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After just reading through a multitude of articles, opinion columns and
alleged NFL news breaks regarding the Brad Johnson/Jeff George Washington
Redskin quarterback dilemma during my daily perusal of the usual football
information and fantasy football web sites, I was compelled to throw my 2?
in, or should I say, some sense in and try to make some change. Outside
of one fairly level-headed expose and an innocuous article based on an
interview with Brad Johnson evidently produced by a eunuch and, of course,
those neutered AP articlets which just quote Norv Turner, in one way or
another the stuff I was reading was so overly opinionated one way or the
other. Whether it maintained that Brad should maintain his role as
starting QB this Sunday or that Jeff George should get the nod, the articles
were all, in large, written with tendentious, black-and-white presentations
of the premises and in bombastic and acrimonious tones. Forget, just
for a moment, about who is and is not getting benched in the NFL. How
about some pink slips for the guys with the over-opinionated pens and
incomplete arguments? Take a look-see for yourself.
Upon embarking on this literary journey... I shared the opinion of those who
think George should get the start against New York and, moreover, that Turner
should have inserted him in the Monday night game on that last drive, the one
which Johnson ended with an interception. I, also, being an
ever-forgiving empathizer, have always contended that Jeff and his
idiosyncratic personality have gotten the short end of the stick more often
than not, which I felt was exemplified back in 1997 when June Jones benched
and berated him during that Eagles game. On the other hand, I am also
part of Brad's fan club. I am with the people who love Brad's story,
admire him for the dignified attitude he has always displayed in the face of
adversity and for always taking the high-road during his career-long, up-hill
battle which dates all the way back to his years at Florida State, and those
who just, in general, think he is a great guy, not mention a great quarterback.
Both of these guys, although coming from opposite sides of the spectrum, seem
to have the same dilemma, how to get their wonderful talent appreciated and
their careers stabilized? Bottom line - I root for both of these
guys. Then, as the rabble roused, capriciously throwing out their barbs
and chides, the divine illumination of Saints Augustine and Bonaventure
shined on me letting the undiluted truth filter through the deluded opinions
of man and the answer dawned upon me. The
journey began with the following quote from CNN/SI: Things,
it appeared, were really playing out the way CNN/SI had purported they would
in an article during the offseason in which the assertion was that bringing
George to Washington in the first place was a bad move as, in essence, it
makes the situation into a pressure-cooker. I was really seeing the
author's point...but as the character assassination continued, I began to
recall how well George did when he stepped in Week 6 of last season and led
the 2 - 4 Minnesota Vikings to a 10 - 6 record and into the 2nd round of the
playoffs. The change didn't seem to rattle their confidence. The
most important thing, the way Cris Carter and Randy Moss explained it, was
that Jeff was getting them the ball in a way that Randall was not. This
guy makes it sound as if the whole Redskins team is going to need
psychological therapy if a quarterback switch is made.
Pleeeeeease! My conclusion thus far, put Jeff in! The article's
author went on to quote George's former coach in Oakland, Jon Gruden: Remember
that 1) Jeff George was injured for most of his tenure in Oakland when Gruden
was the coach, 2) this writer obviously has an axe to grind as he is only
relating one side of the story, and 3) Gruden is, in fact, Popeye's evil twin
brother. The next
article, also up at CNN/SI, was the most reasonable of them all. In it
the writer stated: At this
point, disregarding the negativity from the first article, I was on
board. The Redskins should stick with Brad. However, within this
quote above lies the ultimate key to the equation, a key I had yet to
discover. I, then, went on ahead to Fanball.com and read their take on
the situation which went like this: Hmmm...
I thought! That's an interesting spin on the contention at
CNN/SI, but the condescending attitude would continue. That was something I had
contemplated, as well. The article goes on... Through
the fantasy-goggles and all the arrogance, I was able to see the value in
what was being said. At this point, I even agreed that perhaps George should
have seen action in the 2nd half of the Dallas game, but as negative as the
first article was toward George, this article was toward Johnson, and,
consequently, I was not convinced that George should be the starter against
the Giants. The solution was starting to come to me, but I still needed
to see that aforementioned key to put me over the top on where I stood.
But, first, the waters would muddy up again when seeing what "the
expert" Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com was quoted as saying during their on-line
Daily Chat: Even though
this was coming off of Mort's fingertips, I could not help but think that he
was speaking with his heart and not his head regarding his comment on
George. As for his statement regarding the Redskin receivers, it is
inconclusive regarding the issue at hand. However, it does beg the
question, "Does it really matter who quarterbacks the team given the low
quality of the receivers?" Perhaps, we are all arguing a moot
point. Just for argument's sake...I then to a look at Tuffsport's NFL
news breaks and saw that: ...Which
is the perfect segue to the beginning of the final article I looked at at Fox
Sports's web site. It started: It is nice in these last two
quotes to be reminded of the bottom line amidst all the clamor.
