Haynesworth Saga

A lot of people have got this whole Albert Haynesworth thing all wrong. Sally Jenkins article in the Post just now, though, is the worst. In fairness, I'll post a link to it at the bottom of this blog, but frankly, I could barely get through reading it, because it outraged me so much. Before, I say what I need to say, it's important to know that I don't necessarily think Albert is some sort of great guy or great competitor. In fact, I stood at the front of the line, calling him out for taking plays off and his embarrassing pride and competitive will, being carted off the field several times last year was really painful to watch as a Redskin fan. But, does that give Shannahan the right to throw Albert under the bus at every turn? Does it give him the right to make him the scapegoat for any future missteps or misfortunes this season? No. It doesn't. And, this isn't the first time Shanny has done this. The guy likes to play games and have pissing matches. He tried it with Brandon Marshall in Denver and he's trying it here now. He is just as childish and foolish as Haynesworth as been since day one. Now, should, Albert have showed up to the offseason conditioning program? Probably. Without a doubt there is a camaraderie that a lot of the great football locker rooms have and it would be nice if your best player showed up. But, he didn't need to show up to get in shape. Do you think that Ma'ake Kemoeatu could have passed that conditiong test? I know, for a fact, he could not have. So spare me the conditioning angle. Haynesworth is in his 9th year in the league, he knows what he has to do to be ready to play. He can dominate as his weight. The fact is Shannahan is couching himself. It couldn't be more obvious. If the Skins start out 2-6, then the media and Skins fans all over the region will target their venom towards Haynesworth, rather than Shannahan or his hand-picked quarterback Donnovan McNabb. A coach and a quarterback are the two most inviting targets when things go wrong, but if you scapegoat your high-priced defensive tackle from day one, maybe the town will take him to task over you. I just hope I'm not the only one seeing through the smoke screen.

Jenkins article can be read in its entirety here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/22/AR2010082202581.html