Hey Will,
I woke up this morning and got in the truck to go back to work (only
like 9 hours since I left it) and heard the glorious news that
Haynesworth was gone as a radio tease. I was like, "Finally!" in my
brain, and then waited to hear the gory details. Two minutes later,
they said the Patriots gave the Redskins either a 5th or 6th round
pick for him, and the initial giddiness was replaced by a crushing
realization. Much like when someone has weird moles all of a sudden
after years of working in the sun and they take a biopsy to see if
it's skin cancer or not, that's what Haynesworth going to New England
is like. If the Redskins have been an inefficient beast in personnel
decisions as well as creating the proper environment for success, the
Patriots have been the textbook example of not being emotionally
attached to players, making moves when you can get the most,
thickening your draft picks every year, and simply filling in
positions 11 through 53 on the roster constantly and wait for guys to
develop into one of those 1 through 10 guys. No glorious saviors
signed the first day of free agency, no trading next year's 2nd round
pick for this year's new jersey in the NFL Shop, none of that
bullshit. I bet Belichick makes a ton of money speaking at corporate
bullshit.
So the dilemma here is Haynesworth, who has been this huge problem in
D.C. from the beginning pretty much, could go to New England and not
only restart his career but go back to being the beast that he was
once every 100 plays while collecting Snyder checks. And honestly, I
figure that'll happen. And what that'll show is that it's not so much
the player as it is the system, or the team structure that is set up,
and that's not an indictment on Shanahanny in particular so much as
Redskins front office culture of the past decade. It's not geared to
be efficient nor not be attached to personally knowing the players. I
bet Snyder had a bunch of brunches with Haynesworth when he was first
signed to the maroon and black dotted line.
So yeah, finally Haynesworth is gone, and then I am left with this
crushing feeling that Haynesworth, although a highly susceptible to
personal failures type of fellow, was not the cancer that needed to be
gotten rid of. I have a feeling we will see that proven this year in
New England.
I wonder what happens today?
**********
My first reaction to the Haynesworth trade was relief.
Sure there's always the chance that he'll be great with the Patriots, but I hated that team to begin with. Now, with his fat ass on the roster, I can hate them like I hate stuff like AIDS and Rosie O'Donnell- or Rosie O'Donnell infested with AIDS at the same time. It's a very efficient hate channel- really convenient.
No longer will he or McNabb be the subplot that makes the Redskins the team everyone loves to laugh at. No more 18-day physical fitness tests that are dragged out in detail on every media outlet from the NFL network to ESPN Deportes. No more veterans being anonymously interviewed about how bad the stand-off is for the locker room and how sick they are of answering that question every single day. That drama is gone.
Now, there is still plenty of time for there to be a big splash free agent signing that requires Redskins One to literally fly by night- one that inevitably will blow up in their face and negate any lesson learned.
But for now, there's an opportunity to have a locker room that doesn't resemble a carnival. Keep in mind that Portis is also no longer "being Clinton" in Ashburn.
Go. All of you- get the fuck out of here and let this team rebuild their dignity.
This is not a super bowl roster- I realize that. But guys that want to play together for eachother and their coaches is what makes a team fun to root for- in any sport.
The sense that they're going to carve out something memorable and forge their own identity- call it "heart" or whatever you want, but it's something that's been missing since Brian Mitchell left.
At least, that's what I tell myself in July.
********
I'd also like to add this (for old time's sake):
genius.
********
Will,
Did you see we signed some dude that was supposed to be a big dude on
Dallas' defensive line this year? I vaguely remember him, but he's
supposed to be young and able, according to some nerd on the internet.
I don't know... I'm a little sketchy of signing dudes from division
rivals unless they have chips on their shoulder and I don't think a
dude going for bigger money before Jerry Jones could unload on him is
necessarily going to play with a chip on his shoulder.
Am I being too negative? I mean seriously, I'm so sick from drinking
sour Kool-Aid I think I might be a bit paranoid about shit now, to
where anything they do, I'm like, "Fuck, not again."
But they signed all the rookies except that Kerrigan kid, but I don't
think we ever talked about the draft. I am stoked for that Hankerson
kid from Miami. He seems swagtastic. And also the internet nerd guy
said he has "large hands". But have you read or seen about this 7th
round dude from West Virginia Chris Neild or Nield or whatever the
fuck? He seems pretty chill in a crazy whiteboy who listens to hip hop
from West Virginia type of way. I am thoroughly stoked about him being
a back-up nose tackle in this modern system.
But yeah, let me know if I'm being unfairly negative. I just want Dan
Snyder to die, that's all.
Thanks,
Raven
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