ES: Haynesworth sends a clear message

[Skinsfan4life83]

people need something to get their panties all out of whack, they crave something to ***** about. And I am so sick of hearing that they are /rebuilding this team from the ground up/ not from what the coaches have stated, there is alot of talent on this team it has just been misused. And lets let the offseason get going good before you condemn AH for not going to "voluntary" workouts, buncha crybaby's this isnt your daddies NFL anymore. He will show up where it counts, on the football field

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Shanahan asked for full participating, making a point to specifically mention his expectations regarding his team leaders, and Haynesworth bailed after 24 hours. Because he told Shanahan he was leaving doesn't mean he's a team player.

I never made any comments about AH being a "team player" or not. I merely talked about what aspects of player involvement in these voluntary workouts truly bothered me...and obviously, from my post, having occasional stray players decide not to take part doesn't bother me all that much. Maybe because I tend to be an idividual myself, and more of a loner. Who knows. I can relate to someone saying "I understand, but I don't agree and would prefer doing my own thing if it's not mandatory," and not feeling as if they're unworthy of being a true part of the team later.

He still walked away from his teammates who are putting in the time and developing that bond. None of them want to be there, but they're doing it because they trust Shanahan and want to see this team return to relevance. He, as has been the case since day one, is only interested in Albert Haynesworth.

No, I disagree. I believe a LOT of them want to be there, and that's why they ARE there. Their reasons for wanting to be there are many: prefer working out with teammates, want to impress the new coach, feel there's something of value to be gained by having the team together early on, don't have a better workout alternative, etc, etc...If AH were sitting home watching Oprah while his teammates worked out I might be slightly more inclined to agree with you. But he's not. And again, I think--and echoing something Authentic said--that far more is being made of this based on our perceptions of Haynesworth far, FAR more than any measurable, tangible aspect of "team building" and "chemistry" that can be proven AH's absence is hurting.

[authentic]

No, I disagree. I believe a LOT of them want to be there, and that's why they ARE there. Their reasons for wanting to be there are many: prefer working out with teammates, want to impress the new coach, feel there's something of value to be gained by having the team together early on, don't have a better workout alternative, etc, etc...If AH were sitting home watching Oprah while his teammates worked out I might be slightly more inclined to agree with you. But he's not. And again, I think--and echoing something Authentic said--that far more is being made of this based on our perceptions of Haynesworth far, FAR more than any measurable, tangible aspect of "team building" and "chemistry" that can be proven AH's absence is hurting.

It would be nice that the man with the largest contract on the team would defer to his new boss and actually WANT to be there like his other teammates. Is that really too much to ask? And quiet as kept, he had this alternative work out plan last year, where he was supposed to be in the best shape of his career, and what happened? As of right now, I still think that AH is full of :pooh: until proven other wise.

[themurf]

people need something to get their panties all out of whack, they crave something to ***** about. And I am so sick of hearing that they are /rebuilding this team from the ground up/ not from what the coaches have stated, there is alot of talent on this team it has just been misused. And lets let the offseason get going good before you condemn AH for not going to "voluntary" workouts, buncha crybaby's this isnt your daddies NFL anymore. He will show up where it counts, on the football field

You know how much talent is on this team? Four wins worth.

[themurf]

I never made any comments about AH being a "team player" or not. I merely talked about what aspects of player involvement in these voluntary workouts truly bothered me...and obviously, from my post, having occasional stray players decide not to take part doesn't bother me all that much. Maybe because I tend to be an idividual myself, and more of a loner. Who knows. I can relate to someone saying "I understand, but I don't agree and would prefer doing my own thing if it's not mandatory," and not feeling as if they're unworthy of being a true part of the team later.

No, I disagree. I believe a LOT of them want to be there, and that's why they ARE there. Their reasons for wanting to be there are many: prefer working out with teammates, want to impress the new coach, feel there's something of value to be gained by having the team together early on, don't have a better workout alternative, etc, etc...If AH were sitting home watching Oprah while his teammates worked out I might be slightly more inclined to agree with you. But he's not. And again, I think--and echoing something Authentic said--that far more is being made of this based on our perceptions of Haynesworth far, FAR more than any measurable, tangible aspect of "team building" and "chemistry" that can be proven AH's absence is hurting.

