I Wanna Be Like Mike..... Shanahan!!!

Just in case you have been living under a rock, Mike Shanahan is the new coach of the Washington Redskins. I have mixed feelings about this. It is a step in the right direction for a club that went 4-12. But, Shanahan struggled his last 3 years in Denver going 24-24. Hardly a record that is impressive. He is known as an authoritarian, and he has a ton more talent here in Washington, than he did in Denver. This could work out in his favor. But what should his first move(s) be? What should he do first? If I were a GM, I would start very simple. I want to be like Mike (Shanahan) for the next 7 months.

I have a sick obsession with the John Madden football game. Every year that it comes out, I am itching to get it. But, I wait for about a month to go buy it. Why, you might ask? Because, I have another sick obsession with the NCAA College Football game. And I have an Xbox 360 now so the game requires you to talk to the prospective college students to persuade them to attend your school, and even do in home visits/sit downs. You also have to schedule visits to your school and make promises to prospective students, if you so choose. It is extremely tedious, but once you have gotten your recruit and you see them through all four years of college and watch them develop into a pro prospect, you can export them to the Madden game. This is when the real fun starts. I love playing the Madden season and importing all of those college players that are pro prospects. I purposely get the worse team in the NFL, just so I can turn the team around. I love rebuilding a franchise. I love developing talent. I love the grind of Free Agency, the NFL Scouting Combine, The NFL Draft, and Training Camp. Most people want the pretty, well put together, teams. Give me the worst franchise and give me the power to make all of the final decisions. That to me is fun. It may be a bit crazy, but it gives me a chance to prove to everyone that I know what I am doing, and I can rebuild my franchise, my way. I do not like to follow others. I like marching to the beat of my own drum. This is where Mike Shanahan could take notes from me. I understand this is not a video game, this is real life. So here are my real life franchise moves regarding the Washington Redskins, if I were Mike Shanahan.

The very first thing that I would do, is grab Jason Campbell by the facemask, and tell him, "You are my guy. You are a Franchise Quarterback and I am going to get the best out of you over the next 4-5 years." My next task would be to grab Santana Moss and tell him, "You are my #1 receiver. You are a dynamic player. You are going to be a big part of what we do here, so please be ready for a great year." I would then go to Devin Thomas and Fred Davis and tell them, "You two will be my #2 Wide Receiver and #2 Tight End respectively." My next move would be to grab Clinton Portis and tell him, "Look, you have about two good years left in you before you really start to decline. I am going to milk you for everything that is left in your tank. So you'd better get with our Strength and Conditioning Team and get to work." My next move would be to go to Albert Haynesworth and ask, "How bad do you want to be the best Defensive Tackle in the game? Because if you want it bad, I want to know what Tennessee asked you to do. Whatever they asked you to do there, I want you to do here. No more of that asking you to occupy two blockers on 95% of the plays." My last move, before the draft, would be to go to Bobby Crumpler and Harrison Bernstein, the Strength and Conditioning Team, and tell them, "Hop in the next flight to Columbus, OH, to see my friend and Godfather of the Conjugated Method, Louie Simmons. Louie Simmons is going to break down the Russian style of training that made his gym, Westside Barbell, so popular. Westside is probably the strongest gym in the world. An 800 lb Squat, 500 lbs. Bench Press, and 700 lbs. Deadlift is a joke at Westside. They have 19 year olds doing that. Louie is also good at conditioning. His lifters are in such good shape it makes no sense. If you have to ask who Louie Simmons is, you do not need to be in the Strength and Conditioning field." By the way, if you were paying attention, this is the style of training that players like Donald Brown, Tiki Barber, Miles Austin, Deon Anderson and Brian Cushing used to get to the NFL. With that said, we will be off to the 2010 NFL Draft.

With the 4th Pick (4th selection, 1st Round) in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins select..... Taylor Mays, Free Safety from Southern California (U.S.C.). This will allow us to move LaRon Landry back to Strong Safety and fill a void left by the death of Sean Taylor. (R.I.P. Sean) Chris Horton will be used in certain packages during the season and Reed Doughty would be traded for a future (2011) Draft pick.