Whenever an owner pays big bucks to bring in a player, he wants to see him
produce, and the team brass are going to lobby hard for that player in order
to stay in the good graces of the owner. Just ask Moses Moreno or Doug
Flutie! Johnson, a holdover from the old regime, is in the last year of
his contract. George is Snyder's boy and just beginning his lucrative,
multi-year contract. Putting speculation on the impact of the QB on the
future fortune of the Redskins this year, which is ultimately about more than
just their QB, on the back burner for just a moment, Turner, at some point,
has to think about his own future, which might not exist too much longer if
he refuses to play George. Actually, the ideal situation, business-wise
and fan-politics-wise, for Snyder is for Johnson to fail and George to
succeed and take the team to the promised land. If the opposite were to
happen, Snyder would be in a fiscal and political bind at the end of the
season... The article goes on to lay out Washington's poor numbers on
offense and then make the following well-taken point: That one quote speaks volumes to
what was being stated above at CNN/SI and Fanball.com! Kind of sums it
all up, huh? This sobering reality primed me to see the key in an
apparently unassuming sentence: That second article at CNN/SI to
which I refer above had also pointed out that it would be an absolute
disaster if Turner benched Johnson too early in the season (i.e. this week),
and George flailed. This was embedded somewhere in the back of my
mind, and now I was finally in the right frame of mind to see the key
which was being presented in such a matter-of-fact way. They have to
play the Bucs the following week. With Johnson starting this week,
if he does not succeed, Turner has got a downright disaster on his hands
(unless...) as either a more "anguished" and downtrodden Johnson
will be thrown (throwing) to the wolves the following week, or George will be
seeing his first action against the best defense in the league, one that
harks back to the ' 85 Bears. Not who you want to have to debut
against, especially under these circumstances. If he does not fair
well, who is going to pick up the pieces then? Nevertheless, Norv has
made the right, perhaps even the perfect, decision. Even if he had not,
it is a done deal and not worth discussing anyway...eh, hum. Johnson
should be given one more chance, BUT, and this is a big BUT, if he is not
cuttin' it, Norv must pull him while the game can still be won. If
George can muster a comeback win, it would be huge and would smooth things
over quickly. If he cannot but looks good, no biggie. At least,
he got some good work in before going up against Tampa. If he does not
look good, they are no worse for the wear. He can go back to Johnson,
whose ego will not have been too bruised as he would not have been benched
yet as the starter, or he can stick with George, who, at least, has gotten in
some regular-season work against a decent Giant defense. As for some bylines implied in the
title, the Chargers will get no relief with Leaf. I saw the following
two beauties at Pro Football Weekly's web site and Tuffsports.com: What
kind of whacked out logic is that in the first quote? Toss out the
ridiculous statement about them having their best chance at being respectable
with Leaf. The Chargers are not going to be good this season,
period. This is about grooming a potential future QB. Evidently
these writers neglect to consult Chargers.com, which talks of Moses's
composure, poise and courage in his up-hill-battle-from-the-get-go with K.C.
last weekend. The PFW writer also implies that they should be held
captive to Leaf's weak character and not bench him again. I guess
having strong character has nothing to do with successful
quarterbacking. Then there was this at PFW: "Well,
at least Leaf continues to show his newfound maturity. In my eyes, he’s saying the right things,
which he’s done since the beginning of training camp."
Finally, some like
to call him Antowain Stiff, but I think right now a more apropos nickname
would be Antowain Gettin' Stiffed. Bum's son Wade seems to be back to
his old ways...of bad coaching. Most recently he has benched RB
Antowain Smith for Jonathon Linton who, to date, has not been active.
In the process he is leap-frogging Shawn Bryson as well. Granted both
of them have poor statistics. Smith is averaging 2.1 yards per rush and
Bryson 2.6. However, Philips had yet to really live up to his promise
and let Smith have a chance in a one-back set backfield in which he is most
effective as was exemplified (and hyped up) during the preseason. Last
report out has it that Phillips is working Linton in the team's
1st-and-2nd-down, 2-back formation while they are practicing Bryson in the
team's 3rd-down, 1-back set. Bryson is better in a 2-back formation, by
the way. Wade is not a good head coach. He wasn't in
Denver. He isn't in Buffalo. He does not know how to coach to his
team's strengths (by the way the longest word in the English language with
only one vowel ; ) !). Last year, he had a better team, a very
charismatic quarterback, Doug Flutie who he benched for the playoffs, leading
his team (during the regular season getting them to the playoffs) and a lot
of good fortune. This year will be a reality check for Wade and the
Bills, and one in which he should receive his last check as a head coach
along with a pink slip with some of the writers above. Oh, and, do not
be surprised if Smith resurfaces somewhere else next year and has some
success as the lone running back in the backfield. |
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Revised: 08 Oct 2014 11:56:23 -0700