I'll address your second point first. Reed Doughty was on the John Thompson Show today and said none of the guys want to be there. But they know they need to be there.

As for your first point, I fully understand wanting to stray away from the herd and being an individual. I respect where you're coming from and somehow managed to be a soldier and part of a team while maintaining some individuality. It's about picking your spots though, man.

Shanahan only has one chance to make a first impression. He's got to come in and get everyone on board to show these guys if they put in the work, what he can help them achieve. This is a time to put everything else on hold and be there for the good of the team. This isn't the time to go off and do your own thing - even if you're convinced what you're doing is justified. Does that make sense?

[Califan007 The Constipated]

It would be nice that the man with the largest contract on the team would defer to his new boss and actually WANT to be there like his other teammates. Is that really too much to ask? And quiet as kept, he had this alternative work out plan last year, where he was supposed to be in the best shape of his career, and what happened? As of right now, I still think that AH is full of :pooh: until proven other wise.

The "highest salary" argument doesn't hold water with me...because that means that the scrubs on the team who are "only" making $1 mil a year can skip out on the voluntary workouts and everyone will be fine with it. Yeah, right lol ...You'd be hearing stuff like "You're only a scrub who's barely making NFL minumum! You haven't proven a thing yet! You should be telling yourself you NEED to be there!!"

Let's be honest, there is no category of player--salary-wise, experience-wise, whatever--that fans will say "Well, it's ok that he's not there, regardless of what Shanahan wanted." So Albert Haynesworth's salary is completely irrelevant in my eyes to to the discussion at hand.

As for working with his private trainer last year as well, I think someone else already pointed out that he did not work exclusively (or even primarily) with his personal trainer last year, as where apparently this year he will be. I never took his comments of working with the Skins trainers as being he worked ONLY with the Skins trainers...just that they were his primary trainers last offseason, but that they're not gonna be this year.

[darrelgreenie]

And quiet as kept, he had this alternative work out plan last year, where he was supposed to be in the best shape of his career, and what happened? As of right now, I still think that AH is full of :pooh: until proven other wise.

Are you implying that Haynseworth fitness level prevented him from being a flat out beast last year?

Because the fact of the matter is that Haynseworth not only played well when he was in the game but he was actually in the game as much or more then other DT/NTs.

He's a 350lb man and most of the time he's going against at least 2 other 300+ pound men and bashing heads everyplay so yeah he got winded every now and then, but he's literally going against 600lbs every play.

Our fan base is fickle.

[Merlin Emrys]

OTAs do not encompass the whole offseason. Haynesworth could easily workout with his trainer during the bulk of the offseason and be at Redskins Park when required. His explanation is a load of crap.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

You know how much talent is on this team? Four wins worth.

Does that mean we had twice as much talent in 2008 than we did in 2009? lol

I'll address your second point first. Reed Doughty was on the John Thompson Show today and said none of the guys want to be there. But they know they need to be there.

Maybe we have a disconnect as to what the word "want" really means, then. If you know you need to do something, and yo do it, then that means you wanted to do it. You wanted it done. I take Reed's comments (as conveyed by you) as meaning "Sure, there's other things we'd rather be doing, but this is something we felt needed to be done." I especially interpreted it that way because it's all voluntary. There literally ARE other things that they "could" be doing (like watching Oprah lol). I didn't take it as Reed saying "Sure, we'd all rather be training and lifting weights right now with our own personal trainers instead of the Redskins trainers."

So, in that context, I'm sure Haynesworth doesn't want to be working out even with his own personal trainers.

As for your first point, I fully understand wanting to stray away from the herd and being an individual. I respect where you're coming from and somehow managed to be a soldier and part of a team while maintaining some individuality. It's about picking your spots though, man.

I think Haynesworth having what appears to be a lengthy talk with Shanahan face to face, to the point of Shanny acknowledging that he respects Big Al's decision although he doesn't agree with it, speaks rather well of the situation, though. Again, Haynesworth didn't have to even do that...he could have just not shown up and said "Hey, it's voluntary, I don't HAVE to do anything." (as we've seen a few too many times in the past). That would have been taking the easy way out. AH didn't take it, though.

I'm all for two grown men having a serious discussion about something important to both of them, and having respect for each other's viewpoints and decisions regardless of whether they end up agreeing or not. And that's what happened here from what I can tell. I just don't think we should be diminishing that as nothing but a sign of selfishness on the part of a player.

