#98QBKiller Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 If Gibbs II taught us anything it is the value of the hard-working, blue collar player. Gibbs and his staff had a knack for finding these types of guys. Guys that put the team above themselves and give 100 percent for every second they are on the field. These are the types of players that great teams are made of. Teams like the Colts, Patriots, and Steelers are built out of these kinds of players and Gibbs tried to instill that into the Redskins with a decent amount of success. Some of the hard-working, blue collar guys that Gibbs was kind enough to give us: Sean Taylor: First and foremost. Sean Taylor was by far the hardest-working and most "team-first" player on our roster. The first time it really, really, really hit me was last season during the Cards game when Arizona onside kicked the ball and Sean drove himself into that pile of players and pushed for every single inch he could get to try and grab that ball and end the game. Sean simply did not take plays off and he treated EVERY play like the game depended on it. We saw his work ethic on every play no mattter the situation. We saw him block guys on special team's and almost take their heads off (Detroit this year! Vikes in the opener 06), we saw him make acrobatic interceptions, we saw him grab fumbles and either score TDs or set us up to win the game (Philly & TB '05, Dallas '06) and of course we saw him destroy offensive players in almost every game. Sean Taylor is the definition of a blue-collar player. Clinton Portis: This video pretty much sums it up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhtObxQL3kY Portis is not only one of the top-five rushing backs in the league, he's also the best blocking back in the NFL and amazing out of the backfield on short passes. Gibbs said it best: he makes a play whether the ball is in his hands or not. Portis will stand back and protect his QB by blocking guys twice his size, and will literally try to knock them out. He will run downfield on pass-plays and block for receivers, and if a pick is thrown the defender had better not be on the same side of the field as CP or he's getting laid the F out. London Fletcher: Over 100 tackles every year since 2001 and no Pro-Bowls, 3 picks for us this year, one for a TD. You see him near the ball on every play. Fletch has a nose for the ball and is very athletic for his size which he can attribute to his year-round preparation and conditioning. Chris Samuels: Samuels has established himself as Trent Cole's, Osi Umenyuira's, and DeMarcus Ware's, daddy. That's why he's been to 5 pro bowls. His strength is pass-protecting, but if you watch videos of CP's big gains you will almost always see Chris Samuels hustling his huge ass downfield to block every guy he can. In every game Samuels is not afraid to fall to the ground blocking guys away from the QB buying those precious extra seconds. He is another player that gives it his all, all the time. Laron Landry: After his first season, one thing is obvious the coaches were right on the money when they decided to draft Dirty Thirty. Aside from his blitzing ability, Landry showed later on in the season that he is more than capable of being a cover FS. GW said in preseason that he is one of the fastest learners he's ever coached, he said when Landry makes a mistake you don't have to tell him twice for him tp fix it. Landry makes ground from one sideline to the other on plays where he is caught out of position and goes at full-speed all the time. Some safeties in the league can be seen slowing down when they think their corner or LB is going to make the play but Landry has that hunger (similar to ST when he was rookie) that puts him where the ball is on every play. He picked off Matt Hasselbeck twice in the Wild Card game giving us a glimpse of what we have to look forward to. If he can just control his aggressiveness a little better he's going to be a top-NFL safety. Chris Cooley: Not only is Cooley our top red-zone threat through the air, but like Portis he blocks hard when the ball is not in his hands, always runs his routes through, NEVER shies away from contact and when he does have the ball there had better be at least two defenders to take him down. Cooley trucks through defenders, is almost always guaranteed to make the catch and is one of the most underrated TEs in the NFL. I'm glad we've locked him up. Honorable Mention (AKA I'm too lazy to type paragraphs for them all): Shawn Springs Mike Sellers Marcus Washington Andre Carter HB Blades James Thrash So if there's anything we need to learn from Gibbs II, it's the value of hungry, blue-collar players. The fact that we have more draft picks than usual this year sets us up to grab a good handful of guys like this and again, these are the types of guys that championship teams are made of...I can't wait for the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 I don't think blue collar means what you think it means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted March 7, 2008 Author Share Posted March 7, 2008 I don't think blue collar means what you think it means. Then what does it mean to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigredskin77 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Shawn Springs This not shouldnt even be mentioned. I really dont know why this guy gets so much repsect around here. He defenitly doesnt give 100% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKM311 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Blue Collar is definitely these guys. These are great guy, high character guys, but blue collar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_cavalierman Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Talent + work ethic = good Redskin Talent + work ethic + good character = great Redskin (see..Gibbs/Monk/Green) :2cents: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zCommander Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 I don't think blue collar means what you think it means. Blue-collar worker is an idiom referring to a member of the working class who performs manual labor and earns an hourly wage. Blue-collar workers are distinguished from Tertiary sector of industry service workers and from white-collar workers' date=' whose jobs are not considered manual labor. However, some service workers are also often referred to as blue-collar workers. Traditionally, white-collar workers earn a monthly or annual salary rather than an hourly wage, although paying white-collar workers by the hour is an increasing practice, especially among independent tech contractors. Blue-collar work may be skilled or unskilled, and may involve [/i']manufacturing, mining, building and constructiontrades, law enforcement, mechanical work, maintenance, repair and operations maintenance or technical installations. The white-collar worker, by contrast, performs non-manual labor often in an office; and the service industry worker performs labor involving customer interaction, entertainment, retail and outside sales, and the like. Some service industry workers differ as they perform tasks that are mostly unskilled in the service sector. However, increasingly laid-off white collar workers suffering from corporate cutbacks and downsizing are looking toward jobs in the blue collar sector. The OP is trying to say that these players are blue-collar type - as in hard working. Yes they are getting paid more then white-collar workers but the fact is that these players do get dirty and have to use their bodies - pure manual and physical labor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HailSkinz1 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 In terms of football, I think of blue collar players as the guys who don't mind doing the grunt work that doesn't get all the glory. Like a WR who's a great blocker or a RB who picks up the blitz (like CP). Also, a blue collar player isn't worried about his stats and will do anything it takes to get the team a victory. A blue collar player is not selfish. Team is always first. Therefore, a blue collar player wouldn't spend time self-promoting by dancing in the endzone or after a routine play. A blue collar player would keep the focus on the team. A blue collar player will just make a play and get ready to make the next play. Hail, H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squatch66 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 I don't think blue collar means what you think it means. contrary to what you may have seen on tv "blue collar" doesnt mean "redneck". nice post 99. i love that video of cp. another thing to just drive your point home about sean. last year when laron signed his contract everyone said that sean was going to hold out and demand us to redo his contract. the fact that he came out and said that he signed a contract and was going to honor that until it was done was one of the greatest acts i have ever seen a professional athlete make and showed me what the team actually meant to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coyote4848 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 In terms of football, I think of blue collar players as the guys who don't mind doing the grunt work that doesn't get all the glory. Like a WR who's a great blocker or a RB who picks up the blitz (like CP). Also, a blue collar player isn't worried about his stats and will do anything it takes to get the team a victory. A blue collar player is not selfish. Team is always first. Therefore, a blue collar player wouldn't spend time self-promoting by dancing in the endzone or after a routine play. A blue collar player would keep the focus on the team. A blue collar player will just make a play and get ready to make the next play. Hail, H Sellers personifies the term "blue collar" as it pertains to football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyConway Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Good post. I'm sure Zorn understands that all the players you mentioned are our core. Hopefully these guys play as hard for Zorn as they did for Joey G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sisko Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Sellars, Thrash, Cartwright, the Red Snapper. These are the real blue collar types. The guys the OP mentions are more star type players. The blue collar guys labor in obscurity doing things that don't garner much glory but nonetheless have to get done in order for the team to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kvarlo12000 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 every team needs these kinds of players to succeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted March 7, 2008 Author Share Posted March 7, 2008 contrary to what you may have seen on tv "blue collar" doesnt mean "redneck". nice post 99. i love that video of cp. another