Wash Times Clarrifies LA Story

[stevenaa]

Sorry Stevenaa he has a point. Old Brett sounded like he was having a pity party to me, said there's life after football. Maybe it's time to run him out of town. Maybe you should read between the lines and see the sarcasm before calling someone's post stupid.

He has no point. Brett has never been a problem child. He's been an all world QB for a large part of his career. He's on a team that is in the bottom of the barrell. His comments are a symptom of the problem, not the problem.

Lavar, on the otherhand, seems to go off like clockwork. It's always something with him and he's never to blame. His supporters continue to tout how skilled he is and seem to believe that should exhonerate him from any wrong doing.

He made the conscious decision to do a private interview during the last week of a season when the team is one win away from making the playoffs for the first time since 1999. He's either very calculated or extremely stupid. Either way, I don't think there's a place on this team for him. And I guarantee you this pisses off his team mates. Guys who have gutted it out with 4 straight wins and have been focuse on nothing else than the game ahead of him. His behavior is pathetic and disgusting. This should have waited until after the season. There's no excusing him for this.

[stwasm]

LaVar..... SHUT UP AND PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[goldenster95]

There isn't any question that Lavar's plan for, statements made in, and substantive comments were ill-advised, horribly timed, and horrendously misplaced.

That really isn't the point: the point is whether Eflin was passing off statements and sentiments that were true a few months ago as those that are actually true now. If so, and I think some clearly are, the guy's a ******* ****. So, to be sure, Lavar has some blame for this on other points, but as to the issue of Elfin characterizing those statements as Lavar's current mindset, Eflin can got to hell.

Just so I'm clear though: Lavar, you idiot, why the hell did you do bring up any issue of dissension, whether or not you still fell peeved, NOW?!

[ntotoro]

That really isn't the point: the point is whether Eflin was passing off statements and sentiments that were true a few months ago as those that are actually true now.

The Times said today that the quotes were from an interview given by LaVar in his home on Monday, 12/26/2005.

[SkinsGuy]

Well Skinsguy Danny Boy created this monster and now that he has an allstar coaching staff he has no need for him. Danny's the one who built this team around Lavar and made him the Redskin center piece. For a long time Lavar was the only thing the fans had to cheer about, now everyone wants to crucify him for feeling like "they" don't want him here.

By the way I wan't the only one wondering why he wasn't playing, there were hundreds of posts with other people wondering the same thing. And, well never know, but it's possible the team would have been ranked 2nd of first with him on the field. That's like saying when the Ravens made their Super Bowl run that the entire Defense was Ray Lewis. That Defense was real good but Lewis made them great.

Snyder did have a hand in Arrington mess we have before us today.

When he first had the team, Snyder had certain 'pet players' who he wined and dined, hung out with, and gave a direct "hot-line" extension, so to speak, to his office. It was said that if certain players didn't like the way a coach was doing things, they could go to Snyder who would change things.

I don't know if that was true or not. But if we are to assume that it was true, then the difference between Snyder and Arrington of today is that Snyder has apparently "grown-up" as an owner. He understands that he cannot have relationships with players like that and that he cannot undermine the coaches in that way. He has to let them coach and have authority over players.

He's matured to the point that while he has a hand in the contracts and gets updates on the direction of his team (rememer he DID pay $800 million for it), he's letting the coaches coach and the football guys handle things.

Arrington, OTOH, apparently has NOT matured as a player. He stil wants things the old way. He wants to have direct access to Snyder. He wants to be bigger than the team still and override the coaches when he is unhappy. He can't accept that it cannot be that way, lest it could destroy team unity by appearing to favor one player over another.

So I do agree with you that Snyder is partly responsible for this and that this is an attempt to 'put the monster back in his cage'.

The thing is Snyder understands things had to change. Arrington apparently doesn't. Or won't.

And if it makes you feel better thinking that there were "plenty" of people thinking like you about Arrington's benching, then fine. I'm not going to get into semantics about who was thinking what and how many.

What is folly is to think this defense would've been ranked higher if Arrington was involved. Arrington has NEVER shown that kind of dominance (on a consistent basis) where he could change things by himself.

Comparing Arrington to Ray Lewis is silly too. Arrington has never been in his class.

[goldenster95]

The Times said today that the quotes were from an interview given by LaVar in his home on Monday, 12/26/2005.

I'm not disputing that. What I'm taking issue with is historical quotes he gave at the Monday interview being used to falsely reflect Lavar's current state of mind.