With the 36th Pick (4th selection, 2nd Round) in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins select.... Bruce Campbell, Left Tackle from the University of Maryland. Just in case Chis Samuels cannot finish his career, we are prepared.

We have no 3rd Round Pick because we used it on Defensive End, Jeremy Jarmon in the Supplemental Draft in 2009. I think it was a pick well spent. I just hope he recovers from his ACL injury.

With the 100th Pick (4th selection, 4th Round) in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins select.... Mike Johnson, Offensive Guard from the University of Alabama. We need a back up for Derrick Dockery. Although Dockery is a beast, and durable as hell, we have learned injuries are not predictable. So this is just in case.

With the 132nd Pick (4th selection, 5th Round) in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins select.... Sherrick McManis, Cornerback from Northwestern University. I have been following this young man his entire career at Northwestern. With Carlos Rogers' tenure up in the air and Fred Smoot aging (and doing nothing about it to try to slow it down), I have to build for the future. McManis and Kevin Barnes would be my featured Cornerbacks for years to come.

We have no 6th Round Pick because we traded it away on Jason Taylor, and then we released him. So what do we have to show for it right now? Good move Vinny "The Dipstick" Cerrato.

With the 196th Pick (4th selection, 7th Round) in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Washington Redskins select.... Stevenson Sylvester, Outside Linebacker from the University of Utah. I have been following this young man for the past two years. And since the Brian Orakpo Project is not working out at Linebacker, and Marcus Washington is not walking through that door, I think we need a Linebacker to play Strong Side and handle some of the speedy Tight Ends and Halfbacks that we are going to face, especially within our own division. This will allow me to use Brian Orakpo the way he is supposed to be used, as a Defensive End.

That would be it folks. There will be no big name signings in the Free Agency period(s). There will be no big re-signing of any of our Restricted Free Agents. They are getting 2 year contracts that have options to be picked up in the second year, and will be loaded with incentives. So they can play around if they want to. I would have no shame in going back out on the market to replace them. You have to be a bit indifferent towards the players. Once they feel that you have no backbone, you are done. It is like dating. You can't let someone walk all over you, and then think that you are going to get your power back later. It is a pipe dream. I hope Coach Shanahan shoves his foot so far up some players asses that they have to open their mouths to tie his shoe. You cannot sugarcoat anything. We were 4-12 in 2009 and it WILL NOT happen again, while I am on the job. I guess this is why I am not the coach. I would have a radical approach. But, what if.... what if my approach worked? Would it be the blueprint for others to follow. Because if you know me personally, then you know that I am not going to follow anyone else. But I will blaze a trail. And I hope Mike Shanahan is the same way. Good luck coach.

Two Guys.... One Heck Of An Accomplishment

In the spirit of Black History month, I felt compelled to give a bit of history lesson. See in today’s game, there are a number of Black Quarterback’s, but in the 1960’s it was a rarity. Although Black Quarterback's (QB) have come a long way, they still have a very, very long way to go. Nothing annoys me more than listening to people talk about Black QB's like they are indentured servants. Underneath that uniform is a man. A man that has to endure a set of rules that are not spoken anymore, just understood. Most people think sports are just sports. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sports, football especially, are a microcosm of society. And no position in football reflects that more than the Quarterback position.

Pictured above is the first Black QB in modern day football. Marlin Briscoe, stood a mere 5'10" tall. Coming into the 1968 football season as a Rookie, Briscoe was 8th on the Denver Broncos depth chart. He was pretty much buried alive. Drafted in the 14th Round he was hardly given a chance to survive professional football. Sure enough, Briscoe saw action due to an injury and spotty play by QB's ahead of him on the Denver Broncos' depth chart. Briscoe may not have ripped it up with his completion percentage, but he did set a Rookie record with 14 Touchdown passes (still to this day a Broncos Rookie record). The Broncos thanked him for his services by not bringing him back in the 1969 season. As a result, Briscoe never played QB again. What is most disturbing, is the fact that he was never given another opportunity to play QB in the NFL. Although Briscoe did win two Super Bowls playing Wide Receiver (WR), most people don't even know that he was the first Black QB. It was guys like Marlin Briscoe, who paved the way for others like Warren Moon, Vince Evans and Randall Cunningham. But one guy broke down another barrier following Briscoe’s historic achievement. And I had the pleasure of watching him do it, and do it what a “Touch of Class.”