Shanahan only has one chance to make a first impression. He's got to come in and get everyone on board to show these guys if they put in the work, what he can help them achieve. This is a time to put everything else on hold and be there for the good of the team. This isn't the time to go off and do your own thing - even if you're convinced what you're doing is justified. Does that make sense?

Well, I think if Haynesworth really does step it up another notch or two over last year's production that's "for the good of the team" as well. I also think that both AH and Shanahan will have numerous opportunities over the next 9 months to establish with the other players and coaches everything that they need to establish in order to have the Redskins putting forth their all this season and in the coming seasons. I guess I"m not as convinced that how things went down in this matter have had any real, tangle detrimental effect overall. But it sure has proved fodder for a LOT of media columns lol ...

[#1HIT]

Here's the funny thing about running a sports blog - you've got to have an opinion. It does no good to come out and say a bunch of nothing. I would never write something simply to get a reaction, but if I feel strongly about something - in this case Haynesworth putting himself over his team - then I'm going to write about it.

I've got no issue with folks who disagree. Hell, that's why I post stuff here, in hopes of sparking intelligent football conversation. It's the mouthbreathers who claim I have a hidden agenda that crack me up. I've been around here long enough that folks should know better than that.

No no, im not saying that you got an agenda or trying to start things up, i was just saying that its too early whether to say AH is a team player or not whic was the point you were making.

[angel2]

Shanahan only has one chance to make a first impression. He's got to come in and get everyone on board to show these guys if they put in the work, what he can help them achieve. This is a time to put everything else on hold and be there for the good of the team. This isn't the time to go off and do your own thing - even if you're convinced what you're doing is justified. Does that make sense?

Murf, you can blame all of this grief you are getting on me. I didn't know it would come down to this buddy, damn! lol

[TheREALJBird]

I'm not buying into this article very much. Instead of jumping to conclusions like you're doing, let's see how it translates to the field in the upcoming season.

[themurf]

Murf, you can blame all of this grief you are getting on me. I didn't know it would come down to this buddy, damn! lol

It's all good. There are some folks in here who are trying to have a legit conversation about all of this. No worries man.

[KDawg]

I don't understand why this is such a highly debated topic. Albert SHOULD be with his team. Period. But he's not, and the Redskins staff knows about it. As long as he works hard and he comes in in shape, there's not much we can do about it at this point.

With the reworking of his contract so (I believe) he has an option of being a free agent after this upcoming season, which was posted yesterday, he very well may not even be here next year. No sense is rattling the entire organization for one guy who may or may not be gone.

See what happens. If he's out of shape the Redskins say, "No, we want you here next off season". If he refuses, he'll probably exercise his option and leave.

[whiskey44]

"I prolly make mo greenbacks than you do, coach, so nah man, I can do what I want whenever I want, coach. Is them doughnuts over there?....Ill stay for the doughnuts, then I'm like, Deuces". Fat bastid.

[authentic]

Are you implying that Haynseworth fitness level prevented him from being a flat out beast last year?

Because the fact of the matter is that Haynseworth not only played well when he was in the game but he was actually in the game as much or more then other DT/NTs.

He's a 350lb man and most of the time he's going against at least 2 other 300+ pound men and bashing heads everyplay so yeah he got winded every now and then, but he's literally going against 600lbs every play.

Our fan base is fickle.

Fickle? Bro. Al got a $100m contract last season with $41m guaranteed. Which is the largest contract for a defensive player in league history :doh:. He played in only 12 games and in about half of those games he was so gased that he had to be either helped off the field by the staff or carted off. This, by no uncertain terms, is a result of poor conditioning. Don't misunderstand me, when he was in there he was a disruptive force, which benefited his teammates. But fact remains is that he still has yet to display any sort of leadership and sacrifice for the team. But even besides that, if you are going to be a "Me first" type of player and do your own thing, then at least come correct. That he didn't. Yet he wants to blame everyone but himself for his poor conditioning last season. This is what irritates me. How about some self accountability?

[Skinsfan4life83]

YES FICKLE. Come the regular season this will be an absolute non issue. You people just feel the starnge need to argue about things that really dont affect the team too much. AH wants to train somewhere else big ****ing deal. You guy's keep crying, i can use a good laugh every now and again.