If true, which I think at least some of it is, this is no worse than those animals at Hamas circulating pamphlets and other literature recruiting suicide bombers using clearly outdated Israeli thinking and posing it as current thought.

[TheSteve]

I'm not disputing that. What I'm taking issue with is historical quotes he gave at the Monday interview being used to falsely reflect Lavar's current state of mind.

If true, which I think at least some of it is, this is no worse than those animals at Hamas circulating pamphlets and other literature recruiting suicide bombers using clearly outdated Israeli thinking and posing it as current thought.

What Goldenster is saying(and correct me if I'm wrong), is that Lavar could have been asked, how did you feel then as opposed to how he felt now and the interview could have used some of those quotes that were historical reflection and passed them off as his current state of mind. This all goes back to the fact that we don't know what questions were asked by Elkin. All we have are the answers. And only some of them at that.

[goldenster95]

What Goldenster is saying(and correct me if I'm wrong), is that Lavar could have been asked, how did you feel then as opposed to how he felt now and the interview could have used some of those quotes that were historical reflection and passed them off as his current state of mind. This all goes back to the fact that we don't know what questions were asked by Elkin. All we have are the answers. And only some of them at that.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I'm sure Lavar felt that way at some time in the past few months. Consistent with those feelings, Lavar expressed them publicly as is his wont for wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Thereafter, he slowly got weaved back in and when he got his first significant playing time, he was ecstatic. Now, when speaking about the 'Skins and their current run of success, he's euphoric.

[Jumbo]

Wait a minute. There's a serious disconnect here.

Man invites a reporter to his home 6 days before his team plays the biggest game of the year, and says:

Two days later, when the only logical response to those quotes---a firestorm---happens, he responds with:

Am I the only one with a severe case of psychic whiplash here?

I love you LA. Always have. But what the hell are you thinking?

Hell no. I love him too. But remember when he accused the team of "not handling news about his surgery" in the "right" way?!?!

And accusing them of trying to play him to soon when he was the one who was trying to get back on the field out of ego?

And Gibbs giving press conferences about that obviously trying to keep Lavar from looking ridiculous while looking incredulous when hearing Lavar;s comments?

And when Lavar was saying no one would talk to him about his benching and thenwe'd get a firm but discrete Willams repsonse that "Lavar knows", or a frustrated but nice Gibbs response of "I've talked to Lavar probably 3 times as much as I ever have any player".

And Lavar then re-cants or blames all the heat his comments incur on anyone, anything, else but himself. Did you ever understand wtf all that BS was other than obvious personal behavioral/developmental issues?

Jeeezuz (some of you) people (not you, Om) I'm not going out of my way saying bad things about this dude. I want this guy to be all he be can be as a 'skin so bad it hurts! But he's got to knock this media crap off once and for all. Some of you who like to talk about dumb (sorry) stuff like drinking someones "kool-aid" should check your glass.

:eaglesuck :eaglesuck :eaglesuck :eaglesuck

[tlk2rn]

I'm sick of this crap. The man doesn't want to play for anyone else. So lets see what happens in the off season.

[TheLongshot]

Not saying Lavar is the one player to take this team to the promised land but all you who say he hasn't made an impact are just plain blind. He has made several key tackles BEHIND the line of scrimmage that have definitely made an impact on games. I'm not a damn stat hound and can't tell you exactly what play changed what game. I have however witnessed this guy making tackles that holdman would never make. The only way holdman can make a tackle is if the running back runs into him.

I don't think anyone is claiming that Holdman is a better player than Lavar. What I am saying is, when Lavar isn't in there, his presense isn't missed all that much. Sure, Lavar has made some plays here and there. But, that's all you are missing when he's out. He doesn't seem to make the players around him better, like Griffin does, or doesn't change how the offense plays, like Sean Taylor.

You claim that Lavar would have made this defense elite, but I don't see it when he's been in there. If anything the only thing he's improved on is that Holdman early on was not playing very well. Lavar has solidified a position that was a weakness before. Nothing more, nothing less.

Jason

[RIDETHEWALRUS]

I'd buy the "taken out of context" line if it wasn't ALWAYS Arrington's words that are being "taken out of context". :doh:

Why don't we look at something we don't need context to...

"I don't really want to play for anyone else."

Lavar wants to be a redskin for life and half of you are willing to string him up from a tree because someone played with his words. Shame on ya'll

P.S. We really need a media sucks sign.

[SkinsGuy]

Why don't we look at something we don't need context to...

"I don't really want to play for anyone else."

