Washington Sports

The NFLs presentation of Draft day was over celebrated despite the looming possibility of no football next season.

Once again, i found myself getting all excited for Draft Day last Thursday Apr 28.

Me and a couple of friends of mine always go to a local bar to watch the coverage of the NFL draft and this year was no different.   And every year i watch as the Washington Redskins make good draft picks and yet they cant seem to put together a winning season.

As Mike Shanahan goes into his second year as Head coach, i thought he may have some tricks up his sleeves.   And that was exactly the case.   Since the Redskins had the tenth over all pick i was certain they were going to draft a quarterback because right now our team needs a leader.

After Donovan McNabb came to town and basically was mistreated by the Redskins organization, we have been forced to look else where for leadership.

Some of the players in the 2011 NFL draft that i thought we were going to pick were.

• Blaine Gabbert
• Julio Jones
• Patrick Peterson
• Nick Fairley

And at one point in time i even let myself think that Cam Newton would fall all the way down the draft to the Redskins with the number ten draft pick.

So, there i was just like every other year waiting for the Redskins to make their draft pick and i was pleasantly surprised.

Right before we were supposed to pick, i was informed that we had traded away our draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for quarterback Blaine Gabbert.   At first, i was confused but after hearing more information i was happy.

After the draft was all over with Mike Shanahan was able to create 13 draft picks for the Redskins.

I would have to say not a bad desicion considering this team needs to completely rebuild and find youth.   Last season the Redskins were one of the oldest teams in the league.   And now, with all our new rookies we should be able to mold and create a young group of excellent football players.

Pro-Bowl Quarterback Carson Palmer has openly expressed negative emotions toward the Cincinnati Bengals.   Cincinnati was an organization where Palmer thrived in the past.   Perhaps this unfortunate turn in Cincinnati could be the answer to Washington’s Quarterback problem.

The Washington Redskins currently don’t have a clear path to look down as far as their Quarterback situation is concerned.   Currently they still have Donovan McNabb under contract.   However, the redskins stand to lose money by keeping him around.   Obviosly, they are going to get rid of him.   He gave the redskins an average run through the NFL season and left most redskin fans battered.   Of course, benching him four games before the end of the season probably wasn’t the best course of action.  They should have let him try to finish out the season.   Who knows he may have gotten the hang of the offense a little better and blown the boards up.

Any way, the redskins have a major problem on their hands now with Donovan Mcnabb.   It must be taken care of before the organization plans on rebuilding.   Also they still have Albert Haynesworth under contract and they need to get rid of him.

Albert Haynesworth has been nothing but a team cohesion killer.   His self-envolvement has brought a negative light to the good redskins name.   He got his payday so now he doesn’t care.   That is partly the redskins fault.   Why are they throwing money around like that on a player who thinks he can get away with kicking a player with his helmet off.

Now he did show signs of a good football player while in Washington, but it was always followed by a pathetic attempt to pretend to try hard.   This was followed by him going straight to one knee and an oxygen tank.   It is as if he has lost all drive to play football at a high level.   I think i know where his head is at though.   Surrounded by hundred dollar bills and off-road vehicles.   Why would he need to win a superbowl ring when he could just buy a hundred.   There may be a great football player somewhere in him but i don’t think it will ever come out in Washington.   And thats why it would be better for both parties to split ways.

Since Carson Palmer still has a high market value it is going to be hard to trade Donovan straight up for him.   But, if they throw Haynesworth in the mix then suddenly the trade is looking more attractive.   After all Cincinnati can handle a hand full super stars without completely crumbling.   In fact, if that trade does go through i feel like both teams will have better records than last season.   So why not?

As a Redskins fan i am worried about the state of the Quarteback position in Washington. We have too many options open right now to not see advances in the upcoming seasons.

One of those options is we stay with Rex Grossman at quarterback until he disappoints the redskins fans or hopefully retires as a redskin.  And when i say retire i say it with the best possible intentions.   I would want nothing more than for Rex Grossman to go down as an all-time redskin great and when many super bowls here, in Washington. After all he did take the Chicago Bears to a super bowl and they almost upset the Indiannapolis Colts.

Back to reality, I do realize that this is probably not a safe bet to make considering most fans in Washington want to see Rex go.   He started in the last four games of the redskins season last year and in a couple of those games he put up some really good numbers.   However, turnovers seemed to pouring out of him left and right in other games.   Either way, every game Rex played in the redskins were fighting and competing for the win.

