Damn! This destruction of Kenoy Kennedy was enough to bring me back to the blog! I mean, Kennedy should be cut to save face. He should move to Canada where they already knew what Mike Sellers could do. I mean, can we get Big Mike the ball more often? Like 4th and nothing at the 2 with no time left and down by a score?
In an effort to expand his media empire, Daniel Snyder and Red Zebra Broadcasting signed an agreement with WBIG 100.3 of Clear Channel Communications. The added 36,000 watts of power greatly improves the reception of the signal after last year's debut run that had many listeners not able to get the reception here inthe DC area (including me).
As we ramp up for training camp, the new faces at the Park has been featured throughout the media world:
• Fabini looking for shot at redemption
"Football success had long been a given for the Washington Redskins' Jason Fabini. A three-year starting left tackle at the University of Cincinnati, Fabini started every game as a rookie in 1998 while helping the New York Jets to their best season in 30 years."
• Omar Stoutmire: A Journeyman Returns to D.C.
After a year-long struggle to find consistency on defense, the Washington Redskins signed Omar Stoutmire this past offseason in an effort to bring stability and depth to the safety position. Redskins' fans will remember Omar Stoutmire from 2005, when he served as a key special teams player and had several commendable performances as a backup to starter Ryan Clark, including a Wild Card playoff game in Tampa in which he recorded four tackles, one sack, and one pass defended.
• Buzbee hoping all work equals play
The moment Alex Buzbee realized it still was just football, all his anxieties faded. Sure, the offensive linemen he easily cast aside during his high school days had been replaced by behemoth NFL veterans like Jon Jansen. And yes, the quarterback he had targeted was not a lesser known athlete from Stony Brook or Marist but rather first-round draft pick and NFL starter Jason Campbell.
• Redskins Sign Yet Another DB This Offseason
These are my Washington Redskins. A team that feels their defensive line is pretty set enough that they refused to bring in anyone to help bolster it [despite everyone else in the football world saying it sucks] ... yet Joe Gibbs has constantly have added defensive backs to the roster despite having spent numerous high draft picks on them over the last decade.
Butler, a fifth-round draft pick out of Kansas State in 2001, played in 63 games with 31 starts for the Rams. His best season was 2004, when he had five interceptions and 79 tackles.
The season hasn't even started the stuff before the preseason and Jason Campbell is already on the hot seat? Sometimes I wonder if when story writers have nothing better to write, they write stories?
I'm not going to say Jason Campbell's job is as guaranteed as death and taxes, but to list him (and even Minnesota's Tarvaris Jackson) first on a list of Hot Seat QBs (with Byron Leftwich and Jake Delhomme deserving their listings) is a bit premature. I mean, I'd put Tony Romo on the list before I'd put Campbell. Romo has a new coaching staff who isn't in love with him, on a team with just a volatile an owner and backing him up is Brad Johnson who can get the job done. Not knocking Mark Brunell, but let's be real about it. At least I'd trade him for Johnson.
Two years ago the Redskins defense dominated ball games. Opposing coaches game planned for the defense more than they game planned on our offense. You could almost score a TD, a FG and maybe a little something here and there and you were guaranteed to win considering our offensive woes.
But last year, that same defense shifted opposing coaches' attention to Santana Moss, Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts and even Rock Cartwright (ok, I may be exagerrating a little, but he had a good year on special teams). Defense? Just run the rock. Or, better yet, just throw it.
Ricky Ervins was drafted in the 3rd round by the Redskins, out of USC, and played for the Redskins until 1994, retiring after playing one more season with the 49ers. During his tenure, he rushed for 72 yards in the Super Bowl against the Buffalo Bills, winning a Super Bowl ring and of course the memory of leaving the game with something not even Dan Marino could do. Nor, of course, Jim Kelly, thanks to Ricky, the leading rusher in Super Bowl XXVI.