Douglas (Doug) Lee Williams was born in Zachary, LA on August 9, 1955. Doug had the pleasure of playing college football for Hall of Fame Coach Eddie Robinson at Grambling State University. Although Williams was red-shirted in 1973, Doug became the starting Quarterback the next year. Doug really left an indelible mark on Grambling guiding them to three SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) Championships and three Black College National Championships. In his Senior year, Williams was up for the Heisman. Although he only finished fourth, that alone is one heck of an accomplishment. Most players at Black colleges aren’t even considered equally as good as the players at the major colleges. But when you have a 35-5 record and set numerous school records, people may take notice. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was one NFL team that thought his accomplishments were worthy of an NFL Draft selection. So with the 17^th overall pick in the 1978 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the laughing-stock of the NFL. That was, until Doug got there. Over the next four seasons, Doug Williams guided the Buccaneers to three playoff appearances which included the 1979 NFC Championship game. If you want to talk about a guy carrying a franchise, Doug’s name should be mentioned. Sadly Doug was only being paid $120,000 a year, the lowest of any starting QB in the NFL, and also lower than 12 backup QB’s at that time. To put that in perspective in relation to today’s game. That is not even the league minimum today. For some players, that is a week’s salary. When it was time to talk about money, Doug wanted a raise and rightfully so. Doug wanted $600,000, the Bucs offered $400,000. Doug would have still been one of the lowest paid starting QB’s in the NFL. So in a standoff Doug took his talents to the USFL. Although his stint in the upstart league was short-lived, Doug’s finest moment came in the Nation’s Capitol. And boy was a special moment.

Can you imagine being unemployed and getting a phone call from Coach Joe Gibbs of the Washington Redskins asking you to come to the Redskins to play QB for the team? Well this is exactly what happened to Doug in 1986. Coach Gibbs used to the Offensive Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and remembered Doug from his days in Tampa. Because of spotty play along with injuries from Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams was in and out of the line up for the Redskins in early 1987. Couple that with the fact that the NFL season was shortened because the players strike, which included replacement players playing 3 games, and the fourth game being cancelled, Doug had to wait a while for his moment to come. But as the Redskins inched closer to the playoffs, Doug Williams inched closer to the field. And once the Redskins qualified for the playoffs, Coach Gibbs made the bold move of naming Williams the starter. Although I was a young man (11 years old), I remember the 1988 (technically the 1987 Season) Playoff run. After knocking off the Chicago Bears (21-17) in Soldier field, and beating the red hot Wild Card team in the Minnesota Vikings (24-17), Doug became the first Black QB to appear in the Super Bowl (XXII). And what a game it was.

After falling behind 10-0, Doug Williams caught fire in the 2^nd quarter leading the Redskins to a record 35 second quarter points (still a record to this day) while throwing four Touchdown passes. This resulted in the Redskins winning 42-10 and Doug being named Super Bowl XXII MVP. And to think, this man had a root canal a few days before that made it impossible for him to get ANY sleep and Doug sprained his knee early in the game. Although Donovan McNabb and Steve McNair followed in Doug’s footsteps, Doug Williams is still to this day, the only Black QB to win a Super Bowl. Doug has been mentioned as a good player, but among the greats he gets lost in the shuffle. But we all know there are moments in time that can’t be undone. And Super Bowl XXII was one of them. I would hate to think what would have happened had the Redskins lost that Super Bowl with Doug at QB. But because Doug won, we see guys like Michael Vick (first Black QB ever drafted #1 overall in the NFL Draft [2001]), Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Troy Smith, David Garrard, Vince Young and others get the opportunity to play in the NFL today.

This is why when I sit down to discuss football I acknowledge the fact that I am a Redskins fan first. I like the Steelers second. And my third team is every, and any team that has a Black starting QB. At that point it is bigger than football. They are carrying the burden of representing Black men in society. I always say that sports are a microcosm of society. No sport reflects this more than football and no position in football reflects this more than the QB position. But it doesn’t matter who your favorite NFL team is/are, you have to tip your hat to Doug Williams and Marlin Briscoe both were trailblazers. And both should be recognized.