Rex should stay in Washington.   In fact, he should start next season for the redskins.   He has drive and he knows what it takes to make it to the super bowl; a quality that most redskins have not even touched.   Don’t forget about the Shanahan boys on the side-lines calling the plays.   Those boys seem to favor Rex over any other quarterback on the team.   They like his aggresion and his ability to move down the field with his arm.   I also like those abilities of Rex however, i feel his most desirable ability is his quick release.   He reminds me of Drew Brees when he passes those quick slants.

The redskins need to atleast give Rex one more year in a burgandy and gold uniform before they let him go.   If they are planning on picking up a Quartback in the 2011 draft than they could use Rex to teach the rookie the new system.   If Rex begins to struggle than maybe we could put in the rookie and give him a chance to take control of the team.

The draft is getting closer and closer with each passing day.   And in about a month the redskins will have the number ten draft pick.   After this we will know what player we have selected.   If the redskins do draft a Quarterback then the above plan would make perfect sense.   And if the redskins draft someone like Cam Newton i believe he will be ready to get on the playing field sooner than we thought.

Last Wednesday was my girlfriend’s birthday. So of course I l told her we could do whatever she wanted to do all day. Then she hit me with all the requests.

She wanted to go shopping, eat at a nice restaurant, and see a movie. So I thought no big deal, all of those things don’t sound that bad. After shopping for about an hour at the mall she wanted to go to a different store. The store was a thrift store. I hadn’t been to one since I was young so I was a little nervous.

When we got to the thrift store I was impressed by its enormous size. I had never seen a thrift store like this one. After entering the front doors I noticed that I was a little out of place. The store wasn’t as clean as I would have liked but I decided to give it a chance.

After about an hour I became extremely bored. My girlfriend was completely entranced in shopping so I decided to wonder myself. After looking at what seemed to be a bunch of useless stuff I found a bin of sporting equipment. The bin had been pushed under a collection of blankets and didn’t look as if anyone had looked through it in a while. I noticed a basketball at the bottom of the bin so I decided to get it out. Just about two weeks prior to this I was at a local park and I left my basketball behind and when I went back it wasn’t there.

I started pulling some of the equipment out and placing it on the floor beside me. As I got deeper in the bin the equipment seemed to be getting older. I noticed a wood golf club, a wooden baseball bat and a rugby ball. After removing a Hockey mask from the bin I noticed a white panel football. When I examined the football closer I noticed that there were two signatures on it. The first signature was a printed on signature from the NFL’s former commissioner Paul Tagliabue. The second was a real signature that was done in black marker. To my surprise it was a Darrell Green autograph.

The price tag on the football was two dollars and 93 cents. So, I decided to buy it. I am unsure of its true value but I intend to find it. Even if the football isn’t worth more than a couple of bucks a Darrel Green autographed football deserves more than to be smashed in a bin at a thrift store.

Darrell Green is a Washington Redskins legend.

The real question here is should Cam Newton play for the Washington Redskins next season. Given his past I don’t feel that the Redskins should add him to the roster.

However, I do know that the kid is talented. After taking Binn College in Texas to a national championship, he turns around and takes Auburn to a National Championship. One has to ask if he can be stopped. The NFL is going to be a huge jump for him but with his current resume I have a hard time saying he isn’t going to be a great NFL player. He has all the physical attributes that a good Quarterback in the NFL needs. He is large in stature and has incredible speed. The only down side to his physical attributes is his throwing arm. Some NFL coaches believe he doesn’t have the accuracy that an NFL player must possess. I agree with them. He struggled at the NFL combine in accuracy and at times he seemed frustrated with himself. A quality we have yet to see from Cam.

Despite all the negative things about his accuracy that have been said I have to look at all the good things because there are so many. The greatest attribute Cam possesses is the ability to win at any measure. He brings swagger to a team. He brings hope and belief to a team. That is something I believe the Redskins desperately need right now.

After the 2009 NFL season the Redskins had a record of 4-12. After many changes within the organization fans were supposed to buy into a changed culture. However, what fans were handed with was a week to week struggle. The Redskins finished the 2010 NFL season with a record of 6-10. There was little improvement from last year but not enough to make anyone believe that big things are ahead for the Redskins.

If Cam Newton came to Washington I believe he will be a great football player. He has what it takes to win. He understands that over every aspect of the game the most important one is winning. This attribute seems to have been lost here in Washington. Redskin’s players seem to want to pine over all the mistakes that have been made.

Another important thing that must not be overlooked is the position. Cam Newton is a quarterback. The Redskins just so happen to need a quarterback after chewing up Donovan McNabb and spitting him out. After seeing what Rex Grossman can still do I believe we should allow him to start the season and teach Cam the offense? If Rex starts to fall short of expectations than we can make a switch and see what Cam has.