The Washington Redskins and the Pain of Disappointment

As a DC area native I am a Redskin's fan. Beginning in the 1970's with the arrival of George Allen, the Skin's enjoyed a better than 20 year run of success. From the 1971 season when Allen arrived, until the end of the 1991 season with our third Superbowl victory, the Skin's had tons of good years, including 5 Superbowl appearances and three wins.

The Redskin's appeared in Superbowl 7 in 1973 and lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins. We won Superbowl 17 beating those Dolphins. We went to the big game again the next year, Superbowl 18, and were spanked by the Oakland Raiders. The Redskin's then next went to the Superbowl after the 1987 season, defeating the Broncos in Superbowl 22 and we won Superbowl 26 after the 1991 NFL season. Since then the Skin's have mostly been average at best.

We've had some great beginnings, with Norv Turner leading us to a 7-1 start in 1996 or 1997, but the Skin's folded like a cheap lawn chair beneath a fat man's ass. Then began the parade of coaches after our longtime owner Jack Kent Cooke died and his family had to sell the team to pay the estate taxes. Enter Dan Snyder and the exceptional mediocrity of a revolving door of coaches, big name players and no stability.

I am of the firm belief that dynasty's are built through the draft. That is not to say a great player or two won't help a team, but free agency is not how to build a long term winner. Look back over recent history and it is pretty obvious the post-Superbowl dynasty teams - the Steelers, Cowboys, Niners, Redskins and Patriots were built through the draft. And yes haters, the Redskins of the first Joe Gibbs era were a dynasty...4 Superbowl appearances and three wins in 11 years is dynasty by anyone's measure. We went to the big game after the '82, '83, '87, and 91 seasons.

Since then our front office and star positions have been a revolving door. After Snyder fired Norv Turner there have been a series of failures on the field and in the front office. The Redskin's have had 7 head coaches since Snyder purchased them...Norv Turner, who he inherited, followed by Terry Robiskie for three games, then Marty Schottenheimer for one year, Steve Spurrier for 2 years, Joe Gibbs for 4 years in his second stint as head coach, then Jim Zorn for two years and Mike Shanahan is this years coach.

With each new coach came a new offensive or defensive system, often both in one year. This demonstrates the complete lack of continuity and the attendant failure such fosters. For this Snyder is to blame. The players and coaches know they are subject to the whim of the owner, and one who seems to have little patience. I feel like my Redskins are owned by a man child similar to our president. One who believes in their own infallibility over above all else. It's BS and my Redskin's have the record and years of misery to prove it.

Mind you this whole series of events is doubly puzzling because head coaches do not drop passes, jump off sides, hold on a long run to see it called back, and rarely are they flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. But then again stability and confidence go a long way toward success in many endeavors. If one believes their position is on tender hooks, even in mid-season, they tend to live in a certain fear. It's human nature and even highly skilled and compensated football players and coaches are human.

I know for me personally if one has no confidence in me I may lose confidence in myself. I do what I do best when I don't have to second guess if someone is looking over my shoulder waiting to pounce on me for human failings. Can anyone do well in such an environment?

Yes the NFL is highly competitive, and one player supplanting another is a fact of NFL life, but usually, I say usually, in the course of a season, unless a player is a dead beat, his job is secure til the season ends. To my knowledge few teams can play revolving door with skill players and experience any real hope of success, especially in any long term sense. Big time NFL success is built through the draft and the paying of one's dues.

As for the coaching situation in DC, let's review. Norv Turner has had pretty good success in San Diego, so it's hard to say any failing on the part of the Skin's was his fault in the main. Marty Schottenheimer is considered a good coach and a knowledgeable one too, but despite his one and only season as Skin's coach and an 8-8 record, he was let go.

Steve Spurrier was a great coach and still is. He coached at Duke and they won an ACC football title and that's saying something for sure. He was a big winner at Florida and won a national championship. He is winning big time at the University of South Carolina and against some traditional collegiate power houses too, so "the old ball coach" ain't the one to blame for any failings of the Redskins.

The second coming of Joe Gibbs saw the Skin's experience the most success they've had in the Dan Snyder era, but his heart was never really in it the second time around, so Gibbs left after 4 years and Jim Zorn was given a shot. While the Skin's were mediocre under him, they were before him, are so far this year too so hard to lay it all at Zorn's feet.

Now the Redskin's have another proven winner in Mike Shanahan who won two Superbowls in the late 1990's. Where will it lead? Based on past seasons in the Snyder era and the Redskin's new claim to the title "laughing stock of the NFL," well, you do the math.

For years we've had a top five NFL defense but our offense was lacking. Now we have a terrible defense trying to master Jim Haslett's 3-4 and the offense is abysmal at best. The Redskin's have found new ways to lose football games. If we have a good first half we follow it by coming out in the second half flat as a board. If we have a bad first half we usually follow it with a bad second half, ya know, just for consistencies sake.

Back to my title...Vince Lombardi once said "If ya can't get used to the pain of discipline, get used to the pain of disappointment." As the second half of the Cowboy's-Skin's game just started and the Skin's fumbled and the Cow Pokes scored, it's now 27-7 Cowboys.

Oh, and Donovan McNabb was not and never was the answer to our woes. I like him personally as a guy with tremendous character, but let's face it, he can overthrow a wide open receiver and under throw the short touch pass every time, and he no longer can scramble any better than my 54 year old butt.

As the season rolls on toward total disappointment for me and my Skins' YET AGAIN, the problems are not with the players or the coaches, but the front office. The coaches and players need to know that Dan Snyder will give the money and facilities and other than that will let football ops be run by football folks. We have a good start on that this year with Bruce Allen (son of George and brother or the former Va governor) as the General Manager and a great coach in Mike Shanahan.

We have good enough players to be perennial contenders for the division crown most years, but until the coaches and players can rest assured they will be left unmolested by the demands to win now at all costs by Snyder, the Redskin's will continue to be a joke in the NFL.

And for the record, I have always loved the New England Patriots - ALWAYS! So if every jerk on this blue marble can swear they are a Cowboy's fan, despite never having been to Texas or on a horse, I can be a Pats fan, right? I mean, c'mon folks. I know a lot of Niners fans who'd never even been to Cali and the Steelers in their 1970's heyday had tons of fans who could not pick out Pennsylvania on a map, so...gimme a break. Until the Redskin's return to some form of acceptable performance, I am a Patriot's fan. Have ya seen my Pat's offense? SCARY!!!

Until continuity arrives the Washington Redskin's will continue to be the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions all rolled into one neat little package, and for that I lay the blame squarely at the Bruno Magli's of Dan Snyder. Remember them? The brand of shoes OJ was allegedly wearing when Nicole had her head near chopped off? Any chance OJ will pay a visit to Snyder? Wishful thinking on my part.