By Jay Sekulow
The left's outrage over the IRS turns to a plea to 'move on'
This used to be the time of year when Dan Snyder's Bombardier BD-700 jet with the Redskins helmet on the tail zipped across the country and scooped up big-name free agents. For better, but usually worse, the Redskins owned free agency.
The Miami Dolphins need to put folks in the seats. The Cleveland Browns have a new owner. Chicago is chasing two teams in the NFC North and is coming off consecutive collapses.
From Drew Storen to RG3, the heartbreak of the last three months is the price for relevance. If these games didn't matter, the way they ended, on the field and in the examination room, wouldn't sting so much.
For years, the Washington Redskins' sales pitch to free agents went something like this:
Things always seem to happen to D.C. athletes as soon as they're handed headline-grabbing megadeals. They get hurt … or their performance declines … or they commit an off-field/court/ice indiscretion. Or some combination of the three.
Upon further review, the NFL has decided to penalize the New York Giants for trading two first-round draft picks, a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick to the San Diego Chargers in 2004 for the rights to quarterback Eli Manning.
The Washington Redskins just can't help themselves, can they? They pull off a big deal designed to land Robert Griffin III, the wondrous quarterback from Baylor, and the Era of Good Feelings doesn't even last a week.
The Washington Redskins, for years derided as champions of the offseason, positioned themselves Monday to legitimize that title in a salary-cap showdown with the NFL.
As tough and nasty as any player in the NFL, whether it was putting Albert Haynesworth on his back or getting in the last shot in a tangle of large bodies, Kris Dielman found it hard to end his NFL career.
Who would have guessed when the league resumed business in July that Albert Haynesworth, the disinterested defensive tackle, would con not one but two teams — New England and Tampa Bay — into paying him a salary?
If poor Billy Cundiff, the Baltimore Ravens' kicker, hadn't flinched in the final seconds against New England, both conference championship games this year would have gone into overtime. Think about that. Think about how little difference there was, qualitatively, among the NFL's Final Four. Has there ever been less?
Ndamukong Suh seemed like such a level-headed guy when he joined the NFL little more than a season and a half ago. Now, not so much.
The New England Patriots took just half a season to decide they didn't need Albert Haynesworth.
Albert Haynesworth didn't stay unemployed long.
As currently constituted, the Washington Redskins barely resemble a pro football team. They can't run the ball. They can't throw it. They can't stop the opposition from doing either. If the past three weeks are a preview of how it's going to be the rest of the way, they have no hope. Cancel the last nine games and just hold an extended minicamp.
And last Wednesday he said, "I want to do everything better. I'd like to rush the passer and get after the quarterback more. Instead of just getting the pressures, I want to get the sacks."
"Even if you hit him, it's not going to mean you're going to take him down. I mean, he's a guy that can break a lot of tackles and get away from the rush. Even if you're hitting him and he's going down, he still can throw the ball," Haynesworth said. "With him you've got to definitely emphasize finishing the rush and finishing the tackle because he can still get away."
