Posted by
Ellison on Thursday, February 14, 2008 1:30:34 PM
What is going on with my beloved Washington Redskins? Why are these three men leading this priced possession to failure? Although Jim Zorn hasn't coached a game yet, I still very wary of his presence.
Of course, Daniel Synder and Vinny "Yes Man" Cerrato have been failures by any measure in the National Football League. All I can ask is why?
Under the reign of Synder, the Redskins have been through 6 head coaches in an 8 year span. We have won just 1 division title in 15 years. We have won just 2 playoff games in the last 15 years, each time losing in the divisional round. We had something going in 1999. The following offseason, Danny and Vinny got on Redskin One and went out to get aging stars like Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith, Jeff George, and Mark Carrier. How'd it work out? We ended up 8-8 with our coach, Norville Turner being fired after 44 year old kicker Eddie Murray missed a 45 yard field goal.
The following season, we had a new coach in "General" Marty Schottenheimer. Vinny was fired on the first day. Marty's training camp was so hard, Deion had to retire. We entered the season with Jeff George as our starting quarterback. By Week 3, George was cut adn Tony Banks was our starter. After starting 0-5, we rebounded and finshed strong with a record of 8-8. However, Danny didn't like sitting on the sidelines fiddling with his Palm Pilot. He needed control, so he fired Marty.
On the same day as Marty's departure, we hired Steve Spurrier. The Ol' Ball Coach came with much fanfare and excitement. It seemed good until Vinny was rehired. That offseason, we syphoned off many players from the New York Jets including Laveraneus Coles, Chad Morton, and John Hall. Also, Spurrier wanted to bring in some of his former Florida Gators who had been failures in the NFL. He brought in Danny Wuerrful (the Gloved One) and Shane Mathhews (who tried to wear the #9 jersey that HOFer Sonny Jurgensen had worn for 10 years). We also drafted QB Patrick Ramsey in the 1st round. Things seemed OK, especially when we Spurrier showcased his "Fun n' Gun" offense in a preseason game against the SF 49ers in Osaka, Japan.
Sadly, this would be the highlight for the Redskins in the 2002 season. We would finish 7-9 that year. The following year would be horrific with us finishing 5-11. Spurrier would call in his resignation in the offseason from a golf course in Florida. Things seemed bleak and untenable. Redskin Nation was on the werge of mass suicide. Until.....
Stay tuned for Part 2 when the King returns.