From his company site: "During his rookie year, he led all NFC rookies in rushing with 680 yards. Ricky's best game came when Coach Gibbs decided to put Ricky in the third quarter to give the team a "spark". He not only gave the team a spark, he exploded on the scene amassing 133 yards on 13 carries, with 2 touchdowns. Ricky had the best yards per carry among all NFC rushers, at 4.7 yards."
Ervins now runs a business called Xtreme Xplosion [XtremeXplosion.net] in northern Virginia that helps train high school athletes and others who want a Super Bowl champion to be their trainer.
Weatherly credited her success to everyone from family, friends and teammates to Dominion track coach Terri Williams and Ricky Ervins, a former NFL player with the Washington Redskins. Ervins has privately trained Weatherly.
While the news is slow and the season still too far away to start making too many predictions, we'll turn our attention to a little event that happened last month involving some Redskins. Mary Sigl of Mannasses, VA, is a DC area resident who has suffered many personal tragedies and hardships recently and is unable to work or take care of her place.
So, the Washington Redskins Charitable Fund participated in granting funds to 27 different organizations, including Project Mend-A-House, whose volunteers put in 337 total hours, even in 100 degree heat, to assist Sigl in restoring her place.
Learn more about Project Mend-A-House and how you also can participate in helping others.
A company developed a device to give the fans a more hands-on experience while watching live sports events: "The company also has a one-year trial agreement, signed last September, to provide the National Football League, the Washington Redskins, the Miami Dolphins and DirecTV with units to stage a one-year trial service with NFL Sunday Ticket."
"I'm still a kid growing up," said Destroyers defensive lineman Kelvin Kinney, in his 18th season in 13 years, spanning four leagues. He spent five seasons with the Washington Redskins (as a sixth-round draft pick out of Virginia State in 1995) and one with the Oakland Raiders before heading off into the football wilderness. In 2001 alone, he played 10 games in the XFL, 12 games in the Arena Football League and 16 games in the Canadian Football League. Including the following two years, Kinney played 90 football games in seven seasons in three leagues.
"A couple of weeks ago, when I made those comments, I didn't understand the seriousness behind it," Portis said. "I didn't know it would affect that many people, didn't think what I said was that offensive. But after doing research and seeing how serious people take this, I shouldn't have made the comments."
He goes on...
"I had no idea the love that people have for animals or didn't consider it when I made those comments," Portis said. "I'm not even a pets man. I've got a fish -- that's the easiest thing to keep up. I've never been into dogs, never dealt with dogs, don't like playing with dogs. But at the same time there's a lot of people who are crazy over pets."
Most teams haven't had their mini camps. Training camp is still six-plus week away. No first-round draft choice has been signed. The Washington Redskins' season opener isn't for three months and five days.
Don't tell that to the Las Vegas Hilton sports book, where if there was a world competition for twiddling one's thumbs, they would have odds on it.
Oddsmakers at the Hilton have posted betting lines on 80 NFL regular season games — four games plus the Monday night game for all 17 weeks. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the book has also posted point spreads and over/unders for each Week 1 game.
Anyone who was been reading since the beginning should know by now that I promote Daniel Snyder's other business dealings as well as the Redskins, especially Six Flags. Mainly, well, because I bought stock in Six Flags. So, when I read the Six Flags here in the DC area was the best performing theme park in the chain, well, I had to share.
In other almost Redskins-related news, some former Redskins are getting comfortable with their new uniforms. Patrick Ramsey is backing up a QB drafted just last year who is going through what Ramsey has already been through — the hype. Then again, maybe Ramsey is Jay Cutler's backup's backup.
And David Patten is down in the Big Easy hoping to add to his Super Bowl rings with the New Orleans Saints who last year proved to be a team not to be taken for granted anymore. All it took was a QB.
Sometimes as a fan we tend to get caught up in the office politics. Who wants more money than they're worth; who should've been acquired and who should've been left on the wire; who said this and who said that. I'm guilty of it. But ultimately, we all want the same thing, as fans. We want to bring home another Lombardi Trophy.
