Redskins Blog

Redskins Talk About Practicing Tackling

Matt Terl — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:39:00 EST

In yesterday's links post, I wrote briefly about an Associated Press article that put forth the idea that not tackling in practice was leading to shoddy tackling in games. Here's a quick excerpt to give you the flavor of the thing, but it's really worth reading:

Sure, [not tackling in practice] keeps everybody healthy, but some Sundays can look pretty ragged. Many players get a chance to tackle at full speed only during exhibition games. It shows once the regular season begins.

"It shows a whole bunch," Redskins safeties coach Steve Jackson said. "That's one of the fundamental skills. A lot of people don't tackle now because of the salary cap. You lose a guy because of a tackling drill, you're the dumbest guy on the planet."

But one thing I noticed as I read it through is that most of the quotes come from people who definitely aren't missing tackles on Sundays: coaches. Since missed tackles have been a problem for the Redskins defense at points this year, I thought it would be worth asking some of those guys for their thoughts on this article's premise.
The players I talked to were almost unanimously opposed to tackling in practice, although their reasons varied.

Cornerback Carlos Rogers:

Would tackling in practice improve tackling in games?

"I don't think so. I think, defense, you get yourself more in position. You know what I'm saying? You can't just take a guy to the ground like you're in college. You hit a guy here, you got too many injuries that can occur. You can't tackle a guy like that, because we need him more on Sunday than anything.

"Here I think we just always make sure we're in position. Once we watch film, you'll kind of know if you'd make the tackle. You wrap him up, you should have your cavalry coming.

"As a DB, you do more things with leverage. You're in Cover 2? Make sure you're outside the guy. Don't let him beat you outside if he catches the ball, because you've got everybody else coming from inside. And I think those are things we practice on, the fundamentals of making sure you're in the right position.

"Even with passes, you know, a lot of guys 'catch' passes in practice. But we know we're right there, that should be a hit or a knockdown or a caused fumble."

Safety Kareem Moore:

Would tackling in practice make any difference to tackling in games?

"No. Tackling is, like, an attitude. If you want to tackle you can tackle. You just got to, man, go out there and tackle. Period. You made it this far, man, you know how to tackle."

Defensive tackle Anthony Montgomery:

This article suggests that tackling in practice would improve in-game tackling. Do you--

"They're wrong. It's an attitude. When you approach a guy, you either got the want-to to get him down or you don't, you're one of them guys who closes your and drop your head and you're gonna miss tackles. But a guy like London Fletcher, he has attitude when it comes to tackles; you don't see him missing many tackles.

"Attitude, though. You been tackling since you was eight years old; you gotta have the attitude to go tackle.

"Now, at the same time, you gotta give credit to the guys with the ball, too. They get paid to make you miss. A guy like Darren Sproles ain't gonna be an easy tackle. But sometimes, it's not about, like, 'Aw, they shoulda practiced tackling 'cause he missed that tackle.' This guy just, he's a shifty guy and got moves."

But is not tackling in practice essentially practicing missed tackles?

"Nah, that's a high school excuse or something. You a pro. Ain't no rememberin' nothing. When you approaching a guy, you need to be goin' to hit him and come with bad intentions. That's a high school excuse."

Cornerback DeAngelo Hall:

Would tackling in practice improve tackling in games?

"Obviously, if you don't practice something you're not gonna to be great at it, but we don't practice live tackling.

"It would be kind of hard, too, to keep banging and banging. You can get banged up. All these guys making all this money just keep banging up against each other in practice just so you got some good practice tackles. There's so much more to this game than just that.

"Tackling's got a lot to do with just want-to, it's not just technique and to practice at it.

"I mean, I missed a couple and I've got fingers that are so [jacked] up I can't grab and hold on to nothing. So if I can't hit you and shoot you down it is going to be hard for me to pull you down. And all you do is hurt 'em even worse if you keep practicing."

The only dissenter? The only guy who wanted to go out there and hit people in practice as well as in games? Brace yourselves, because this is going to come as a complete and utter shock, but ...

Safety LaRon Landry:

There was an article the other day that suggested that tackling in practice would improve in-game tackling. Do you think that's true?

"I mean, I agree, man. I think that tackling should be repped to a certain extent.

"To me, this is the NFL. I mean, from middle school to high school, they don't have no comparison to the league. You step the game up, and each level gets more competitive and the players accrue more value.

"Under Saban, we tackled on Monday through Thursday. Only day we didn't tackle was Friday, which was no pads. So, I mean, you tackle the scout team. You bring them to the ground.

"We done it when Les Miles came. We did it under Bo Pellini. Under Coach Will Muschamp. I mean, we tackled all the time.

"And it was fun. For the scout team too, it was fun.

"I think that's how you do get your feels, that how you do get your edge coming into Sunday.

"If you got guys running down the seam, and they looking for the go [route], looking back over their shoulder, you can't hit a guy like that. But they running the dig, they should protect themselves as well, understand that they're gettin' hit, you know? 'Cause come gametime they gonna tell the defender, 'Hey, man, you can't hit me like that.'

"It prepares the offensive guys as well as the defensive guys. It's a two-way road to me, and I don't see the problem with it. It becomes a problem when it's too extensive."

Redskins Talk About Practicing Tackling originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sam Paulescu Seems Like A Pretty Straightforward Guy

Matt Terl — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:23:00 EST

When I wrote about new Redskins punter Sam Paulescu yesterday, I mentioned just how lively the position has been over the last two years, but I don't think I gave the basic numbers: Paulescu, assuming he punts the ball on Sunday, will be the fourth guy to that for the Redskins this season, and the sixth in the last two. I also recapped much of the bloggable zaniness of the last five guys who punted the ball, and speculated that we'd find out more about Paulescu's quirks today.

In a brief conversation today, though, Paulescu seems largely free of obvious quirks. Where Glenn Pakulak talked about the nomadic lifestyle of the journeyman punter and his side gig as a bartender, Paulescu sounded pretty darn goal-oriented when I asked what he'd been doing during the season.
"Training," he said. "You don't do the NFL and get a full-time job. I did help out at a local high school, a Christian school, back in Denver, and I love working with kids. So three hours a day I go there, help 'em out in the weight room and just coach 'em up a little bit. I love that."

Okay, that makes sense. Anything else?

"The rest of the time I've been training and, you know what?" This, I figured, was where he'd drop some kind of quirky punter bomb. BASE jumping or Le Parkour or something.

Not exactly. "Hanging out with my wife," he said. "Just got married eight months ago, and I can say I really enjoy the time with my wife. It's been a blessing to have that."

