Redskin Mercenaries I've Wanted to Punch (1993-Present)

[kleese]

Ed Kleese is already working on the definitive Norv chronicles

After the ugly 1993 sesaon, a cold bucket of water after the years of glory, I can't even remember what my expectations were with Norv. I look at the games played in his first few seasons and can't remember even watching a lot of them. I remember the quick start in 1996 and going to the game at Philly which pushed us to 8-3 and then also attending the following week against the 49ers at RFK, I was sitting down low in one of the end zones, and at one point we went ahead in the 4th and on the ensuing kickoff to SF the ball came loose and that stadium exploded.......I don't think I've heard that level of noise at FedEx. Unfortunately, the Niners recovered, went on to win, and the Skins dropped the next three on the road to miss the playoffs (thanks Romeo Bandison!).

The next year was the new stadium and I started going to a lot more games (and still do). You do wonder why, after the poor ending to 1996 and the frustrating 1997, Norv wasn't fired in the midst of the 0-7 start in 1998. Was John Kent Cooke too loyal, did the good end to that season save Norv, or a combo of the two? You would think most owners wouldn't have had the patience, but then you look at coaches like Jeff Fisher and Marvin Lewis who have been able to survive significant stretches of mediocrity in Tennessee and Cincinnati, so its possible.

Norv was not a good head coach but came here at a time when he was going to compared to the legendary Joe Gibbs, so he was in somewhat of a no-win situation. Just like the relatively pedestrian four years of Gibbs 2 is looked upon so favorably by some, largely because he came in the middle of two doofuses in Spurrier and Zorn.

Seems like what we have now with the former respected OC in JayGru and the established GM in Scotty Mac comes closest to what we had with Norv and Casserly. It'll be quite interesting to see how it plays out.......I think Jay is back as coach next season, but how patient will Dan be with him?

I think the reason those years STILL resonate and torture me is because I was still so hopeful at the time. I had no cynicism and I was still young (I was 17 when Norv coached his first game with the skins). I had nothing but time on my hands during high school and into college with Norv so I was fully invested in the team. I really thought we were still a great organization and that it was only a matter of time until Norv won big game for us. The end of the 97 season is when I really started to worry, but all of those gut-wrenching losses from 95-97 really hurt and I can still see them clear as day today. 98 was so bad from the outset but I thought we were going to be good, so that hurt too. 1999 was a nice surprise, but honestly, that season is so overrated around here. We still lost all of the games that really mattered that year and the only team we beat all season (including playoffs) that was above .500 was the Dolphins in a meaningless end of season game. We lost heartbreakers to Dallas and Indy and Philly-- any one of those and we could have secured a bye and home field in the divisional round. We still "Norv'd" a season even when we didn't.....

2000 has been well chronicled in this thread. After that, nothing has hurt as much; which is kind of a shame because it also means I got jaded.

And in this odd and almost inexplicable twist of human nature--- I look back on the Norv years with a sort of longing. I think it was likely because of where I was in my life-- a great age, carefree, etc. and because I still truly bled B&G and believed we'd be great again.

[Voice_of_Reason]

My list:

 

1. Dana Subblefield.  

1a. Deion Sanders

1b. Albert Haynsworth

1c. Adam Archuletta

1d. Geoff George

1e. Bruce "Highway 78" Smith

 

All of the above are tied for first place.

 

NOTE: Jason Taylor and Donovan McNabb, I'd like to punch them both, but they were traded here. 

 

Draft picks I'd like to knee in the crotch:

1. Lavar Arrington

2. Lavar Arrngton

3. Lavar Arrington

4. Lavar Arrington

5. Lavar Arrington

 

There are others, but most of those guys just shouldn't have been picked where they were.  That's not their fault.  

 

Lavar is on a different level of awful.  

[fasttimes]

Vinny Cerato

[SkinsFTW]

Nobody has mentioned the Spurrier Florida Scrub Bunch of receivers he brought in to compliment his pos Florida Qbs?

Chris doering

Jaques Green

Willie Jackson

And the only reason we drafted Taylor Jacobs? Yep he went to Florida too.

[Voice_of_Reason]

Nobody has mentioned the Spurrier Florida Scrub Bunch of receivers he brought in to compliment his pos Florida Qbs?

Chris doering

Jaques Green

Willie Jackson

And the only reason we drafted Taylor Jacobs? Yep he went to Florida too.

I'd punch Spurrier for all of them. They were essentially harmless, cheap and available. The one guy I wanted to drop an elbow on was Danny Wuerffel (or however you spelled it). He and Spurrier seemed to have the same arrogance for no reason.

[petedaddy]

I'd punch Spurrier for all of them. They were essentially harmless, cheap and available. The one guy I wanted to drop an elbow on was Danny Wuerffel (or however you spelled it). He and Spurrier seemed to have the same arrogance for no reason.

 

i'd punch wuerffel wearing his stupid glove

[JimboDaMan]

BJ came back and was God awful in that finale fateful Giants game. We finally scored and started moving the ball once Norv benched him for George, but it was too late by then and we missed the field goal to win it-- but George brought us back. After that the entire season unraveled. George starts earlier, we win 2-3 more games that year and win the division.

To rub salt into the still-open wound that this game is, recall that George actually completed a pass to James Thrash in chip shot range in the final minute. Skins hustled to the line and got called for a movement penalty which backed us up 5 yards which meant mothing, the game was ours. Then the zebras huddled up for a few minutes and finally announced the previous play - Thrash's catch - had been reviewed and reversed even though another play had already taken place. The crowd went nuts, the Skins missed the ensuing kick and lost the game. Think I'm bitter much?

[Yeen80]

Wow I completely forgot about Alvin Harper. 

