bubba9497 Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20060307-122834-6293r click link for full article New Order: Be a Gibbs Guy or else By Dan Daly THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published March 7, 2006 Giving a linebacker a No. 56 jersey doesn't mean he's Lawrence Taylor. Giving him a $68 million contract doesn't mean he's worth $68 million, either. Dan Snyder didn't quite understand this when he first took over the Redskins. He thought football was like other businesses he'd been in, that it was all about packaging and promotion. It ain't. It's about another "P" -- performance. And so LaVar Arrington became a star, a fan and media darling when he was little more than just a good player. Had he been drafted by a team that wasn't so bereft of Pro Bowlers, had the attention and adulation not come so easily -- who knows? -- he might have developed into the Hall of Famer the franchise hyped him as. But he wasn't ... and he didn't. Arrington's release yesterday shouldn't have surprised anyone given the downward curve of his career the past two years. The Old Order, in case you hadn't noticed, is out in Ashburn. The Redskins are no longer selling the sizzle. All Joe Gibbs and his staff are interested in is the steak. That much was obvious last season, when Arrington couldn't get on the field for a while because defensive boss Gregg Williams figured he could live without him -- just as he had the year before, when LaVar was hurt. That clinched it: No. 56 was now Nonessential Personnel. Arrington eventually worked his way back into the lineup but rarely played with the same exuberance. Indeed, it was almost if as he was counting down the days until the free agent signing period. Sure enough, Sunday night he agreed to forego more than $4 million in deferred money just to get the Redskins to let him go. The club, strapped for cap space, obliged. It was time for both parties to move on. Simply put, Arrington was never a Gibbs Guy. A Gibbs Guy never would have responded the way LaVar did to being benched. A Gibbs Guy would have taken at least some personal responsibility. But LaVar claimed to be totally mystified by his demotion -- and worse, said the coaches had offered him no explanation. (Which, if you know anything about Gibbs' staff and how it operates, was total nonsense. Any coaches worth their whistles give constant feedback, whether the players want to hear it or not.) "Don't they know who they're dealing with?" Arrington seemed to be saying. "Don't they know I'm LaVar Arrington?" All the coaches knew, though, was the linebacker they were seeing on the field. And they weren't seeing any three-time Pro Bowler. They were seeing a player coming off knee surgery whose undisciplined style smacked of "me" instead of "we." But now, hey, he's somebody else's concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warren Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Better read than Wilbons nonsense earlier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmiJo Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Daly nailed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumodat Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Better read than Wilbons nonsense earlier! Not in my opinion. Just a different point of view. People are trying to hate LA now that he is gone. I can't. I will continue to like him. He was a good guy and he really cared about the fans. Wilbon was absolutely correct. Both sides deserve blame. I just hope he doesn't go to the Cowboys!! :dallasuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Not in my opinion. Just a different point of view. People are trying to hate LA now that he is gone. I can't. I will continue to like him. He was a good guy and he really cared about the fans. Wilbon was absolutely correct. Both sides deserve blame. I just hope he doesn't go to the Cowboys!! :dallasuck Not entirely. Wilbon totally failed to recognize that other Redskins who've also experienced multiple coaches and systems have succeeded despite the challenges. Arrington no doubt had a tougher road to stardom than many around the league. But pretending that he's the first player to have to struggle to overcome a major injury and coaching changes doesn't ring true. Ask Jon Jansen. Its a hard fact to face, but sometimes, when we don't succeed, we need to look ourselves in the mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Prime Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Not in my opinion. Just a different point of view. People are trying to hate LA now that he is gone. I can't. I will continue to like him. He was a good guy and he really cared about the fans. Wilbon was absolutely correct. Both sides deserve blame. I just hope he doesn't go to the Cowboys!! :dallasuck That's a good way to look at it, I just can't. I used to back him heavily, but his whining and crying and lying the last two seasons have left me with a bitter attitude towards him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte51Coleman Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 The key point for me in the Arrington situation was the NWM factor. He was NOT WORTH the MONEY that he was being paid. Add that factor to the behavioral issues that he presented his bosses and this ending was pretty simple to forsee. Working in the NFL is not all that different than working for UPS, IBM, or AT&T. Under-perform your salary level AND be a frequent pain in the ass to your supervisor and you will soon be a free agent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsNatsFan Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Great article. Garbage title though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Arrington NEVER lived up to the hype given him by the mediots. He was never the player #56 of the G-men was back in the day. And.... when it became "in" to bash everything Redskins because of Dan Snyder... Arrington often became the