In the end, of course, nothing that Paulescu does off the field is particularly relevant to his stay with the Redskins, no matter how quirky it is or isn't. "More importantly than anything is the fact that we just win," he said. "I know that's just the bottom line, so whatever I can do to help, I'm gonna do the best I can."

Shaun Suisham seemed confident enough in his third holder of this season. "I think Sam's gonna do just fine this weekend," he said, restraining his own characteristic Canadian zaniness. "Things are smooth and went well in practice; I don't anticipate any issues at all."

* * * *

The team released running back Quinton Ganther to make room for Paulescu.

UPDATE: Word is that Paulescu speaks fluent Romanian. Is that quirky? I don't even know anymore.

Sam Paulescu Seems Like A Pretty Straightforward Guy originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, November 6: DeAngelo Hall Week Continues

Matt Terl — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:33:00 EST

It certainly feels like there's been a lot of DeAngelo Hall content this week. I'm not going to count posts to see if that's true, but if it is, it's more by accident than by design, and there are two contributing factors: first, because he's going back to face his old team -- a team he left somewhat acrimoniously -- for the first time as a member of the Redskins. That's pretty much always going to turn into a story. And second, because Hall is consistently willing to speak with unusual frankness about the realities of NFL life.

Thursday, both of those factors kind of came together as Hall spoke with unusual frankness about the reality of leaving a team under somewhat acrimonious circumstances.

The story, according to Hall, goes something like this: when the new Atlanta regime of general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith came in, they sat down with him. All sides, he says, agreed that Hall would stick around in Atlanta and eventually work out a contract extension. Then he went to the scouting combine in Indianapolis and found out that he was being shopped in a trade; this is when the Steve Wyche article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution -- the one linked to the words "somewhat acrimoniously" above -- was published. Suffice it to say that Hall was not happy.

Anyhow, here's how Wyche described Hall being shopped in a trade at the time:

The Newark Star-Ledger reported Friday that the New York Giants might be willing to trade its first-round pick to acquire Hall. Officials from other teams and people with knowledge of preliminary trade talks said that Washington could have interest in trading for Hall.

Redskins vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato declined comment because Hall is under contract - for one more year - with the Falcons.

If Hall were dealt, it would take at least a first-round pick and possibly more, two Falcons officials said.

All very clinical and journalistically correct. On Thursday, Hall described what that process was actually like behind the scenes.

"We had a deal done here" in Washington, Hall said, "but Arthur Blank didn't want to send me here. That's why I ended up not coming here. They couldn't agree on the trade. We agreed on the money, couldn't agree on the trade. New York, we agreed on a trade, but couldn't agree on the money. Dallas, same thing. Jacksonville, they agreed on a trade, couldn't agree on the money. I was gonna go to Jacksonville after I left Atlanta. Didn't work.

"So Oakland was the only one who agreed on the money and they agreed on the trade." He shrugged.

Back to the AJC article.

Hall said he felt "betrayed" and that "these guys kind of stabbed me in the back," by saying they wanted to retain him while engaging in trade conversations.

"It's not a situation where I'm out here trying to request a trade," Hall said. "That is not the case. The case is these guys are out here trying to trade me. That's what it comes down to."

Thursday, Hall was a bit more specific about who he meant by "these guys," and he was very clear that he did not include the Falcons coaching staff.

"They were cool," Hall said. "I like Coach Smith, like I said before. He's a good coach. I liked him when he came. I liked the staff -- I had already played for the coordinator, he was there already, the DB coach was still there. Everybody was pretty much intact."

Which left one specific target for Hall's ire. "I didn't trust Dimitroff at all," he said, "because he lied to me. He lied to me several times. He promised me he was gonna get somethin' done, and he's behind my back tryin' to shop me at the draft. That's one thing. If you keep it straight hundred with me, I keep it hundred with you. Truthfully, I'm gonna fight and claw for you. You lie to me? Can't trust you. Wouldn't want to."

One more from the AJC piece.

"I don't think I'm any more outspoken than hundreds of other guys in the NFL," Hall said.

This is the only thing in there that I'm pretty confident Hall was mistaken about -- and that's a GOOD thing. It all goes back to that "willing to speak with unusual frankness" thing. I mean, I really don't think you get a wrap-up quote like this from "hundreds of other guys":

"Promises were made and they lied," Hall said. "Like I said, when they lied I thought, 'Can't trust 'em. I gotta get outta here. I wanna get outta here. I will.'"

And he did, which is we can all share in DeAngelo Hall week.

Friday, November 6: DeAngelo Hall Week Continues originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Head Coach Jim Zorn Agrees With Greg Blache

Matt Terl — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:10:00 EST

During his daily media chat session, head coach Jim Zorn was asked his opinion on Greg Blache's impassioned defense of Daniel Snyder. You might have thought -- given all the reports that swirled around Sherm Lewis taking over play-calling duties -- that this might've been a tense moment, but that wasn't how it played out at all.

Zorn didn't hesitate before agreeing with Blache and offering up his own defense of the owner -- and taking responsibility for a big chunk of the problem.

"Dan Snyder is a guy that absolutely cares about other people. He does not have that kind of [dark heart] attitude," Zorn said.
"And I haven't been here all that long -- I haven't been here as long as Greg has been here -- but I have seen time and time again Dan reach to anybody in this program, even the secondary parts of this program, and help in any way he can when there's need. I've seen it. And I would concur with what Greg had to say about Dan really caring about winning. I mean, I really do."

Asked to address all the drama of this season, he continued, "Some of the words that are said are just so harsh. I mean, gosh. It's just ALL the time, it just seems like everybody's down. And part of that is on me. We're losing. And that creates issues. And I think that's more of the problem than anything: it's losing. And I wanna help change that."

Head Coach Jim Zorn Agrees With Greg Blache originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Notes After Practice: Another Week, Another Punter

Matt Terl — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:31:00 EST

Since I started working here, it feels like there's been more player movement at punter than at any other position. And somehow it always brings the wackiness. From the early days of "Durant Brooks is a weapon" last season through Ryan Plackemeier -- dubbed "Muffintop" by the Mr. I gang -- to Hunter "Greatest Holder and Shoe Model and William the Bruce Impersonator and Christian Rocker of All Time" Smith and his former-bartender substitute, it's been a pretty lively bunch. And that doesn't even account for Shaun Suisham's brief, heroic turn at the position.

Well, the shuffling continued today, as Smith aggravated his groin injury and the team worked out (and plans to sign) Sam Paulescu to punt this week. Paulescu's immediate claims to fame are leveling Tampa Bay's Clifton Smith (in the video above) and helping to determine the height of the videoboard in the new Dallas stadium.

