There’s been a lot of talk about the Redskins lately, even though they fizzled in the playoffs. But the real subject of interest is the health of RGIII, the Washington Quarterback or savior depending on your view. There’s no doubt that his arrival has made the team more interesting — and — competitive.
I wasn’t always a Redskins fan — growing up in Oklahoma, I tended to follow the Cowboys and for some reason liked the Cardinals (when they played in St. Louis.) But after moving to the Washington area I became a fan of the local team and when Dave came along, he was a fan, so I think I became a bigger fan because of him.
In my early days as a fan, I suffered along with everyone else through a number of coaches. I remember Vince Lombardi arriving and things looked promising but he only lasted a year and then we suffered through the George Allen years. When Joe Gibbs arrived that seemed to stabilize the coaching ranks, but the one thing that has never been stable is the quarterback position.
I’m just guessing, but in the past 25 years, Washington has probably had at least 20 quarterbacks. Even the ones that won Super Bowls didn’t last.
I think in the last quarter century, Joe Theisman probably lasted the longest, although I remember him hanging around a long time as a backup to Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer. Anyhow after he won the Super Bowl, I think he only lasted about another year as the Redskins quarterback.
Doug Williams was a backup to Jay Schroeder before he took over and won a Super Bowl, but I think he was replaced the very next year with Mark Rypien – who won a Super Bowl….
A lot of quarterbacks fall into the category of “nobody remembers them” or at least they’d like to forget them. I can recall Heath Shuler and Gus Ferotte, but don’t remember many more before Jason Campbell and then came Donovan McNabb, Rex Grossman and John Beck.
So — here we are with Robert Griffin III, and his first year probably exceeded anyone’s expectations. Are we finally on a roll here or are we on the Redskins roller coaster consisting of high hopes and sickening disappointment?
I keep hearing that people (including doctors) think RGIII will be back for the opener next year. The fact is, contrary to popular belief, he’s not some sort of advanced alien species that came to earth to save the Redskins — he’s human.
Hopefully RGIII’s knee will heal fast and the Redskins will once again be one of the NFL’s elite. Hail to the Redskins!
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