story in a way to get to Dan. Let's face it, for all the heart Arrington exhibited... the right things said.... the acts of kindness and the puported love for the fans and the city of DC.... we lost with Arrington week after week. Sure... the HC was to blame.. the scheme... and other factors.... but we also lost with Arrington and in some cases... because of Arrington and his style of play. This is Gibbs' team now... he had amassed "his guys".... and we're all about team now. Arrington was one of the last guard... the "me" player.... the Dan Snyder created "I don't have to perform... I just need to be the media darling" player. I wish him well in wherever he winds up. I believe we'll be winning championships and Arrington will continue to use the media to create the "Lavar warrior... misunderstood and wronged" act he's used since he got here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinking Skins Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Its sad abuse Arrington is about to take from the local media. Its also sad the praise he's recieving from the national media. For once, I liked the 980 commentators on this subject when they went and praised Arrington's skill, and questioned his want to improve as a player. But either way, I enjoyed Lavar as a player and especially as a player to add to the list of good Redskin players who were also quality people. I respect that about him very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Certainly, management deserves some blame early on, but everything in the last couple of years was in Lavar's court and he failed to deal. He didn't know how to behave himself when injured, and instead of supporting the team when he could, he made it more about himself. For the position he has been placed, it was disappointing behavior. I also agree with the author that the Lavar we saw last year on the field wasn't the Lavar of the past. To my eyes, he didn't play all that much better than Lemar Marshall did last year. Is that really worth the money we were paying him? Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Adama Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Excellent article. Let's just hope he does well with his new team, as long as it is not in the NFC East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntotoro Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Why is the media so hell-bent on assigning blame? This is LaVar Arrington, not Mike Singletary or LT. Hell, I was more upset when Ken Harvey retired. He's not worth people fighting over the blame game, except for the fact that the media has hyped him to begin with ever since College. There is only one bottom line and that is the Coaches run the players. Not the other way around. This is 100% Joe Gibbs' team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REEGSKINS Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 im going to miss lavar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince62 Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 more spin...but a paper trying to curry favor with the Skins (sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander). the Skins went out of their way in many respects to keep LA with the team given the details we have seen in the press: folks seem to be missing that. no matter how you slice it that indicates a valuation process that concluded the benefits outweigh the costs. it's pure hokum to speculate that they went into the negotiations to rid the team of the guy. as for the performance part...heck.....if daly says it enough and taps his shoes 3 times maybe he can transport himself from DC to OZ for one last go around with the wizard of contracts! pulling the levers......making deals......"pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"......"follow the daly brick road...follow follow follow follow follow the daly brick road.......we're off to see the contract wizard the wonderful wizard of OZ...because because because........of all the wonderful contract things he does....." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince62 Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 this has all gotten rather boring. let LA sign with an NFC East team, recover his health, play in a system more suited to his strengths....and go to town. The Skins got what they want and LA got what he wants. If he does well and dominates some people along the way - then it was the system here. If he fizzzles out, then he was a fraud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsNumberOne Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 this has all gotten rather boring. let LA sign with an NFC East team, recover his health, play in a system more suited to his strengths....and go to town. The Skins got what they want and LA got what he wants. If he does well and dominates some people along the way - then it was the system here. If he fizzzles out, then he was a fraud. Good points. He may also learn his lesson from the experience, but as long as the national media continues what they're doing, I doubt he learns anything. I'm not holding my breath. To deny Lavar's performance is ridiculous. To ignore Lavar's attitude problems is asinine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilgamesh Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 This article has it exactly right. LaVar was a legend in his own mind more so than he ever was on the field. Capable of so much but demonstrating little, LaVar is still coasting on the performances that made him famous while at Penn State. People here fell in love with the celebrity and emotion of LaVar, not the player on the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweezel Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 This quote says it all I've gotten older. I'm not just a young rookie who is as moldable. Maybe that's where the difficulties came in. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2355921 Shows that this guy is not willing to change for the benefit of a team. I say let whoever else wants to deal with him have him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 this has all gotten rather boring. let LA sign with an NFC East team, recover his health, play in a system more suited to his strengths....and go to town. The Skins got what they want and LA got what he wants. If he does well and dominates some people along the way - then it was the system here. If he fizzzles out, then he was a fraud. About sums it up for me.... as well as the following post. I still believe Arrington lied about the coaching staff never informing him of why he was benched. Every Joe Gibbs interview, you hear how he personally goes to player's homes to talk with them, or tries to call them vehemently on the phone when they missing voluntarily practices in the spring, etc. For Gibbs not to communicate, as Daly suggests, is absolutely ridiculuous. I'm also surprised how easily people get impressed and attached to football players. A $17M signing bonus.... is reserved to a franchise player, a player that CONSISTENTLY makes a difference every game. Not a guy who makes an occasional highlight reel hit every few games. A tackle is a tackle... regardless of how cool it looks in slow motion. If you're going to take up 10% of a team's cap... you'd better produce more stasticially than offer a few jarring hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Weirdo Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 this has all gotten rather boring. let LA sign with an NFC East team, recover his health, play in a system more suited to his strengths....and go to town. The Skins got what they want and LA got what he wants. If he does well and dominates some people along the way - then it was the system here. If he fizzzles out, then he was a fraud. As long as it's the Giants or Cowboys. Stay away from Philly, Lavar. :gaintsuck:dallasuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butz65 Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 About sums it up for me.... as well as the following post.I still believe Arrington lied about the coaching staff never informing him of why he was benched. Every Joe Gibbs interview, you hear how he personally goes to player's homes to talk with them, or tries to call them vehemently on the phone when they missing voluntarily practices in the spring, etc. You're right. Later in the season Lavar admitted as much on WTEM when he said he knee was not as close to 100% as he had purported. The team was intentionally vague to the media as to why he wasn't playing in order to protect his reputation. I'm also surprised how easily people get impressed and attached to football players. A $17M signing bonus.... is reserved to a franchise player, a player that CONSISTENTLY makes a difference every game. Not to mention the fact that Lavar had to know at the time that his contract was structured so that a decision would need to be made within 2 years because of the cap hit (everyone else seemed to at the time). I remember the Skins signed Stephen Davis to some absurd contract (in terms of total money) that made him the highest paid running back at the time. However, the deal was structured so that he would have to make a decision whether or not to stay within 2 seasons (and re-do his deal). He (like Lavar) opted out. My biggest issue with Lavar is that he seemed to like exposing his dirty laundry in the press while the team did its best to keep their issues with him behind closed doors (despite the constant badgering from the local media). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSF Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 I knew Lavar wouldn't last with the Skins when Gibbs first came back and Lavar went on best Damn Sports Show and said that Gibbs had to "show him something". Talk about having it ass backwards... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSF Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 Just to add, this whole deal with Lavar was personal from the beginning. He saw how popular Gibbs was when Gibbs announced his return. The idea of not being "the man" in DC was too much for Lavar's fragile ego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peregrine Posted March 7, 2006 Share Posted March 7, 2006 And Daly is way off... The least he could do is be honest. LaVar WAS worth the 68 million at the time. He was our team, and he made up for that salary in tickets sold to come see him play. Little more than a good player? He had 3 pro-bowls at age 25. Lets really be honest here. First LaVar was very good, and very productive in his earlier years here. Now everyone wants to call him bad to say it was an easy decision to make, but its a lie. Second, he had a tougher road than any other current redskin. There are only 2 other Redskins on this roster that have been around through the times Arrington was, and neither was on the defensive side of the ball, so its not the exact same situation. Now lets also be honest on the other side of the fence. That still isnt enough excuse for Arrington, as the other two did thrive. He didnt quite step up to the challenge, so some of that blame lies on him. Arrington also made some questionable decisions in the past 2 years, his fault as well. But lets ALSO be honest about the fact that Arrington was very popular with his teamates, got along great with them, was not a disctraction as the media tried to portray him and mince his words. Both sides need some honesty, and this article isnt exactly that. I am of the opinion this is a good thing for the Redskins. What didnt work is now gone, we saved cap space to sign some players we need to resign, LaVar gets a fresh start. I also acknowledge that Arrington was a beast in his first years here, and was the heart and soul of the team for several years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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