I'm sure we'll find out other fascinating specifics when the guy officially signs on, likely tomorrow. Something to look forward to.

Other practice notes....

Somehow, H.B. Blades is doing extensive work on the side just nine days after surgery, and may be available for Sunday's game. Byron Westbrook did limited sidework, but is likely out Sunday. And Chris Horton tweaked his knee today; no details on that yet.
The wide receivers seemed to be having a rough practice today. I saw Malcolm Kelly get reprimanded for attempting a one-handed catch, and it wasn't even a particularly good attempt; it almost looked like he was stiff-arming the ball away. Devin Thomas had his routes corrected a couple times and also had a couple balls bounce off his hands deep.
Albert Haynesworth managed to overturn a tackling dummy hard enough that it threw off the plates that weigh it down; it took three people to pick up the plates one at a time to replace them. Just a freakish display of force by Haynesworth.
Alvin Bowen (of all people) had the hit of practice, one that fired up the whole defense and earned him a bunch of cheers. Bowen -- remember the compliance linebacker on the practice squad? -- came clear through a blocker and just blew up the running back, not unlike in the compliance linebacker videos. It was the most electric moment of the entire practice, and left the running back -- either Portis or Betts, couldn't see -- stunned for a few seconds.

Notes After Practice: Another Week, Another Punter originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Greg Blache Breaks Silence, Defends Daniel Snyder. I Transcribe.

Matt Terl — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:10:00 EST

Defensive coordinator Greg Blache hasn't been talking to the media lately, not because of a boycott but for personal reasons that were approved by the league. Today, that changed.

I figured I had written everything I was going to write about John Riggins' screed from last night in my last post. But Blache wasn't satisfied with quietly mumbling his frustration with Riggins. He asked the Redskins PR staff to gather the media, and unleashed the following comments.

"Hey, guys. I just wanted to come in here today real quick. This morning when I came in I turned my computer on, and I was looking at ProFootballTalk and I saw a comment that John Riggins had made about Mr. Snyder, and it really bothered me the more I sat there at my desk. Because there's been a lot of criticism of him over the last few weeks, and this is a man I've known for six years -- since I've been here.

"And in the six years I've never seen John Riggins here. I've met him once at the Beach Blitz down in Virginia Beach; never seen him down in the building. So to hear such a vicious criticism of somebody I consider not just my employer but a good friend ... bothered me.

"As much as I hadn't been talking to the media, I felt like this was something I needed to do. Somebody needed to stand up and set this record straight, because this person ... the comment that was made was "dark heart"? That's totally, totally untrue. And the problem is the fans don't get to know Mr. Snyder like we do, and so they get an impression of things that are written and things people say."

But wait, there's more:"Let me just tell you something: for a person that's been here for six years, that's gone to him for things that I needed in my family -- there's times that he's come to me, when he's heard about issues in my family, and offered his assistance -- it's unsurpassed. He's one of the most generous kind individuals you could ever meet.

"My wife and I are involved in hospice, and there's been countless times he's come and helped us with issues and stuff with hospice. So to see that, and get the feeling that that's what everybody on the outside is getting to hear about this person, I just felt like it was time for somebody to stand up and set the record straight. And I decided that I was gonna do it, and I was gonna do it today.

"Because it's enough. I mean, it really is. We've had criticism from other people outside the building saying what Dan Snyder is and what he isn't ... they don't know Dan Snyder.

"And that's the problem. Do I agree with everything Dan Snyder does? No. Just trust me, because he and I, we work together, and I'm not gonna tell you that this is a utopia. But there's no utopias in football. There's no utopias in life.

"But at the same time, enough's enough.

"And on every story, there's one person's side, there's the other person's side, and then behind it all there's a third side, and it's the truth. And I just felt like it was time for somebody to come and just throw a little truth out there. Because we keep hearing these other sides, these other factions, and to be quite candid, the third side, the truth, is that this person?

"All he wants to do is win. That's all he wants to do. He'll spend his money, he'll spend his time. He wants to win. He's here for the people, for the fans, for the Washington Redskins. There's nobody it pains more when we are unsuccessful than Dan Snyder. "There's nobody that cares more about the fans than Dan Snyder. There's nobody that wants to win here more than Dan Snyder. And I just think that it's time it be put out there, it's time that you guys understand, that everything that's wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder. And it's so easy for the people that have access to the microphone everyday to point fingers and shuffle it on someone else but at the same time, I'm in a ton of those meetings when decisions are made.

"So a lot of the things that are wrong right here, you can't go back and say, 'Well, that was so-and-so's fault.' [Something I don't quite catch about 'comments are made'.]

"Just to set the record straight, all right? I just think it's wrong. I wish the best for Mr. Riggins and all his endeavors or whatever that he does.

"But for me, that was enough. For me to wash my face in the morning and feel like a man, or to talk to my kids about doing the right thing, I needed to come here and make this comment today.

"I got no other interests in it. I have a contract for next year so it's not like I'm trying to dig something up and if they send me home, the way coaches contracts are written, they gotta pay me anyway. So quite honestly, this is unsolicited but from the heart and something that I just felt I needed to do."

Greg Blache Breaks Silence, Defends Daniel Snyder. I Transcribe. originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, November 5: Guy Fawkes Day Links

Matt Terl — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:19:00 EST

None of these links have anything to DO with Guy Fawkes day, but still.

One of the things that's the most frustrating about watching -- and trying to write about -- Redskins practice is that the team, like so many other NFL teams, doesn't actually tackle. It makes it incredibly hard to judge how successful a play actually is, and how good defensive coverage actually is. A guy may get there every time in the game just like he does in practice ... but in the game, you have to actually finish the play, and THAT doesn't always happen.

Joseph White of the Associated Press thinks there might be a correlation there. (On the Redskins side of things, Chris Chase at Shutdown Corner seems to think this applies to DeAngelo Hall.) It's certainly an interesting argument.

More links....

ESPN's NFC East blogger Matt Mosley takes another run at Albert Haynesworth: "Haynesworth was supposed to help transform the defense into a dominant unit. I haven't seen anything close to dominance. The Redskins were handed one of the easiest opening stretches in the history of the league (seriously) and they found a way to lose five of those games. In the early games that I witnessed, Haynesworth was often too winded to stay on the field when the Redskins needed him most."

I'm sure we'll the now-traditional rebuttal at Mr. Irrelevant soon.
Chris Cooley is keeping busy with pottery during his rehab, which will help out with his November 30th art show.
Speaking of Cooley's art show, I hypothesized on Twitter that the Washington Post -- having added KidsPost to their list of "sections that have taken shots at the Redskins" -- would have their Arts beat reporters at that event, knives sharpened and ready to go.
And Rich Tandler does a great job inadvertently articulating my thoughts on John Riggins' latest comments over at his Real Redskins blog. I mean, he articulates his own thoughts on purpose; it's inadvertent that they mirror mine.