Lavar wants to be a redskin for life and half of you are willing to string him up from a tree because someone played with his words. Shame on ya'll

P.S. We really need a media sucks sign.

String him up?

Arrington may say he wants to play for no one else, but actions like granting a ridiculous interview like this and tearing into the team are not indicative of someone who is doing all he can to stay a Redskin for life.

No one here is tryng to lynch Arrington. He is putting a gun to his own head with this nonsense.

As the mods say on this message board that they don't ban folks, they ban themselves, no one here is running Arrington out of town. He is running himself out of town with his actions.

I'd prefer Arrington stay here and be a happy, healthy contributing player (a PART of the team). But he isn't doing himself any favors here.

Even if you lay blame at the media's doorstep, you haft to lay blame at Arringtons as well. He knows what the media is like. He shouldn't go to them saying things like this knowing what will happen.

He should get in trouble just for the sheer stupidity of it. :doh:

[ZoEd]

Snyder did have a hand in Arrington mess we have before us today.

When he first had the team, Snyder had certain 'pet players' who he wined and dined, hung out with, and gave a direct "hot-line" extension, so to speak, to his office. It was said that if certain players didn't like the way a coach was doing things, they could go to Snyder who would change things.

I don't know if that was true or not. But if we are to assume that it was true, then the difference between Snyder and Arrington of today is that Snyder has apparently "grown-up" as an owner. He understands that he cannot have relationships with players like that and that he cannot undermine the coaches in that way. He has to let them coach and have authority over players.

He's matured to the point that while he has a hand in the contracts and gets updates on the direction of his team (rememer he DID pay $800 million for it), he's letting the coaches coach and the football guys handle things.

Arrington, OTOH, apparently has NOT matured as a player. He stil wants things the old way. He wants to have direct access to Snyder. He wants to be bigger than the team still and override the coaches when he is unhappy. He can't accept that it cannot be that way, lest it could destroy team unity by appearing to favor one player over another.

So I do agree with you that Snyder is partly responsible for this and that this is an attempt to 'put the monster back in his cage'.

The thing is Snyder understands things had to change. Arrington apparently doesn't. Or won't.

And if it makes you feel better thinking that there were "plenty" of people thinking like you about Arrington's benching, then fine. I'm not going to get into semantics about who was thinking what and how many.

What is folly is to think this defense would've been ranked higher if Arrington was involved. Arrington has NEVER shown that kind of dominance (on a consistent basis) where he could change things by himself.

Comparing Arrington to Ray Lewis is silly too. Arrington has never been in his class.

Never said Arrington was Ray Lewis I was simply pointing out that it takes more than one player to make up a great defense. I also said that I don't think our defense was necessarly better, #3, because Lavar wasn't playing.

What's so hard for me to wrap my head around is the fact that GW stated that having Lavar on the field made his job easier. Also at the draft day celebration 2 years ago I asked GW how he planned on pressuring the QB and he held up his hands and made the number 5 then 6. What has Lavar done on or off the field, that we have seen as fans, to warrant the sudden change of heart.

That's the problem I have with the whole situation, everyone says JG is God, to an extent he is, and what God says goes but don't we have a right as fans, supporters of this team to know what has caused this sudden change? I guess not, we should just sit in front of the TV and blindly follow whatever Redskin park says. Damn it I just want someone to come out and say okay guys here's why Lavar isn't getting the pt he used to get so we can all put this BS to rest.

[Redskins Diehard]

He has no point. Brett has never been a problem child. He's been an all world QB for a large part of his career. He's on a team that is in the bottom of the barrell. His comments are a symptom of the problem, not the problem.

Lavar, on the otherhand, seems to go off like clockwork. It's always something with him and he's never to blame. His supporters continue to tout how skilled he is and seem to believe that should exhonerate him from any wrong doing.

He made the conscious decision to do a private interview during the last week of a season when the team is one win away from making the playoffs for the first time since 1999. He's either very calculated or extremely stupid. Either way, I don't think there's a place on this team for him. And I guarantee you this pisses off his team mates. Guys who have gutted it out with 4 straight wins and have been focuse on nothing else than the game ahead of him. His behavior is pathetic and disgusting. This should have waited until after the season. There's no excusing him for this.

Yep, a large part of his career...but not this part.

You guys make it sound like LaVar has been a cancer for his entire career. From day one, a thorn in our side. I really don't see this. Other than the dispute over the 6.5 million and his lack of playing time this year. I guess he should have sat on the bench and said "at least I am collecting my paycheck". You guys make it sound like we have the most dominant defense since the Steel Curtain or Purple People Eaters. When in reality our defense has had it fair share of trouble this year.