[Skinsfan4life83]

Fickle? Bro. Al got a $100m contract last season with $41m guaranteed. Which is the largest contract for a defensive player in league history :doh:. He played in only 12 games and in about half of those games he was so gased that he had to be either helped off the field by the staff or carted off. This, by no uncertain terms, is a result of poor conditioning. Don't misunderstand me, when he was in there he was a disruptive force, which benefited his teammates. But fact remains is that he still has yet to display any sort of leadership and sacrifice for the team. But even besides that, if you are going to be a "Me first" type of player and do your own thing, then at least come correct. That he didn't. Yet he wants to blame everyone but himself for his poor conditioning last season. This is what irritates me. How about some self accountability?

What about" he was on the field for more plays than any other NT/DT was" do you not get, he was out there as much as possible and played like a beast when he was, almost everytime he went down he came back into the game so what is your beef? AC and Rak had great seasons because of him, he is not the problem on this team at all, you people have the same repetitive argument and it's getting rather old

[KingGibbs]

YES FICKLE. Come the regular season this will be an absolute non issue. You people just feel the starnge need to argue about things that really dont affect the team too much. AH wants to train somewhere else big ****ing deal. You guy's keep crying, i can use a good laugh every now and again.

LOL! It's such a "non-issue" that you come on here crying about people crying. There has been some intelligent well thought out convos going on in here. I guess that would leave you out of the equation?

[dadirtbags]

This isn't about the fans and has nothing to do with a workout program. It's about rebuilding the franchise from the ground up. The Redskins, as an organization, have cut corners and tried the quick fix for years. Now, when a two-time Super Bowl winning head coach comes in and tries to establish the same fundamentals and systems that enabled him to take home the Lombardi Trophy twice, his highest-paid player turns his back on him.

Haynesworth is letting his coaches and teammates know that he's not a team player. He only cares about himself. Maybe my time in the Army is clouding my opinion on this because we truly did care about the uniform we wore, but you don't have to be a soldier to make personal sacrifices for the good of the team. That's something anyone can do.

I agree...but what is one to expect from a prima donna? the sad thing is...this is also Haynesworths way of saying "I'm special" and deserve special treatment...If I was Shanny...I would let him know that his starting spot is now in jeoperdy during training camp...send a message to the rest of the team so they understand how not to behave...one of the biggest problems with this team IMO...is that we have too many prima donnas that want to do there own thing...I believe it showed last year during game time..they didn't play like a unit/team...JMHO

[authentic]

What about" he was on the field for more plays than any other NT/DT was" do you not get, he was out there as much as possible and played like a beast when he was, almost everytime he went down he came back into the game so what is your beef? AC and Rak had great seasons because of him, he is not the problem on this team at all, you people have the same repetitive argument and it's getting rather old

This entire discussion is getting repetitive. Obviously you didn't see where I commented that he made his teammates better and that he did play well, while in there. But by his own admission, he didn't play to his potential because of poor conditioning. Perhaps you may need to read the trascript again.

[hogluv4life]

Sounds to me like we should be hiring big Al's personal trainer. We want Al there with the rest and Al wants his trainer. Apparently, he has some good references.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/03/lavar_arrington_slams_albert_h.html

Arrington Quote:

"But if you're saying you want to work out and do this heavy stuff with your guy, bring him here. Bring him here."

I'm of the same Mindset as Lavar! Is that a good enough reason to request help with an Assisted Suicide?

[Warpath11]

Arrington Quote:

"But if you're saying you want to work out and do this heavy stuff with your guy, bring him here. Bring him here."

I understand what Lavar is saying but is this really possible? I mean these trainers have multiple clients from college ranks to the pros they can't just up and leave their home base to accomodate one client, its just an unrealistic expectation.

[allannis]

This entire discussion is getting repetitive. Obviously you didn't see where I commented that he made his teammates better and that he did play well, while in there. But by his own admission, he didn't play to his potential because of poor conditioning. Perhaps you may need to read the trascript again.

Just think how much better he'll be in better shape. these workouts are voluntary are they not, if not then call them manditory. AH is not the only player to miss these.

[BigMike619]

this is all just drama. and drama makes great stories. until he comes in fat and hurt i will give him the benefit of the doubt.