Albert Hanynesworth and More of the Same

Wow. That's all I really have to say about the current situation in the Washington Redskins organization. When we traded for Donovan McNabb, many in the D.C. area started up the annual "We are gonna make the playoffs" ramblings. For the second year in a row I refused to partake. I was labeled a traitor, a Cowboys fan, and a pessimist. I hope they were right. Unlike the optimists that surround Redskins park every preseason and feed into the circus that is the Washington Redskins, I tried to take a rational approach in evaluating the coming season. Here are my conclusions:

     - The McNabb trade looks better than it really will be in the long run. We gave up a second round pick in this year's draft and a third or fourth rounder next year. Who did the Eagles select with that pick? Free safety Nate Allen. What is the one position in the secondary the Redskins are in dire need of help with? Yep, free safety. Did I mention he is the Eagles starter? No... Well he is. On the flip side of this trade however, we get a much needed boost at quarterback. So it seems. Quarterback is the hardest position to draft for on the field. They touch the ball on every offensive play, so making a mistake in the draft could be devastating. What the Redskins are suggesting is that they will be able to select a replacement for McNabb in one of the next two drafts, because let's be honest, he doesn't have more than three serviceable years left. Well here is a list of the Redskins drafted quarterbacks under Daniel Snyder: Todd Husak, Sage Rosenfels, Patrick Ramsey, Gibran Hamdan, Jason Campbell, Jordan Palmer, and Colt Brennan. Hmm.

     - The McNabb trade is just another case of the Redskins signing past their prime players. So is Larry Johnson, Willie Parker, Rex Grossman (never really had a prime), Joey Galloway, maybe Jamaal Brown, Artis Hicks, Ma'ake Kemoeatu (surgery), and Philip Buchanon. *Shakes my head*

     - Albert Haynesworth was never happy to be a Redskin. While this may seem insignificant, it is not. As a soccer player I have come to understand the importance of not only teamwork, but team harmony. When one player is unhappy it has only negative effects on the team. Football is slightly different because the offense and defense practice separately.  If there is a problem within the defense, it may not affect the offense. Since football is still a team game, if both units are not functioning properly then the team will not win. This is what I fear is going to happen to the Redskins.

Which brings me to my final point. Albert Haynesworth himself. I have not found a single Redskins fan that is willing to even acknowledge that Haynesworth may have a right to be a little upset. Just one time let us try to look at it from his point of view. While the Buccaneers offered Haynesworth more money, the Redskins promised him they would make him the cornerstone of their defense. Imagine to his surprise, when he gets to the Redskins he is asked to eat up space to free other players. So he did what any teenager would do in his situation, he complained. Then he got hurt. Which brought us to the signing of the ultimate no non-sense coach, Mike Shanahan. If I'm Haynesworth (remember, teenage frame of mind), I see this as a personal attack. I was the one player who publicly wasn't happy, that was still on the team. For whatever reason that is well beyond me, he couldn't give up on the idea of being THE star. He hesitated to come to training camp because he wanted reassurances that he would be a key part of the defense. This is his ultimate, unforgivable, failing. He doesn't grasp the basic concept of a team sport: You will get your time to shine, and when it comes you take advantage of it. Until then, you play your role. Unless he changes his attitude he will never be happy on a successful team. Anyway. Haynesworth finally reported to training camp only to be told that he had to pass a conditioning test. Everyone else had to do it, so shut up and get to work. Still, he complained. He eventually passed the conditioning test, only to fall ill. His head coach publicly announced "He felt that his head was bothering him more than it was dehydration, so he wasn't feeling good, basically," Shanahan said. "Just didn't feel very good. More of a headache than anything else." Well that headache turned out to be rhabdomyolysis, an ailment that causes "the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle due to injury to muscle tissue.". Still the D.C. natives were harsh. Many saying that it was because he came back out of shape, but it could easily be from actually playing football as well. He recovered well enough to play second half snaps against the Ravens last Saturday. Still, I feel he has a right to be angry. Mike Shanahan didn't even realize Albert Haynesworth had rhabdomyolysis until the Washington Post interviewed him. Yet he said in a press conference that he thought it was "headaches". Look, this is football. Even if Mike Shanahan thought that Haynesworth was dogging it, you don't throw a player under the bus like that. It shows poor character. Players in the Redskins locker room feel the same way. While some still criticize Haynesworth, more and more are starting to feel that Shanahan is going a little too far. As I said before, a divided team cannot win.