thing to just drive your point home about sean. last year when laron signed his contract everyone said that sean was going to hold out and demand us to redo his contract. the fact that he came out and said that he signed a contract and was going to honor that until it was done was one of the greatest acts i have ever seen a professional athlete make and showed me what the team actually meant to him. The OP is trying to say that these players are blue-collar type - as in hard working. Yes they are getting paid more then white-collar workers but the fact is that these players do get dirty and have to use their bodies - pure manual and physical labor! In terms of football, I think of blue collar players as the guys who don't mind doing the grunt work that doesn't get all the glory. Like a WR who's a great blocker or a RB who picks up the blitz (like CP). Also, a blue collar player isn't worried about his stats and will do anything it takes to get the team a victory. A blue collar player is not selfish. Team is always first. Therefore, a blue collar player wouldn't spend time self-promoting by dancing in the endzone or after a routine play. A blue collar player would keep the focus on the team. A blue collar player will just make a play and get ready to make the next play. Hail, H Thanks guys, all three of you are right-on with what I had in mind as a blue collar player. And Squatch, that's a great example of Sean Taylor's love of the game and the way he put football before himself. I wish we could find more players with his work ethic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squatch66 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 im thinking that zorn looks for that type of quality in a player like gibbs did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tizzod Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 I don't think blue collar means what you think it means. Inconceivable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Blue Collar players, to me, were always the players who contributed to the win but never really got any praise for it. On a scale of 1-10 in terms of talent and skill, they were the 6's and 7's. Their heart is what personified them, not their athletic prowess...mainly because they didn't have much to speak of. They understood their roles on the team and used their heart and work ethic moreso than talent to turn themselves into important contributors to the team. Guys like Landry, Portis and Taylor are/were most definitely NOT blue collar players in my eyes. Their athletic talent was undeniable and was constantly singled out for praise in the media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MumboSauce Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Good post and "most" folks, apparently not all understand the term blue collar as it refers to certain NFL players and I think you made a good post that identified that well. It's used much more loosely than it once was...in the past it was more the mid-level guy that didn't have all of the skill in the world but gave it everything he had without much glory etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins3021 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 these guys really give 100% every play love this portis video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3HxKULF284&feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcarey032 Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 In terms of football, I think of blue collar players as the guys who don't mind doing the grunt work that doesn't get all the glory. Like a WR who's a great blocker or a RB who picks up the blitz (like CP). Also, a blue collar player isn't worried about his stats and will do anything it takes to get the team a victory. A blue collar player is not selfish. Team is always first. Therefore, a blue collar player wouldn't spend time self-promoting by dancing in the endzone or after a routine play. A blue collar player would keep the focus on the team. A blue collar player will just make a play and get ready to make the next play. Hail, H Couldn't agree with you more on this one. There are some players out there like a Clinton Portis who will block the whole game just so the team can win. I don't think that he necessarily started that way. His first year here, I think that he probably felt that he was underutilized. After a couple of years in the system, he learned to adapt and conform to that mentality. Cooley to me is the epitome of blue collar style of play. He always gives extra effort and he plays hurt see the giants game in 2005 in NY. He gives his all no matter what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 Good post and "most" folks, apparently not all understand the term blue collar as it refers to certain NFL players and I think you made a good post that identified that well. It's used much more loosely than it once was...in the past it was more the mid-level guy that didn't have all of the skill in the world but gave it everything he had without much glory etc. In Gibbs' first tenure, his teams were full of Blue Collar players...which is why almost none of his players were considered for the HOF. Art Monk had a "blue collar" work ethic and mentality, but I'm not sure I'd consider him a Blue Collar player, though (semantics, I know lol :laugh: )... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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