Thursday, November 5: Guy Fawkes Day Links originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Redskins Talk Disappointment And Optimism Today

Matt Terl — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:08:00 EST

For obvious reasons, there were a lot of quotes coming out of the Redskins locker room today that dealt with owner Daniel Snyder's statement yesterday that he feels disappointed and embarrassed with the first half of the season. That was not a surprise.

Santana Moss discusses the owner feeling disappointed:
"I think we all are. It's not a good feeling to be who we are and where we are right now. We know it's people out there that pay a lot of money and that respect what we've been trying to do, and you hate to let 'em down. But at the same time, I hope they understand that we're not TRYING to, you know what I mean?"
Jason Campbell discusses the owner feeling disappointed:
"We're all in this together. We're not happy about where we were at as a team after the first half, and definitely not impressed with what we were doing as far as trying to win games. We have to regroup and refocus, and just understand the position we're in is where we're at, and now we just have to deal with it."

Clinton Portis discusses the owner feeling disappointed:
"It didn't take him to speak. We know we're a disappointment. I think round here you just gotta hear it out of someone else's mouth. We know we didn't play up to par. It didn't take Mr. Snyder to step up and say we apologize. We'll apologize to our fans. We'll apologize to our coaches. It's us, we gotta play up to par. We can't put that on him. I think people felt as if ... him saying he apologized, that's not going to make our record better than 2-5 and make people forgive us for being 2-5 and make everybody say, 'Well, we're coming to the game, they apologized!'. We just haven't performed the way we should."

Fine. Like I said, no real surprises there. But here's the part that WAS a little bit surprising: there was a bit of optimism today that I haven't seen much of, and the purest doses of it came from guys that I don't automatically think of as locker room leaders.

Clinton Portis on if the season is over at 2-5:
"We can't feel that way, you know? We just gotta to take it one game at a time. You gotta figure things GOTTA turn around. If we go get a win on Sunday in Atlanta and we turn around we get Denver coming here, and then, you know, so on and so forth. But you gotta take it one game at a time. Our season's not over with; the same way we got in this mess, we can get ourselves out."

Albert Haynesworth on the current situation:
"We've got to do something here. The losses are starting to pile up. We get a few more, we can count ourselves out of the playoffs."

So if you've been looking for a bright side to a frustrating first half, Albert Haynesworth would like you to realize that the Redskins are still firmly in the playoff hunt. And, as I've mentioned before, he's really not the kind of guy you want to argue with.

Redskins Talk Disappointment And Optimism Today originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Punt Returner Situation Remains Unsettled

Matt Terl — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:51:00 EST

Around noon on Monday, reports surfaced via Rick Maese's Twitter that DeAngelo Hall would be the primary punt returner for the Redskins, replacing Antwaan Randle El. By a little more than an hour later, Ryan O'Halloran was tweeting a conflicting report -- one that squared with what I had been told here at Redskins Park -- that both Hall and Randle El would be involved in the return game, along with Santana Moss.

Randle El talked about this during open locker room today, and he wasn't particularly happy about the change, and he was doubly unhappy that he had learned about it via questions from reporters.

"I gotta find out the logistics of it myself in terms of the punt return," Randle El said. "My whole thing is I'm still gonna ... you know, given the opportunity, when I get the chance, I gotta go out and be little more productive, but, you know, it's not always just one guy there. So it's just a matter of ... you take it as it is: go out and play when you get your opportunity and be thankful for it and make the best of it."

A reporter mentioned that he didn't look thrilled about this change. "Not at all," Randle El responded. "But that's part of it sometimes."

In case that wasn't clear enough, another reporter asked if this was a tough pill for Randle El to swallow. "Little bit," he said.

Later in the day, speaking after practice -- and, apparently, after a meeting with Randle El -- head coach Jim Zorn clarified the situation. Mostly.

"There's nothing different," he said. "You know, all three guys punt-returned last week -- or two weeks ago -- and that was the issue. I had Antwaan -- I guess he got asked a couple of questions -- and he came into my office to talk about it, and I said, 'There's really nothing to talk about. Nothing has changed.' So that's how I would bill it. There's no difference."

But, someone pointed out, Zorn had said that Hall would be more involved in punt returns. "He's gonna be involved," Zorn explained. "And if he's involved more, it'll be one or two reps, exactly right. But it's not necessarily a change, it's just an addition to get him more involved. He was last week. Antwaan Randle El is our punt returner. You're gonna see Santana Moss, which you have, and you're gonna see DeAngelo Hall, who you saw [Monday night]."

In describing how the punt return reps broke down in practice, Hall supported this explanation. "I got the same reps I normally get," he said. "Me, Santana, and El split 'em up. No change in order. El goes first, 'Tana second, I'm third. Same thing."

All of which is well and good, and probably does explain what the situation is ... especially because neither Moss nor Hall -- that's them practicing against one another in the 2006 Pro Bowl in the awesome AP photo above -- seems to WANT to be the primary punt returner.

Moss addressed that question first.

"I mean, obviously when I'm out there I wanna be out there," he said. "I just take it the way they give it to me. I don't want no more than what they give me. You know what I mean? I think I still have a knack for doing it. I love the position because it got me here to this level, but when it comes to being out there full time, I don't really care for that. I have my share of full-time duties in New York and I think I did enough with that. Now my focus is bigger and different. But when it's asked upon, I'll go out there because I know it's for the team."

(Moss also discussed what makes a good punt returner: "A good punt returner is a guy that can make multiple guys miss, to me. Our goal is always to make the first guy miss and get ten yards. I remember when in New York, Coach Westhoff always emphasized if you got ten yards, you keep a ten yard average up, then you're a good punt returner. Once you get past ten yards, it's all downhill from there." This season, Moss is averaging 3.8 yards on four returns and Randle El is averaging 5.2 yards on 11 returns.)

Later in the day, Hall was told about Moss's reticence, and he emphatically agreed. "Nah, I wouldn't do it full time either," he said. "You know, that's a pretty dangerous position back there. But, like I said, I'll do whatever the team needs. If they need me to go back there and give 'em a spark, I'll do that. And Santana does the same thing. If they need me to go out there and block, I'll do that to. So whatever they need me to do, I'm gonna do."

So here's where it stands right now: Zorn assured the media that Randle El would return the first punt on Sunday. After that, Randle El will go out and play when he gets the opportunity, Moss will do it when it's asked, and Hall will do whatever they need him to. Seems straightforward enough.