 

He was a legit WR on Dallas and then went to Tampa Bay and sucked pretty bad. (Who didn't in Tampa wearing those orange uniforms)

 

Then of course we bring him in to stretch the field, and he lasts only half the season. 

 

This clip compilation of him during his Tampa years is PRICELESS! ENJOY!

 

[justice98]

2006 - Brandon Lloyd (WR), Andre Carter (DE)

2007 - Jason Fabini (G), Todd Wade (T)

Too tired to continue on...too depressing...

Andre Carter I could live with. He had double digit sacks a couple times for us. Then they tried to make him a 3-4 LB, which didn't work.

[justice98]

Wow I completely forgot about Alvin Harper.

He was a legit WR on Dallas and then went to Tampa Bay and sucked pretty bad. (Who didn't in Tampa wearing those orange uniforms)

Then of course we bring him in to stretch the field, and he lasts only half the season.

This clip compilation of him during his Tampa years is PRICELESS! ENJOY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA95pj_6Tjw

I don't think he was ever really legit in hindsight. He ran one route and benefited from all All-Pros everywhere else. He came to us and the best player on offense was Terry Allen, coming off a big year, but still no Emmitt Smith. Not surprisingly, Harper couldn't get open without a team that made it easy.

[Darth Tater]

Kleese,

1997 was a big heart breaker for me. In my experience, George Allen leaves, we bring in a guy who was kind of ours who fails. Gibbs comes in and the rest is history. Gibbs leaves, we hire the heir apparent who fails, we bring in a new guy... Another model using Dallas where Norv came from, Landry fails and a new guy is hired who fails worse (kind of like us in 1994). His second year, while Dallas still sucks, they can beat you if you overlook them (kind of like us in 1995). Third year was a playoff year and the rest is history. We were in the running till late in 1997 so it looked like we were on the same schedule as Norv's mentor and might become the dominant team of the late 90s! Norv also came with a great resume that was one of the best you'll ever see. Since then I don't really trust my feelings about any coach we entertain. Should have remembered that while Gibbs had a good resume, he had some serious warning flags on it.

[50yrSKINSfan]

Brad Johnson was, and remains, the most overrated Redskin among the fanbase in my lifetime watching the Redskins. He got off to a white hot start-- he was fantastic in our first four or five game of 1999. Then, he slowly began to tail off. By the end of that season I considered him a neutral, by the playoffs, he was a negative.

He cost us that Tampa playoff game and he gets NO heat for it. Our defense was great that day until they choked a bit at the end. Special teams was also good, scoring our only TD.

Johnson made one of the worst plays in Redskins history that no one ever talks about-- up 10-0 late in the third, we had all the momentum and the Bucs looked dead. First and ten BJ lofts a terrible pass that is picked off down the sideline by Lynch. Totally swings the momentum of that game and gives their offense some life they hadn't had.

For a guy that was considered "smart" and didn't lose the game for you, it was a horrendous decision on a day where he already wasn't making any plays. Yes, the Bucs D was fantastic, but BJ made them look even better. An average performance from him that day and we win fairly easily. He stunk.

In 2000, he was terrible. If he couldn't handle George being on the roster than I guess he wasn't mentally tough enough anyway. Someone mentioned Westbrook getting hurt-- that was a big moment that season for sure-- but in that game, BJ also threw four picks. He wasn't much better the other games he played.

Our FA signings in 2000 worked out, including Deion. We went from 30th in D in 1999 to 4th in 2000. Deion was solid. Not worth the money, but a a solid player that year. Bruce Smith was good. Problem was our offense--- except when George started. Our best game that year was a win in St. Louis he started for an injured BJ and our offense was better that night than the rest of the year.

Norv didn't have the stones to let him keep the job; BJ came back and was God awful in that finale fateful Giants game. We finally scored and started moving the ball once Norv benched him for George, but it was too late by then and we missed the field goal to win it-- but George brought us back. After that the entire season unraveled. George starts earlier, we win 2-3 more games that year and win the division.

BJ winning the SB was just chance. He just happened to be there. The 2002 version of BJ probably wasn't any better than the 2015 version of Kirk Cousins. It was a down period in the league where guys like Dilfer, BJ, and Kerry Collins were SB QB's. Throw Jake Dellhome in there as well. Early 2000's were a soft period in the league with subpar QB play and a couple of teams took advantage and won with great defense and a virtual mannequin at QB.

Give me a break, Jeff George sucked period. At least Johnson threw 24 td for us one year I think and he was not a high draft choice. JG was the first pick of the draft, signed the richest contract at that time and then went out and threw 46 int to 41 td. He played on 4 teams and never won anything, not even a wild card playoff. He fancied himself as a gunslinger like Farve but he was nowhere close. When I saw him play he looked to me like he did not give a crap cause he had his,  and just wanted to show off his arm. Total looser

Andre Carter I could live with. He had double digit sacks a couple times for us. Then they tried to make him a 3-4 LB, which didn't work.

Ya I thought Carter gave everything he had when he was here. Didn't he go on to play for someone else and did fine?

[justice98]

Ya I thought Carter gave everything he had when he was here. Didn't he go on to play for someone else and did fine?

I think he made the Pro Bowl in New England the year after left DC.

[Riggo-toni]

Give me a break, Jeff George sucked period. At least Johnson threw 24 td for us one year I think and he was not a high draft choice.

I'm not a fan of Jeff George, but Kleese is right about Johnson being overrated.

In 2001, Bucs fans were calling him a FA bust.

Gruden's dink and dunk fit his skill set, in the same way that Paul Hackett managed to make Chad Pennington look good. Johnson cost us a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd. In his entire career he had only 2 good years -1999 & 2002.

Too bad we didn't sign Randall Cunningham in 00 instead of George, but Sonny recommended JG to Dannyboy.

[Yeen80]

I swear, