Monday, July 27: Casey Rabach Needs A New RV For Training Camp
The law of unintended consequences is about to catch up with Casey Rabach.
When Rabach's friend and offensive-linemate Jon Jansen was released (and signed with Detroit), Rabach took a philosophical,"that's the way this business works" approach to the situation. Which made sense at the time, because ... well, that's the way this business works. But in just a couple of days, there will be a very physical, very tangible reminder of Jansen's absence: no RV at training camp.
It had become a training camp tradition: Jansen would park an RV on the outskirts of the parking lot at Redskins park, and a select group of players -- mainly offensive linemen -- would use it as a mid-day escape from training camp.
"Jon brought his RV here, which was a Class A RV. It had satellite TV, air conditioning, bathroom facilities, kitchen facilities, and fridge. And during practices and time off, we'd all get out there, catch a snooze, catch a little movie time ... it was just a place to kind of hang out and get away from football."
Not having this getaway represents something of a problem for Rabach, so he's determined to do something about it.
"I'm putting out some feelers here. I'm hoping there's a die-hard Redskins fan out there that won't be using their RV during training camp. And if so, if they want to lend it to some of their favorite Redskins -- you know, me, Chris Cooley, some other guys that might be sprinkled in there -- we'll gently use it, keep it in immaculate shape, but maybe they can hook us up for an oasis away from camp. We'll definitely have power out there, but a generator would also be nice in case, you know, we have problems."
Rabach does not expect anyone to do this sort of thing out of the goodness of their hearts, though.
"We definitely can hook someone up with autographs," he tells me, "maybe tickets to some games, some access that may not be available to the common fan during training camp. You know, it's definitely negotiable."
Much has been made about Coach Zorn's decision not to make the veterans stay at the team hotel during camp this year, so I wondered why Rabach still needed the RV so badly.
"I've got a twenty to thirty minute drive home at this point," he points out, "and that thirty second commute to the RV would definitely be a lot better than the longer drive home. It would definitely help us out a lot."
While we were on the subject, I asked what he thought about Zorn's decision. Unsurprisingly, he's in favor of it. "I think it's a good thing. I think it's nice to break up camp and have some normalcy to your life other than, you know, 24-7 football."
But, I suggested, what about the building of camaraderie?
"The only time that we're not gonna be together is when we sleep, so when we're sleeping at the hotel, there ain't a whole lot of time that we're seeing each other anyway."
There was one more question about the whole RV thing that seemed important to me, and I couldn't think of a delicate way to phrase it. So I just plowed ahead: with a whole bunch of very large, very sweaty guys using the RV for downtime for several weeks straight, what was the cleaning plan going to be?
"We'll have it professionally cleaned when we're done," Rabach assured me, "and if they want that done on a weekly basis we can do that too. We're happy to work something out."
So if you're the sort of person who has a spare Class A or C RV lying around, and you'd like to let Rabach, Cooley, and company use it from this Thursday until camp breaks (roughly four weeks), email me and I'll pass it along.
There are two other consequences of Jansen's departure that this won't solve, though: the first, the depth chart at right tackle, will become clear over training camp. But the other -- who will now supply the milkshakes from Whitey's -- may just be a casualty of the way this business works.
RV photo by Brian Murphy of Homer McFanboy.
Much has been made about Coach Zorn's decision not to make the veterans stay at the team hotel during camp this year, so I wondered why Rabach still needed the RV so badly.
"I've got a twenty to thirty minute drive home at this point," he points out, "and that thirty second commute to the RV would definitely be a lot better than the longer drive home. It would definitely help us out a lot."While we were on the subject, I asked what he thought about Zorn's decision. Unsurprisingly, he's in favor of it. "I think it's a good thing. I think it's nice to break up camp and have some normalcy to your life other than, you know, 24-7 football."
But, I suggested, what about the building of camaraderie?
"The only time that we're not gonna be together is when we sleep, so when we're sleeping at the hotel, there ain't a whole lot of time that we're seeing each other anyway."
There was one more question about the whole RV thing that seemed important to me, and I couldn't think of a delicate way to phrase it. So I just plowed ahead: with a whole bunch of very large, very sweaty guys using the RV for downtime for several weeks straight, what was the cleaning plan going to be?
"We'll have it professionally cleaned when we're done," Rabach assured me, "and if they want that done on a weekly basis we can do that too. We're happy to work something out."
So if you're the sort of person who has a spare Class A or C RV lying around, and you'd like to let Rabach, Cooley, and company use it from this Thursday until camp breaks (roughly four weeks), email me and I'll pass it along.
There are two other consequences of Jansen's departure that this won't solve, though: the first, the depth chart at right tackle, will become clear over training camp. But the other -- who will now supply the milkshakes from Whitey's -- may just be a casualty of the way this business works.
RV photo by Brian Murphy of Homer McFanboy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-27-2009 @ 2:52PM
Jeremy W said...
I have a pop up camper they are more then welcome to use
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 2:54PM
lou22152 said...
they can use my 4 door civic!
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 4:09PM
dutchnblue said...
Why not just buy a gently used RV?
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 6:00PM
abrlcklnthewall said...
What about Jansen's donuts?
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 7:00PM
jpickeral said...
no kiddin.. these dudes are filthy rich, right? Cooley has the cash! :) lemme guess.. his wife wouldnt approve of the spending? :p ahhhh j/k.. low blow, i know.. HAIL! Get that ring!
Reply
7-27-2009 @ 8:30PM
msjd2549 said...
hail
Reply
7-28-2009 @ 12:45AM
johnnyti said...
A very odd request! There are RV dealers that rent them, I wonder why he doesn't look in that direction like they do with that car dealer. Bartering makes since but not asking someoone to lend you something that they've saved for and cost over $100,000 and up to $500,000.Maybe they can borrow Maddens or Kornhisers RV they're not using them anymore!
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 7:36PM
Tht said...
Although I know camps over if you guys want an rv to use I have one to sell you. 110k - It was mark mosleys previously so it has skins history. If you only needed for short time might work a trade of some kind. 40 ft 4 slide deisel loaded fleetwood excursion- I'm actually Also looking for rv pass for this Sundays game if you have any leads on one.
Reply