And the only comparison I am making between Brett Favre and LaVar Arrington is that they are both professional football players who came out this week saying that there is more to life than football.

The guy said he would rather retire than play for any other team. Did he demand a trade? Did he say he was looking forward to a fresh start with someone else?

He said he thought there was likelihood he wouldn't be here next year. Who would argue that?

[SkinsGuy]

Never said Arrington was Ray Lewis I was simply pointing out that it takes more than one player to make up a great defense. I also said that I don't think our defense was necessarly better, #3, because Lavar wasn't playing.

What's so hard for me to wrap my head around is the fact that GW stated that having Lavar on the field made his job easier. Also at the draft day celebration 2 years ago I asked GW how he planned on pressuring the QB and he held up his hands and made the number 5 then 6. What has Lavar done on or off the field, that we have seen as fans, to warrant the sudden change of heart.

That's the problem I have with the whole situation, everyone says JG is God, to an extent he is, and what God says goes but don't we have a right as fans, supporters of this team to know what has caused this sudden change? I guess not, we should just sit in front of the TV and blindly follow whatever Redskin park says. Damn it I just want someone to come out and say okay guys here's why Lavar isn't getting the pt he used to get so we can all put this BS to rest.

Well, apparently, it was somthing Lavar did, or didn't do, or wasn't able to do, that changed the view the coaches had of him.

You haft to remember that Gibbs and Williams came here blindly. They didn't know any of the players. They had to get to know them. I guess once they got to know Arrington, thier views on him changed.

And for the record, the coaches here don't haft to explain ANYTHING to you. They don't owe you or me or any fans one explanation of player decisions.

All they owe us is WINS. That's all I'm asking of them is to win.

And they are doing that with or without Arrington.

Until you get over this foolish notion that this team can't succeed without Arrington or is 10x better with him, you can't move forward with Gibbs and the rest of the team.

[Lead Blocker]

Wait a minute. There's a serious disconnect here.

Man invites a reporter to his home 6 days before his team plays the biggest game of the year, and says:

Two days later, when the only logical response to those quotes---a firestorm---happens, he responds with:

Am I the only one with a severe case of psychic whiplash here?

I love you LA. Always have. But what the hell are you thinking?

Not to play legal scholar here but, what we do not see here are the questions that led to those responses. Were they leading questions? Were these quotes combined from different segments of the interview to form one thought? Were there more responses that were positive towards the team's management and coaches? Are we just seeing snipets that supports the writer's assumptions?

We do not know if the full quote is present or just enough to support the writers angle. An angle that is apparent, because I agree with those who noticed that LaVar's quotes for the most part are not controversial and expressing a desire to be with this team, however the narrative that accompanies the quotes are negative.

For example, look back on the writer's description of LaVar wanting to move as far away from Redskins Park as possible. A notion that is supported by a LaVar quote indicating that he was looking for a home near water in a specific setting and that he look all over the local area.

Nothing in his quote supports the notion that he wanted to get away from the team. That limits the validity of the writer's narrative.

[ZoEd]

Well, apparently, it was somthing Lavar did, or didn't do, or wasn't able to do, that changed the view the coaches had of him.

You haft to remember that Gibbs and Williams came here blindly. They didn't know any of the players. They had to get to know them. I guess once they got to know Arrington, thier views on him changed.

And for the record, the coaches here don't haft to explain ANYTHING to you. They don't owe you or me or any fans one explanation of player decisions.

All they owe us is WINS. That's all I'm asking of them is to win.

And they are doing that with or without Arrington.

Until you get over this foolish notion that this team can't succeed without Arrington or is 10x better with him, you can't move forward with Gibbs and the rest of the team.

Trust me brother I haven't lost any sleep over it at all. However for people to come on here and just say Lavar sucks and should be cut is just foolish. Unlike TO Lavar has some justification for some of his comments.

Honestly I'm of the mindset that the coaches do owe the fans explanations. The whole reason for their existence is to make the fans happy, so in actuallity they work for us. Without us they don't mean squat. Not asking for a press conference about the Lavar drama just a simple hey guys this is what the deal is, then all of this conjecture from both sides could stop.

[Om]

Lead Blocker,

Those are fair questions. Maybe Elfin did take some liberties. We'll probably never know.

But what's not in dispute, to my knowledge, is that LaVar invited Elfin to his home, and chose to answer questions about his personal situation. This 6 days prior to the biggest game his TEAM will play in the 5 years he's been here.

