NFL Football

Last year I "played" my first season of fantasy football. A good friend of mine, Therone Wesley, is a huge Eagles fan. As a Redskins fan myself, we obviously have our differences. I talked to Therone about fantasy football and he said he couldn't get into it because he only liked Eagles. I got around this dilemma by picking mostly Redskins, including the Redskins defense, Clinton Portis, Santana Moss, Antawn Randle El, and others. I capped them off with Tom Brady, who went on to have a monster year.

Over the Winter, Joe Gibbs retired and Dan Snyder ticked me off. He passed over Greg Williams and brought in an outsider. This seemed to kill the stability and shake up the direction of the 'Skins. After 10 years in the Wilderness, I've no tolerance for Snyder's idiocy. I had hoped that he would promote Williams. I was disgusted that he didn't even think of interviewing Russ Grimm. I vowed to never be a Redskin fan again. Afterall, I could use the extra time and football in general is not as fun as it was in the eighties and nineties.

But, I have to admit, that day by day Jim Zorn is winning me over. He seems to have the stuff it takes and I have a feeling that he might do something with the Redskins. (Don't believe me, I always have that feeling at this time of the year. Dan Snyder isn't very good at delivering, but no one is better at setting ridiculous expectations.) Here's my rationale:

Jack Pardee was a pretty good coach in the seventies. By the time he was at the Redskins in the very early eighties, he had seen it all. He took the Redskins from the cellar and gave them a little dignity. He proved that if they scrapped and stuck together, they could post a winning season. But, Jack, being a little older, lacked the creativity, energy and disaversion to risk of a younger man. Joe Gibbs, much younger than Pardee, came from nowhere to take over Pardee's work and craft the team into a Superbowl contender and winner.

Now, Joe Gibbs is the old coach. He put the Redskins back in some semblance of order. He built discipline, instilled confidence and righted the ship. Jim Zorn is in the position that Joe Gibbs was in when he took over.