. No, they didn't win the Super Bowl; they had a Giant obstacle in their way. But they set the table for their Super Bowl XXII championship the following season. And that's why the 1986 squad is one of my favorite Redskins teams.

After winning the championship in 1982, the Redskins started a slow roll downhill. They lost the Super Bowl the next year, lost in the first round of the playoffs in '84 and missed the postseason in 1985.

The Redskins went into 1986 without two of the mainstays of their Super Bowl teams. John Riggins was released in March and Joe Theismann, unable to recover from the horrific broken leg he suffered the previous season against the Giants, flunked his physical.

There was some incoming talent to compensate for the losses. The United States Football League folded and the Redskins bolstered their receiving corps with USFL refugees Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders. Multitalented running back Kelvin Bryant also came on board along with quarterback Doug Williams. The acquisition of Williams would not become significant until 1987, when he finished the season as the Super Bowl MVP.

The starting quarterback was Jay Schroeder and although he had led the team to a 5-1 finish after Theismann went down the Redskins still weren't quite sure what they had in him.

As it turns out, Schroeder was pretty good, at least in 1986. He passed for 4,109 yards, a team record that still stands, and earned a Pro Bowl invitation.

The job of filling Riggins' shoes fell to George Rogers, who the Redskins had acquired from the Saints a year earlier. He turned in a solid season with 1,203 yards on the ground.

Most of the original Hogs were in place on the offensive line with Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm, Jeff Bostic and Mark May starting most of the games. The strength of the defense was the defensive line with Dexter Manley and Charles Mann at end and Dave Butz clogging things up at tackle.

The Redskins started off 5-0 but kicker Mark Moseley was on shaky ground, hitting less than half of his field goals. Although his missed extra point in a 30-6 loss to Dallas didn't have an effect on the outcome, Moseley was waived the next day.

Two weeks later they lost to the Giants, something that would become an all-too familiar happening. The next week the Redskins rallied from 12 points down in the final seven minutes to send a thriller against the Vikings into overtime. A touchdown pass from Schroeder to Clark won it in OT.

That sparked another five-game winning streak that thudded to a halt at the hands of, you guessed it, the Giants.

Despite winding up with a 12-4 record, the Redskins were relegated to a Wild Card spot as New York won the division with a 14-2 mark.

A home playoff win against the Rams set up a trip to Soldier Field to face the defending champion Bears. Schroeder threw two touchdown passes to Art Monk and the Redskins outscored Chicago 20-0 in the second half to shuffle out of the Windy City with a 27-13 win.

The dream season ended when the Redskins faced their worst nightmare in the NFC Championship Game. The Giants were much more dominant than the 17-0 final score would indicate.

Still, the 1986 Redskins proved that they were in the class of teams that could retool rather than rebuild. They would make it all the way back in 1987.

My upcoming book The Redskins Chronicle has a detailed account of every game of the 1986 season. In fact, you can read about every game the team has played since it came to Washington in 1937 through the 2008 season. The book also has a unique scrapbook woven throughout that recalls what was happening off the field a well. For a preview and to sign up to get notified when the book comes out go to RedskinsChronicle.com.

Minicamp quick hits

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Fri, 01 May 2009 23:43:00 +0000

A few observations from today's Redskins minicamp:

As most of you know, I'm not much of a Colt Brennan guy but I have to say that I was impressed during seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills. He fired a few intermediate passes over the middle with great accuracy and authority and showed good touch on deep passes. I'm not ready to anoint him as a future star or anything but after today I'll be a lot less surprised if it does happen.
Brian Orakpo worked with the linebackers earlier in the session and with the defensive line later on. In the 11-on-11 he displayed a quick first move and good speed around the edge from a three-point stance. I'm a bit concerned about throwing too much at him with the two positions.
D. J. Hackett, the former Seahawk and Panther that the Redskins tried to sign as a free agent last year, was in for a non-roster tryout. He looked sharp, although he did have the advantage of having a good base of knowledge of Zorn's offense.
The best-looking receiver out there was Devin Thomas. He certainly seems to be in excellent shape and he's running sharp routes. It appears that, unlike last year, he "gets it".
I had a good chat with Zorn with just a couple of other reporters after the main media session had broken up. He walked us through the process of sorting out the tryout players. "First we identify the ones who are going to hurt themselves or hurt someone else. They're gone today," he said, smiling. "We didn't have any of those," he added.

In his hand was a laminated version of the tryout roster that had been given to us. "It's kind of hard to sort them out when they just got here," Zorn said.

He said that everyone probably would stick around until after the second session on Saturday and then they will probably thin some out before Sunday's single practice.
And, don't worry, the swine flu is under control at Redskins Park. The fist bump has replaced the handshake as the official greeting and hand sanitizers are all over the place.
If Phillip Daniels' knee holds out, he could contribute this year. He is in terrific shape. When I first glanced at him up close I thought he was wearing shells but, no, his upper arms are just that big.

Marcus Mason a Redskin again

rich.tandler@gmail.com (Rich Tandler) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:24:00 +0000

The Washington Redskins have claimed running back Marcus Mason off of waivers.

Mason made strong bids to make the team in each of the past two training camps.

Here is the press release from Redskins PR.

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA – The Washington Redskins announced today that they were awarded running back Marcus Mason off waivers from the New York Jets.

Mason was in training camp with the Redskins last year before being waived and signed to the Baltimore Ravens practice squad. After eight weeks there, the Jets inked Mason to their active roster, where he would spend seven weeks before being waived. Mason was inactive for all six of his games with the Jets.

The 5-foot-9, 218-pound Mason led all National Football League players in rushing in the 2008 preseason with 317 yards on 66 carries. A native of Potomac, Md., Mason also attended training camp with Washington in 2007 after a two-year, All-American career at Youngstown State. The 24-year-old is a graduate of Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, Md.