Punt Returner Situation Remains Unsettled originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, November 4: A Bit More From The Event Yesterday

Matt Terl — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:22:00 EST

It's been a frustrating Technical Difficulties Wednesday. I'm hoping things are back to normal-ish now. We'll see.

One thing that's gotten a little lost in the coverage of yesterday's charitable event -- including my own -- is that it wasn't actually about the owner talking to the media. It was about the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation unveiling their partnership with Price George's County Public Schools, which covers not only the maintenance of the fields, but also the continuation of many other charitable programs: Coaches in the Classroom, Redskins Read, 4th & Life, Harvest Feast and more.

It was a big deal for the Charitable Foundation -- and that, in fact, was the focus of owner Daniel Snyder's FIRST (and somewhat less-reported) comments yesterday.

Actually, his first comments are drowned out by the crowd and the wind, and his second comments are about giving the players a round of applause for being there on their day off. But after that he continued with the charitable stuff. Even there, though, you can spot hints of his frustration with the Redskins leaking through.

"The twelve fields that we're doing are very, very important to us, because it's giving back to the community. That's what it's all about. We recognize the importance of Prince George's County, where our stadium, FedExField is -- and we hope to do a little better next game there," he said.
"But let's talk about some of the things we've done," he continued, "and what we do every year from the Charitable Foundation perspective. The Fourth and Life program that Dr. Hite mentioned touches 10,000 high school players in the last ten years. These guys spend time hands-on with those high school players in their offseason.

"The Redskins have donated almost one million dollars a year to take care of all the DC-area schools that we've given fields to, which is over 25 fields to date.

"And in terms of our reading program, it's been ten years since we started our reading program in all the schools, and we've donated over one million books to date.

"We're very, very proud we continue to do this for the community, the giving back. This is just the beginning of the relationship, what we're doing today, and we hope what we're doing in the future.

"I know your football team's had a disappointing season to date, but we're expecting this homecoming game to be a victory for you guys.

"Also, from our perspective, obviously we feel frustration and we feel sorry for our fans. Our performance to date is not what we expected, and we hope to turn that around beginning this Sunday in Atlanta, and we hope to have a much better season going forward. We appreciate very, very much the support the fans have shown us through the difficult beginning to this season.

"Thanks for having us today, and we appreciate everyone. Thank you."

Wednesday, November 4: A Bit More From The Event Yesterday originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Owner Apologizes: The (Lower-Quality) Video [UPDATED]

Matt Terl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:05:00 EST

Here's the shaky Flip video I was able to get of the truncated media session Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder conducted today at Surrattsville High School in Clinton, Md. As I noted in the previous post, the session was cut short after just a few questions by the Surrattsville Hornets marching band -- it's homecoming week, after all! -- and the Flip camera audio is just abused by the wind.

UPDATE: I'm leaving this post up because I don't want to delete people's comments, but there is now a higher-quality video (courtesy of the Redskins Broadcast Network) with the transcript here.

The Owner Apologizes: The (Lower-Quality) Video [UPDATED] originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daniel Snyder: "We're Disappointed And We're Embarrassed"

Matt Terl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:21:00 EST

The Redskins Charitable Foundation partnered with Prince George's County Public Schools to announce a formal business partnership today, the gist of which is that the team will be helping to improve and maintain the fields at twelve P.G. county public schools, which adds to the thirteen already renovated and maintained in the Greater D.C. Metro area. It's a program that the Redskins are immensely proud of, one that costs almost a million dollars a year, and I'll have some more about that tomorrow. Today, the field at Surrattsville High School in Clinton, Md., was unveiled, and promptly put to good use for a soccer game.

The unveiling was attended by several Redskins players -- including Clinton Portis, who drew the loudest cheers -- but perhaps the most surprising element was that team owner Daniel M. Snyder spoke briefly to the media afterward, and apologized to the fans for the team's lackluster start to the season.

"I feel bad for the fans," he said. "I feel sorry for the fans. And we're very, very appreciative of our great, loyal fan base. And I'm understanding; I mean, we just feel terrible. We're disappointed and we're embarrassed. And we hope to get it going soon. We're disappointed."

The media session was cut short by the school's marching band, so only Lindsay Czarniak was able to get any questions in, ~~and the audio of the session is occasionally muffled by high winds~~, but as much of a transcript as Redskins.com's Gary Fitzgerald and I could put together is after the jump; ~~video to follow shortly~~. Courtesy of the Redskins Broadcast Network, the high-quality video is now posted above.

Lindsay: What does this mean to you, to be able to be out here?

"It's great. It's really important that we really work hard with the community to give back. We've got an obligation with our football team and our players, and an opportunity. So we're excited. I mean, they're beautiful fields, and we hope they're put to good use."

Does it mean something special to get the cheers out there? Is it a refreshing feeling for once?

DS: "Well, y'know, we're doing good here. We're doing [for a] good cause, and it's nice."

One thing I wanted to ask you, Dan, is about some of the negativity that has been around this team. When you look at things like the ticket controversy and then the signs being banned, does it feel like being out here and getting a chance to turn things around, where do you stand on that stuff?

DS: "I think number one I feel bad for the fans. I feel sorry for the fans. And we're very, very appreciative of our great, loyal fan base. And I'm understanding; I mean, we just feel terrible. We're disappointed and we're embarrassed. And we hope to get it going soon. We're disappointed."

You're human. How does it impact you?

DS: "It hurts. I mean, it really hurts. We are really trying very, very hard. Everyone at Redskins Park, the coaches, the players, the organization's really quite frankly held up well. And I think we've got opportunity the rest of the season to hopefully get it going. But to date we've let everyone down including ourselves. We know that. We're just apologetic. We've blown some games that obviously we think we should have won. And I think the players are playing hard, and we still hope to do well starting this Sunday."

People look at you and see the uber-Redskins fan. What are your thoughts about what's going on with this team?

DS: "I see disappointment. I see the same way I feel and I share their frustration. It's hard. We're going to try to put it together and get it going."

What do you need from here on out? What's the next step for you?

DS: "The next step is Sunday. It's that simple. We hope we can put together a good performance down in Atlanta and start a winning streak."

Daniel Snyder: "We're Disappointed And We're Embarrassed" originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Monday Night Football Cake And Duff's Fond Memory Of The Redskins

Matt Terl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:49:00 EST

It's an old Monday Night Football tradition to hold a Chalk Talk Luncheon in whatever city the game is being held in. It's an opportunity for the announcers and Monday Night Football crew to talk to invited local guests about the game, about Monday Night Football, and so on.

