The Redskins Blog

Chris Neild Explains His Nickname

Redskins seventh-round draft choice nose tackle Chris Neild explained his nickname to Chris Russell on ESPN980. Someone — probably Enzo over at 980 — posted the interview in the newly revamped (and much friendlier) Audio Vault. Redskins.com intern Brian Tinsman listened and transcribed. I wrote this intro. And so the circle of 2011 offseason blogging life continues.

At 6-2 and nearly 300 pounds, Chris Neild can go by any nickname that he chooses. While I would have started off calling him “Sir” or “Mr. Neild,” he would much rather be called “Truck.”

The name kind of fits, when you look at his Twitter pic (@TruckNeild):

Neild recently caught up with Chris Russell of ESPN 980 to explain the interesting moniker.
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Donovan McNabb's NBA Preview

Donovan McNabb‘s weekly radio show on ESPN980 is not known for shocking revelations or controversial comments. The QB joins Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro to break down the previous week’s game and preview whatever’s coming up next; there’s plenty of information given, but it’s not the kind of fuel that launches thousands of blog-ships. (Or something like that.)

Today’s installment started out no differently. McNabb’s analysis of the offense’s struggles was optimistic and interesting enough, but nothing that screamed out for transcription. (Although Mike Jones of TBD.com has an excellent summary including transcribed quotes, so maybe it was just me.)

Toward the end, though, a subject came up that got McNabb pretty animated. Suddenly, he was offering unvarnished — and often critical — opinions of other athletes, and detailed speculation about teams other than the Redskins. When it comes to the NBA, Donovan McNabb is eminently transcribe-able.

So, with the NBA regular season tipping off tonight, I’m declaring McNabb the Official Redskins Blog NBA Correspondent, and his comments from the radio show the Official Redskins Blog NBA Preview. You can check out the audio at the ESPN980 Audio Vault; the text is below. Read more »

Bruce Allen Tries To Discuss That Uniform Issue Despite Steve Czaban

Last post on Bruce Allen’s appearance on ESPN980 yesterday, following on his reminiscences about the past and discussion of the current offseason.

After all that serious talk was done, co-host Steve Czaban jumped in with one last question, one that is very important to the fanbase, at least based on my web traffic and the emails I get featuring helmet mock-ups (such as the one up top of this post): he asked about the possibility of a change to the Redskins uniforms.

Czaban tends to be very good about asking these kind of voice-of-the-fans questions, which is terrific. Unfortunately, as we’ll see, this time he didn’t actually feel like listening to the voice of the GM for the answer.

(Let me interject here as I always do, to clearly state: I am hearing that there will be NO change to the uniforms. The helmet above is a fan creation. All the rumors and speculation are just that. But it’s been a subject of much discussion, online and off, and Czaban saw an opportunity and wisely went for it.)

“I’ve gotta add one last thing,” Czaban said. “The uniform. A lot of people are really into the uniform–”

“Like you,” co-host Andy Pollin interjected.

“– and have very particular ideas about it,” Czaban continued, “some more traditional than others. Is there anything going on with the Redskins uniform that we should know about? Redesigns? Tweaks?”

“Oh, no,” Allen said. “No.”

For the record, that seems pretty clear and unequivocal. And, just to be even more certain, Czaban asked the obvious follow-up: “No?”
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Bruce Allen Discusses The Offseason (Again)

New Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen didn’t just talk about banana splits and the old days during yesterday’s second radio appearance on ESPN980. Hosts Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban freely admitted that their opening “hey, remember when” questions were mostly preamble to the things that people really wanted to know; eventually they got to the meat of it, to the questions that the fans ask in their emails and blog comments and things like that.

Sometimes they didn’t get much in the way of specifics. Take a look at Allen’s comments on the offseason so far, for example:

“We started from the coaching end,” he said, “and are really pleased with the staff that Coach Shanahan has put together. We’re gonna blend a lot of new ideas into our new schemes that we’re gonna be running. I think that’s gonna lead us into free agency and then our offseason program where all of our players have to learn their new jobs and the work ethic that we expect from them, and the level of commitment that we demand from them.”

A careful review of that statement will reveal just about nothing beyond the most basic, obvious football stuff: work ethic, commitment, offseason program, etc. Which is not a bad thing, by the way — I certainly don’t want the team’s general manager explaining his plans in specific detail on the radio — but it makes it all the more notable when he does elect to reveal specifics.

His comments about his draft philosophy, for example, I found telling — and telling in a way that was probably not very reassuring to a lot of the aging players on the roster.

“Well, I’m not afraid of trades,” Allen said.

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Friday, February 5: Bruce Allen Hasn't Eaten Dessert Since Super Bowl VII

One thing I get horribly sick of during Super Bowl week is the endless parade of retired NFL players circling media row, answering the same questions on EVERY sportstalk radio show under the sun. It’s like Groundhog Day for Barry Sanders, the one week of the year that he pokes his head out to see the sun, and I could not possibly be less interested in what he has to say or whatever product he’s selling.

Which isn’t to say that there aren’t some interesting guests. It’s always nice to hear from former Redskins, for example (and, to be fair, I imagine the Detroit fans get pretty excited for Barry Sanders), and it’s also good to hear what actual current players and front office types have to offer.

So I had no problem with new Redskins Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen making the circuit yesterday. He turned up at least twice on ESPN980, first on the John Thompson Show (which Gary Fitzgerald wrote about over at the Redskins.com mothership) and later on The Sports Reporters with Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin.

I’ll have more on Allen’s comments there later today (or you can listen yourself in the Corona Audio Vault), but he started off answering a question about the worst loss in Redskins history. And it was clear that — for him — there was no question: Super Bowl VII. That’s him after the game in the AP photo above right, head in his hands, a portrait of abject misery.

The Redskins lost to the Dolphins 14-7 that day, and it changed Bruce Allen’s life — and his diet — irrevocably. Read more »

Vick's Agent: "No Chance" On Vick To The Skins

The big story at practice today had nothing to do with onfield stuff, nothing to do with punters’ shoes, nothing to do with goofy haircuts. In fact, as it turned out, it had literally nothing to do with the Redskins at all.

Agent Joel Segal was a guest at practice, which is not completely unusual. Segal represents four guys on the team — Jason Campbell, LaRon Landry, DeAngelo Hall, and linebacker Robert Thomas. (No, not the Matchbox 20 guy, although you wouldn’t be the first — or twelfth — person to make that joke.) Agents show up at the facility or at games every so often; it’s not an every day occurrence, but also not something that would be worthy of any note.

Except… Segal also represents ANOTHER high-profile quarterback client, one who is currently looking for a team. So as soon as he showed his face, you could almost hear the rumor mill start to turn: Segal is Michael Vick’s agent … Segal is at Redskins practice … not a lot of dots to connect.

But first in a conversation with Larries Michael and Weisman on ESPN980, and a bit later talking to reporters after practice, Segal said — although he’d heard from “a host” of teams about Vick, the Redskins weren’t among them.

And he didn’t say this in some mealy-mouthed wishy-washy way, either. Here’s the quote on Vick to the Redskins: “No. No chance.”

So any Redskins fans who were readying another round of faxed pictures of injured dogs, another batch of pro- and anti-Vick signs, or another set of impassioned emails on either side of the issue … looks like you can really, honestly relax.

No. Chance. Read more »