This was not an ambush interview on official team time where poor 'ol LA got blindsided and led by the nose by some wily reporter. This is a veteran NFL player, who has been a media star since high school days and knows his way around an interview.

The only conclusions I can draw based on what we DO know is that the man either allowed himself to be taken advantage of (again), which I personally do not believe given the history and his experience, or he had a personal agenda of some sort he wanted to advance, and chose Elfin to do so.

The question has been asked several times in this thread, and as far as I can tell no one has yet to advance an answer: What possible motivations for speaking on his own time to a reporter about anything BUT this weekend's monster game could he have had?

[SkinsGuy]

Trust me brother I haven't lost any sleep over it at all. However for people to come on here and just say Lavar sucks and should be cut is just foolish. Unlike TO Lavar has some justification for some of his comments.

Honestly I'm of the mindset that the coaches do owe the fans explanations. The whole reason for their existence is to make the fans happy, so in actuallity they work for us. Without us they don't mean squat. Not asking for a press conference about the Lavar drama just a simple hey guys this is what the deal is, then all of this conjecture from both sides could stop.

Well, you don't see me saying he sucks. He's not the second coming of LT, but he doesn't suck.

What folks are discussing in this thread are his actions in this interview. There is NO justification for the timing of this interview.

And NO, the team nor the coaches owe you anything besides a great team and winning. They are much too busy doing said goal to stop and personally give you and others daily progress reports on Arrington's situation.

This is exactly the kind of special treatment Arrington's ego wants and is craving.

And fans like you are egging on. :doh:

[s0crates]

There are a bunch of threads going around about Lavar, so I'm just posting this in all of them. (Not sure how else to do it). This is the first I've weighed in on the most discussed topic of the season. So here it is:

I was at the Giants game Sunday, on the home team side. I watched Lavar come off the field and knock over the Gatorade table, spilling water everywhere and disrupting the trainers. He was very PO'ed. The thing was, while he was throwing his tantrum, the team was playing their best game in years. To me, that little fit is symbolic of what Lavar has become. He is more concerned about himself than the team.

Don't get me wrong, I used to be a big Lavar fan. I have purchased two of his jerseys, one for me and one for my girlfriend. I looked forward to seeing him in Gregg William's defensive schemes. Sadly, he has put himself before the team lately. I don't like that.

Last year he begged to play at the end of the season. He got to play and then criticisized the team publicly for playing him. He said they rushed him back from an injury. So this year, they give him time to heal early in the season and he complains about not playing. WTF? Not only that, he also complained about his 65 million dollar contract. WTF? And now, before the biggest game of his career, he is more focused on what will happen to him next year than what will happen to the Redskins Sunday against the Eagles. Shame on him for giving this interview and shame on the Washington Times for printing it.

I had the highest hopes for Lavar. I enjoy watching his amazing athleticism and energy on the field. However, I am afraid he has become overpaid and selfish, making him a bad fit for the team-first, character-driven organization Gibbs is trying to rebuild.

We can clear a lot of cap room, which can be used to sign two or three valuable role players, by releasing him. It looks like that is the best thing for all parties at this juncture. Let somebody else deal with his tantrums.

[Chachie]

I'm gonna vomit if I hear the words, "Taken out of context" again. Nice try, Lavar. We have some parting gifts for you backstage. Thanks for playing.

[fansince62]

LA - have a good time playing for the Boys, Gints or Iggles. we don't need you!

[TomE]

The question has been asked several times in this thread, and as far as I can tell no one has yet to advance an answer: What possible motivations for speaking on his own time to a reporter about anything BUT this weekend's monster game could he have had?

:whoknows: Only Lavar can answer that one.

But we can speculate....

His own agenda ...and fear of the eventual demise of his career with the Redskins. Next game without Clemons, Lavar could see more playing time... more opportunity "to shine"..... Without that spotlight .... deeds may go unnoticed... gain focus of the fans with a controversial "year end, out of context, ill timed" newspaper interview.....

Lavar knows that the fans "love him" ..... fan base sentiment is his last real weapon in a diminishing arsenal of leverage come off-season ..... I like how he fondles the fan ego with his "Redskin for life"..." Retire as a Redskin" comments..... He now has the spotlight

Naivety- only motivation was to grant an interview for a "year in review" commentary of the trials and tribulations of "Lavar".....and to be released only after seasons end.... :halo:

:munchout: Any more?

[fansince62]

a prequel to his status as a Cowboy next season?