The Redskins Blog

Mark Rypien On John Beck And What Quarterbacks Gain From Sitting

Mark Rypien was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL Draft and didn’t take a snap in a meaningful game until Week 4 of the 1988 season. He was 23 when he left Washington State, and 26 by the time he made his pro debut, in a loss at the Phoenix Cardinals. Rypien spent those two years on the injured reserve list; it was a different time in NFL history, and it seems likely that he was just being given a chance to learn slowly while retaining his roster spot.

So when I was talking to Rypien at Friday’s Mickey Steele Memorial Golf Outing, he seemed like a perfect guy to ask about how the long period between snaps might be benefitting John Beck.

“Well, his bones won’t be brittle,” Rypien said. “He won’t be beat up as much.”

Which is an indisputable, physical truth. But Rypien was more skeptical of the idea that Beck could’ve picked up much of the mental game from the sidelines. Read more »

Mark Rypien Weighs In On His Daughter And The Lingerie Football League

There are two reasons that I was a little apprehensive about asking Mark Rypien about his daughter Angela’s new gig as quarterback for the Seattle Mist of the Lingerie Football League:

1. 1) Because I was fifteen years old when Rypien led the Redskins to the Super Bowl; he was one of first players I ever wrote to for an autograph, and in my head he’ll always be where he is in that photo above: about to chuck the ball in a beautiful arc sixty yards downfield. I don’t often get starstruck — one of the main (exceedingly obvious) lessons I’ve learned writing this blog is that even the biggest NFL stars tend to be pretty normal folks — but for some reason this time felt like something of an exception. (The other major exception was Doug Williams. Maybe I’m just terrified of quarterbacks.)
3. 2) Because asking someone a question involving the words “daughter” and “lingerie” is rarely fun, especially when the someone in question is 6-foot-4 and not all THAT far removed from a career as a professional football player.

If Rypien had been a jerk in general, the fond memories engendered by item 1 would’ve been damaged; if Rypien reacted poorly to item 2, my fifteen-year-old self would’ve been retroactively devastated.

Thankfully, neither of those things happened. Quite the opposite, actually: when I introduced myself to Rypien at the charity auction the night before the Mickey Steele Memorial Celebrity Golf Outing (which partially benefitted The Rypien Foundation), he asked if i was the one who had written up that interview with Angela; I acknowledged — only a bit skittishly — that I was, he said he’d enjoyed the piece, and just like that most of the awkwardness was removed from the topic.

Notice that I said most. Read more »

A Dispatch From The Redskins Cheerleader Calendar Shoot

Jordan Beane last appeared on this blog as our Combine Correspondent, sending back dispatches on the pre-draft goings-on in Indianapolis. Now, his day job with the Redskins Broadcast Network has sent him to stare at scantily-clad folks in another exotic location, and he’ll again be reporting back to the blog. This trip may be less directly impactful on the team’s off-season moves, but I think you’ll still be plenty interested. Here’s Beane:

Whenever I told people that I’d be traveling to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to document the 2011 Redskins cheerleader calendar shoot here, I’d inevitably get a response along these lines:

• “Dude, you’re so lucky.”
• “What a tough job YOU have.”
• “Beaches, drinks, Redskins cheerleaders? I don’t feel sorry for you at all.”
• “Can I go?”

As I work through my second day of waking up before 5:00 AM for our sunrise shoots, I’m sure they wouldn’t be so quick to trade places now.

I mean, this is too early to wake up no matter WHAT you’re doing afterward.

Still, I’ve got it relatively easy. The cheerleaders are up and getting ready while I’m still snoozing, rising at two or three AM in preparation for shooting in front of that perfect Dominican sunrise and all around our hotel. And, as you can see below… Read more »

Anthony Armstrong is Coaching a Different Kind of Football

Redskins.com intern Brian Tinsman heard wide receiver Anthony Armstrong chatting on ESPN Radio about his new job, and checks in with this update. I’m mainly excited that he was able to create the “Ninjas” tag, which is something I’ve always thought this blog needed.

by Brian Tinsman
Redskins.com

As this unusual offseason continues, players are finding increasingly creative ways to stay busy.

• Cincinnati Bengal Chad Ochocinco found out the (very) hard way, that he’s not a bull-rider. Or a soccer player.
• Baltimore Raven Tom Zbikowski found out that he is a good boxer.
• New England Patriot Tom Brady tried out his best Derek Zoolander impression.

And then there’s Anthony Armstrong — or should I say Coach Anthony Armstrong — who recently caught up with John Kincade of ESPN Radio to discuss his somewhat unusual offseason gig. Read more »

Fred Davis Throws Out A Disappointing First Pitch

When Fred Davis was drafted in the second round of the 2008 drafts, one of the things you heard over and over about the USC tight end was that he was “athletic.”

“With his athletic ability and emergence as a receiver, it was not surprising that he was recognized as the best tight end in college football,” NFL.com gushed.

“Fred Davis is extremely athletic,” wrote WarRoomReport.com.

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock used the word “athletic” twice in one quote in a USA Today piece on Davis: “He’s an athletic mismatch for a linebacker and can get down the field and challenge safeties. He’s extremely athletic with the ball in his hands after the catch.”

Apparently “pitching a baseball” isn’t one of the skills that qualifies someone as being athletic. Davis threw out the opening pitch at a Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens game, and WTOL-11 sports reporter Jordan Strack can barely contain his amusement in the recap.

“His first pitch? Not pretty,” Strack says. “Threw it past Robbie Weinhardt.” Here’s what the aftermath of that looked like:

In fact, the only person in the package harsher on Davis’ pitching abilities is Davis himself. “I usually catch the ball,” Davis says. “I’m not used to throwing it like that. I give credit to those guys that get on that mound, ’cause that … I embarrassed myself today. I think I did better than three years ago, though. I think I did a lot better.”

“Nice job, Fred,” Strack says from the studio, chuckling as he prepares to go to his next story.

As Davis himself noted, though, the Redskins will be expecting him to catch the ball, not throw it, so the ramifications of this aren’t TOO substantial. Check out the entire video after the jump. Read more »

Leonard Hankerson Gets Some More Redskins Gear

Almost from the moment he was drafted in the third round, wide receiver Leonard Hankerson has been tweeting pictures of himself in Redskins gear. It was a cool story, interesting enough that I talked to the longtime friend who provided Hankerson with the burgundy and gold accoutrements, but apparently a few twitpics of himself wearing borrowed clothes wasn’t enough for Hankerson: late Sunday, the former Miami wide receiver tweeted a picture of himself in a pretty authentic-looking Redskins uniform.

Before I re-post Hankerson’s picture, let me make it very clear that no uniform numbers have yet been issued; as far as I know, Mike Furrey is still on the roster and is still the person who would officially be wearing 85. [UPDATE: Furrey is apparently no longer on the roster; according to his website, he's the head coach at Kentucky Christian University. Still, no numbers have been issued to draft picks that I know of, so that point remains accurate.] THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL IN ANY WAY. That said, it still looks pretty freakin’ cool.

Based on the background signage, it looks like this shot comes from a photo shoot for a Topps football card — presumably something to do with the one from the company’s high-end “Inception” line that Hankerson tweeted on Wednesday. Here, look: Read more »