At first I was a bit annoyed by Shawn Springs not wanting to take one for the team and take a salary cut, considering his injuries, age and anything else to justify why he should be the one to bite the bullet. If anything else it's because his dad was a Cowboy.
But then I started thinking. The June 1 cuts were made and the Redskins didn't dump him. And now he's finally at camp and already our secondary is looking much more formidable than last year. So — what if our secondary went from last year's disappointment to Shawn Springs, Carlos Rogers and Fred Smoot manning the corners with Sean Taylor and LaRon Landry blistering anyone who comes their way? I can dig that.
Of course, as we prepare for the new season, we have to start with the one who will be scrutinized the most if the Redskins are going to return to dominance. I want to say Joe Gibbs, but he's still off-limits. Instead, we focus our attention to Jason Campbell.
We got a glimpse of him last year and there was a lot to like about him. If nothing else, he could get the ball to the receivers in a jiffy, having zip on the ball and a lot of distance, something missing with Mark Brunell. But it seems what we saw was just a glimpse. A lot of people are talking about his progression in his position and how this year, after finally getting to stay with the same playbook for more than a year (albeit a 700-pager), we just may see what makes him worth a bunch of draft picks and all the controversy.
Campbell has sacrificed vacation time to get it right, hanging out with Santana Moss. He spends spare hours studying film. He has become Al Saunders' shadow at Redskins Park. His sheer hunger to be the best is what we need more than anything. And it's catching on with the teammates
While ripping through the Internet, searching for any and everything Redskins to get caught up, I came across several articles that have nothing to do with the current state of affairs, but everything to do with what makes the Redskins the great team that it is. One of those reasons is Jack Kent Cooke.
But the article isn't just about Cooke and his relationship with the Redskins. Sometimes I even forget he had business on the other side ofthe country and because of his insatiable vision, one of his projects is on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup.
Now if we can just get his pet project cranking in the same direction.
As I awaken from another slumber from the blogging scene, I'm going to slowly warm up the fingers with Redskins news. There's been so much going on and nothing gong on that I don't know where to begin again.
The draft was cool with me. Some people, including Redskins fans, have been hating on us drafting another safety, especially after the Adam Archuleta debacle, but how can you argue against two headknockers lining up as the last defense to the end zone? Sure we could use another d-lineman, but who buys d-lineman jerseys? Besides, I like what I saw in Kedric Golston last year. Anothony Montgomery may come around as well as they both build on their green football careers.
And what's up with Clinton Portis and his comments about Michael Vick's pet dogs? I'm going to leave that one alone, for now anyway.
Ricky Ervins was drafted in the 3rd round by the Redskins, out of USC, and played for the Redskins until 1994, retiring after playing one more season with the 49ers. During his tenure, he rushed for 72 yards in the Super Bowl against the Buffalo Bills, winning a Super Bowl ring and of course the memory of leaving the game with something not even Dan Marino could do. Nor, of course, Jim Kelly, thanks to Ricky, the leading rusher in Super Bowl XXVI.
It's the offseason so of course, everyone is looking for a story. How about: Clinton Portis needs to improve his work habits? Has training camp even started?
Sometimes as a fan we tend to get caught up in the office politics. Who wants more money than they're worth; who should've been acquired and who should've been left on the wire; who said this and who said that. I'm guilty of it. But ultimately, we all want the same thing, as fans. We want to bring home another Lombardi Trophy.
Of course, as we prepare for the new season, we have to start with the one who will be scrutinized the most if the Redskins are going to return to dominance. I want to say Joe Gibbs, but he's still off-limits. Instead, we focus our attention to Jason Campbell.
While ripping through the Internet, searching for any and everything Redskins to get caught up, I came across several articles that have nothing to do with the current state of affairs, but everything to do with what makes the Redskins the great team that it is. One of those reasons is Jack Kent Cooke.