The one before last week's Redskins/Eagles game featured Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski, Mike Tirico, and Michele Tafoya chatting with folks at Sequoia on the water in Georgetown. There was lots of speculation about how the playcalling would work out, about if the Redskins or Eagles were reeling more, and -- among the media in attendence -- about if they'd get a chance to talk to Gruden or not.

(The answers, in order: not terribly, the Redskins, and no.)

There was also a cake, which -- given the way the game turned out -- was pretty pretty much the highlight of the day.

The cake -- celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Monday Night Football -- was made the by Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes bakery, made famous on the Food Network show Ace Of Cakes. The bakery's founder, Duff Goldman, was on-hand to set up the creation, and was just as enthusastic as he comes across on the show, more than happy to talk about what made this cake different from the countless other football cakes they've done ... and to share his one Redskins memory.

"This cake," Goldman told me, "is a representation of the fortieth anniversary of Monday Night Football. And Monday Night Football is VERY dear to my heart. Because Mondays I get off of work, I'm usually tired, I'm kinda sad because Sunday football's over ... and then Monday I get to go home and there's another game. It's almost like, you know how after the Super Bowl you get kinda sad about having to wait until next season? Monday Night Football's kinda like a little slice of the Super Bowl, like, 'Oh, wait! There's ONE MORE GAME.' They're just something special about it."

You've done plenty of football-related cakes before. How do you keep coming up with ways to keep that fresh?

DG: "We've done a lot of football-themed cakes, but a Monday Night Football cake, you're making it FOR Monday Night Football. So it's got the trailer. The helmets of the teams that are playing -- got the Skins, got the Eagles. It's got all the announcers. We got Hank Williams Jr. up there on top of the thing. What says Monday Night Football more than 'Are you ready for some football?!?'"

You're a Baltimore Ravens fan--

DG: "I'm a DIE-HARD Ravens fan. I grew up a Patriots fan, became a Ravens fan when I moved to Baltimore ... and then the Patriots got good. Which made me really angry, and just made me an even bigger Ravens fan."

Do you have any particular feelings for the Redskins either way? They're right down the road....

DG: "You know what I'll tell you about the Redskins? My very, very, very first football memory -- which made me wanna play football, and I wound up as a nose tackle in high school -- was Super Bowl XVII. John Riggins, dragging the entire Miami Dolphins defense into the end zone with him. I mean the guy was just out of control, right? Riggins was just one of the most exciting guys to watch play football.

"So I don't have a lot to say about the Redskins right now, but one of my fondest and earliest memories is of the Redskins. And you see it on paintings, on the sides of conversion vans ... you SEE that image."

Have you ever seen it in cake form?

DG: "We haven't actually done it as a cake, but if anyone out there wants it, we'd love to take a shot at it."

A Monday Night Football Cake And Duff's Fond Memory Of The Redskins originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DeAngelo Hall Now Selling Shirts

Matt Terl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:14:00 EST

It's only Tuesday, and it's already been a heck of a week for DeAngelo Hall. Yesterday, he found time to discuss his old team and he reportedly added some more punt returning to his responsibilities. Today, he updated his blog --

We have to regroup as a team and hopefully this bye week helped guys clear their heads and come back ready to finish the season strong. We still have a lot to play for and one of the most important things is PRIDE! Pride in ourselves, Pride for this organization, and pride for our fans! I can tell you this much they always say a wounded animal is an even more dangerous animal. I think we've been licking our wounds for a while now, but it's time to fight back!

-- and launched his online store.

You can get the T-shirt pictured on the left there -- and plenty of other stuff for Redskins and Virginia Tech fans -- but unfortunately not the custom Redskins Beats By Dre headphones. You can see a slightly closer-up picture of them after the jump, though, which is almost as cool and vastly cheaper.

DeAngelo Hall Now Selling Shirts originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, November 3: Time For Young Guys To Step Up

Matt Terl — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:55:00 EST

Last year, as the 2008 season wound down and the Redskins seemed unable to get themselves back in the win column on a consistent basis, head coach Jim Zorn was emphatic about playing his starters to the very end. Every week, reporters (and emailers, and blog commenters) would ask about getting more playing time for the then-rookies, and every week Zorn stuck to his guns.

As Sunday's game against the Falcons approaches, it appears that this year will be different; this next game is shaping up to be a flashpoint for this year's rookie class AND the largely-underachieving crew from 2008.

In some cases, such as rookies CB Kevin Barnes, LB Robert Henson, and FB Eddie Williams, this is because of injury, not by design. With H.B. Blades and Byron Westbrook out this week following surgeries, Barnes and Henson are getting more work in practice, Zorn said yesterday.

"I know Henson and Barnes are both getting reps," he told the media after practice. "There is going to be a lot of conversation before I make the final decision on inactives this week. It will be because of Eddie [Williams] coming up, Quinton [Ganther] still developing ... Barnes, Henson, with two tight ends, less offensive linemen and more defensive linemen, I am not really sure where I am headed yet. I couldn't put it together for you but they will be under consideration for sure."

At this point, all of this year's draft picks that remain with the team are currently signed to the active roster, and they all have a chance to be active on Sunday. (And, before anyone asks, I haven't heard any news about more playing time for Marko Mitchell this week.)

But it's not just this year's rookies that find themselves at a potential crossroads; the big three from last year -- Fred Davis, Devin Thomas, and Malcolm Kelly -- also need to represent in Atlanta.

Davis cancelled his planned bye week vacation to stick around and work on his blocking with tight ends coach Scott Wachenheim, just as he'd said he would after Chris Cooley's injury. Which is a very good thing, because everyone acknowledged that his blocking needed work.

Here's Coach Zorn after yesterday's practice, after being asked where Davis needed to show improvement. "Two areas," Zorn said. "One is his blocking. He hasn't been at the point of attack as much as Chris has. We just haven't had him in the game. Also, just the details of route running and things like that he hasn't had a lot of work with. He did a nice job in our last game of catching eight balls but there were some details of those things that he can improve on as well."

Even Davis himself knows it. "Blocking, that's my focus. I think everything else is going to come natural as far as catching and stuff. My main focus is making sure I get my blocking right."

But being named the starter in place of Cooley has given Davis new focus. "You are more aware now," he explained. "It's different than when you just get thrown in there; you need to get your technique right. You can't be a little bit sloppy."

Devin Thomas hopes to build on his breakout game, and shelved plans for an elaborate Halloween costume in favor of a recharging, restful bye week. "I just relaxed," he said. "I got off my feet and stayed low key. Other than that, I'm back and happy to be back."

Which leaves Malcolm Kelly, who flashed the most promise in preseason and -- by virtue of not living up to that promise -- has been the biggest disappointment so far in 2009.

"More than anything, I just need to pay attention to detail," he said yesterday. "It's the smallest things. It wasn't catching the balls, because that's one thing that I do. It's just the small things. I've gotten a lot better at certain routes and stuff like that. [Wide receiver coach] Stan [Hixon] said this week, I ran routes better this week than I have all season long. It's just stuff that I'm working on and when I put all the pieces together I'll be good."

But, I pointed out, this is more or less how he was talking during preseason and so far the results have been disappointing.

"I'm still confident," he said. "If the ball is in the air and coming my way and I have a chance I'm going to make a play on the ball."

But the second-year second-rounders realize that how they are viewed -- and possibly their actual production -- is almost irrevocably intertwined at this point.

"We're all looking forward to try to do our best and really help this team out as much as possible," Thomas said. "We are definitely trying our best in any way possible."

Kelly agreed. "We're trying to get that together. We're trying to work that out so that Devin and I can be out there at the same time. Some people have to move around a little bit to get everybody out there. But we're working on it. Hopefully we are moving toward it."

Tuesday, November 3: Time For Young Guys To Step Up originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DeAngelo Hall Is Excited To Face His Old Team, Remains An Excellent Quote

Matt Terl — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:13:00 EST

I've mentioned before how entertaining DeAngelo Hall can be while addressing the media, and you had to figure that he'd be fired up to face his old team in their home stadium, but his chatter today surpassed even my high expectations.

(I should note that Hall didn't address the reports that he would be the primary punt returner this Sunday, because those reports hadn't been published yet. Also, possibly, because follow-up reports have indicated that it'll still be a three-way split at punt returner. Either way, don't expect to hear anything about that during this interview.)

Here are some excerpts, for those who don't feel like watching it above. (And thanks to the Redskins.com TV people for the video.)
On the importance of the bye week:
"I think we need to work. But you'll take a bye week whenever you can get one. I'm fortunate enough not to really be banged up, but we do have a lotta guys in this locker room that ARE banged up. So givin' them time to heal up, givin' them time to relax a little bit, was probably somethin' we all needed."

On if it will be weird playing his old team (initial, stock answer):
"I mean, it's just another game. Obviously there's a little bit more emotion tied into this one, but it's just another one. It's another one. We just need to win. Need to win."

On if it will be weird playing his old team in their home stadium (follow-up, more honest answer):
"Not really weird. I mean, I'm not Brett Favre walking back into Lambeau. It's not that; you know, I was pretty good, but I'm not Brett Favre walking back into Lambeau. Like I said, it's gonna definitely be a lot of emotion tied into this thing; I saw a lot of those guys mature as players, you know? Mature as people on and off the field.

"[It's a] whole new coaching staff, so it's not like I know a ton of those guys. But, you know, I can't wait to just go out there and mix it up with 'em."

On if he will cry coming off the field as Brett Favre did yesterday:
"If I get a win, I might. [Bleep.] We need one. Y'all can quote me on that. We win, I'm damn sure crying. Quote that one."

On if the Falcons will be coming after him:
"I hope so. If they're coming after me, I can live with that. A chance for me to try to make a play, help us win? I can live with that all day. I hope they do."

On how the Falcons turned things around so quickly following their 4-12 season in 2007:
"Mike [Vick] was gone; we didn't have a quarterback. Petrino was an [bleep-blole]; he left. I mean, those were the two things. Obviously they drafted a great player in Matt Ryan, got a quarterback, got a coach ... I mean, this team wasn't in total disarray like everybody made it out to be."

DeAngelo Hall Is Excited To Face His Old Team, Remains An Excellent Quote originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eddie Williams Has Been Learning From Mike Sellers

Matt Terl — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:26:00 EST

As I mentioned on Twitter earlier today, the Redskins signed rookie FB Eddie Williams off the practice squad to fill the roster spot vacated by Chris Samuels. In actual point of fact, this may or may not mean much: Williams, playing fullback, is likely competing with Quinton Ganther for extremely limited scraps of time behind Mike Sellers.

But that doesn't diminish his excitement.

"It's nice," Williams said after practice today. "It's real nice, a blessing and everything. I just have a lot of work to do, and I hope it's just beginning. I feel like I've got a lot of potential, and I've just gotta work hard."

In fact, he's already been working hard: working to overcome a knee injury that dropped him in the 2009 draft, and working to move to fullback from his college position of tight end.

According to head coach Jim Zorn, a lot of that hard work is already paying off. "He's definitely transitioned to fullback and is healthy," Zorn said today. "He's in a learning mode but we want to step that up because he has been improving as we've gone along here, and instead of going out and trying to find another guy we decided to elevate from within and develop the guys we really wanted to look at in the first place."

Williams himself sounded a little less certain, but only a little. "My knee feels great," Williams said. "No brace or anything like that. It's just a matter of getting the leg stronger, but really it's a non-factor at this point. I've just gotta keep improving every day like I have been doing. I've gotta keep getting my knee healthy, and get in where I fit in, really. Do some special teams -- there are some guys hurt, so maybe I can squeak in there -- and fill in on offense when I can."

The transition from tight end to fullback can be more challenging than people think, and involves a lot of work improving blocking skills. Fortunately, Williams has a Pro Bowler teaching him what to do.

"I'm gettin' a lot better blocking-wise," Williams said. "At first, especially with the knee injury, I couldn't really get my knees low. I couldn't really bend down and get underneath some of the blocks. Mike [Sellers] is helping me a great deal with that. I think I'm doing a good job, but there's still a lot of room to improve."

Sellers, Williams says, brings a different kind of intensity to his teaching than he does to his blocking. "He's a good teacher, but real laid-back," Williams said. "The way he teaches is the opposite of the way he plays. He does a good job of coaching you up; if you've got a question, you come to him, and he pretty much explains it even better than I understand it from the coaches."

So, then, what does Sellers -- appearing rested and invigorated by a bye week of deep-sea fishing -- think of his pupil?

His answer is as laid-back as Williams claims his teaching style is. "You know," Sellers said mildly, "can't really tell until the bullets start to fly. All he's been doing is pretty much scout team stuff. We'll see how much he's studied up. He's gotta get the special teams part. I don't know how much playing time he'll get outside of that."

Given that Sellers can be a bit of a prankster, I had expected something more than that -- "He gives everybody a hard time, and I'm one of those guys," Williams had said -- so I told Sellers so.

"He's a rookie," Sellers said. "Of course I give him a hard time. I mean, any rookie that gets away with not being picked on must be a real big rookie, or somebody that's REAL scary."

Which isn't exactly how Williams comes across. He spent his bye week back at Idaho for homecoming, where they got their seventh win of the season, and noted, "we haven't been bowl-eligible in twelve or thirteen years, so that's pretty nice."

Idaho wins, Williams gets elevated to the active roster ... all in all, that's a pretty nice few DAYS, right? Williams grinned. "I'd say so, yeah."

Eddie Williams Has Been Learning From Mike Sellers originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monday, November 2: Peter King Makes Me Feel Guilty

Matt Terl — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:52:00 EST

So the bye weekend yielded its usual funny joke: "Hey, the Redskins didn't lose this weekend!"

I heard this line, with slight variations, all weekend. From people I know and people I don't. From family members. From waiters. This morning, from staff at my kid's daycare.

But here's the thing: the Redskins kind of did manage to lose this weekend.

On Saturday, the team made the expected move and put left tackle Chris Samuels on injured reserve. Because this was expected, because of the rumored retirement and the initial reports weeks ago that his career might be done, there wasn't much fanfare around the move.

This was a mistake; there should've been. It's not just a loss on the field -- although it's certainly a HUGE loss there, as Mister Irrelevant has mentioned -- but a loss in the locker room, and ... just a loss in general. And it was -- of all people -- SI.com's Peter King who put this the best, in this morning's Monday Morning Quarterback.

"Two very good tackles -- Chris Samuels and Walter Jones -- are nearing the end, and that shouldn't be something just in small type this weekend," he started, making me feel hugely guilty.

Samuels was drafted by the Redskins third overall in 2000 to be their left tackle for a decade. He almost made it. He's started 141 of 150 games, playing through painful shoulder, knee, ankle, back and neck injuries. But now, having been advised he risks his long-term health if he continues to play with a neck injury, he'll sit the rest of the season. Many of his teammates think he's played his last game.

I followed Samuels in 2000 during the run-up to the draft and through training camp -- in part because SI wanted to do a you-are-there story on a top prospect as he prepared to leave the cocoon of college and enter the pressure of playing right away in the NFL, and in part because of the rise in importance of left tackles. Michael Lewis tells the tale of the value of a left tackle superbly in The Blind Side, and I credit him for seeing what the game has become. Tackle has joined quarterback and pass-rusher as the three most important cornerstone positions for NFL teams.

But as I followed Samuels, I saw not only a good player but also a compelling and conscientious person. The day before the draft, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on Broadway, he twice turned away the housekeeper who wanted to make up the room. "It's OK,'' he said. "I got it.'' He'd already made his bed, tidied the room and straightened up the bathroom, hanging the towels neatly on the rack.

In training camp, Bruce Smith and Dana Stubblefield took it upon themselves to school the rook and make his life miserable on and off the field. He took the taunts and the hazing through mini-camps, but determined he wouldn't take it once the real practices started. It took just one practice for Samuels to fight back, taking Stubblefield on a wide rush and, when Stubblefield popped him in the forehead, Samuels cold-cocked him with a roundhouse right to the neck, just below the helmet. He knew as the cornerstone of the offensive line, he had to be a fighter and defend not only his turf but his peers'. He became one of the go-to guys on the team.

More at the link, all of it worth reading. Samuels will be missed, and hopefully he'll find a way to prove wrong those early rumors about retirement.

Monday, November 2: Peter King Makes Me Feel Guilty originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Happy Halloween From 1993 And Joe "Frankenstein" Jacoby

Matt Terl — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:35:00 EST

This was just a bit of serendipitous timing.

Yesterday, with Halloween coming up, I was going through a drawer here in Redskins Park on a completely unrelated -- and, frankly, boring -- errand when I came across a press packet for something called Coca-Cola Monsters of the Gridiron.

Monsters of the Gridiron was an ad campaign from 1993 that involved 29 players being elaborately made over into mildly entertaining pseudo-horror characters. There were prizes, TV ads and radio spots, giant cardboard displays (like the one pictured to the right), and a call-in game.

I remember none of it.

(There's a reason for the odd number of players: it's one from each of the 28 teams at the time, plus then-Cowboys defensive lineman Tony Casillas -- as "Conde [Count] Casillas" -- doing the Spanish-language version of the ad; he's listed on the Coca-Cola News Release Fact Sheet as "Hispanic player/monster," as compared to "National player/monster" Randall "Rocket Man" Cunningham. 1993 suddenly seems like a VERY long time ago.)

The Redskins representative for this promotion -- which, according to the press release, "combines America's number one sport with the country's most popular soft drink in an effort that is sure leave football fans 'trance-fixed' to their favorite games," a phrase that is almost completely meaningless -- was none other than offensive tackle and original Hog Joe Jacoby.

Jacoby was in his last year in the league at the time, the final act to what would in any just world have been a Hall of Fame career, so "undergoing several hours of extensive make-up and costuming" -- again, per the press release -- to look like a football-playing Frankenstein, complete with enormous square football helmet, probably seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea.

The press release breathlessly assures us that the monstrous alter-ego "accentuates each player's most notorious personality traits."

For example, Cunningham was "Rocket Man" because was an incredibly gifted scrambler. Ronnie Lott was "Rattler," presumably because his legendary hits left opponents "rattled". I guess Tom Rathman's dominant personality trait was sheer lunacy, because his alter-ego was "Psycho". Craig "Iron Head" Heyward was "Iron Head" because his nickname was "Iron Head". And so on.

So I guess Jacoby was notorious for being a stiff, shambling monster of a man with an outsized square head. Nice.

Somehow, that's not quite as awesome as "Rocket Man," but it's still vastly better than Steelers QB Neil O'Donnell, whose "Night Raider" moniker sounds just a little questionable in hindsight.

More pictures, and a full list of players and their nicknames, below.
Here's Jacoby, after that extensive makeover. (Click to enlarge.)

Here's L.A. Rams linebacker Shane Conlan as "Conlan the Barbarian," the late Derrick Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs as "Attack Cat," and Jacoby.

And here's the full list of players along with their alter-egos. Happy Halloween, everyone.

Happy Halloween From 1993 And Joe "Frankenstein" Jacoby originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rocky McIntosh Loves Football

Matt Terl — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:59:00 EST

I sometimes think that -- despite the paintball and the roller coasters and all that -- it doesn't quite come across just what an interesting character linebacker Rocky McIntosh can be.

Fortunately, the magic of internet videos will help alleviate that concern. Here's the new welcome video for Rocky's website, in which he attempts to convey how much he loves football. And goofy dancing and Scrabble, but mainly football.

Rocky McIntosh Loves Football originally appeared on Redskins Blog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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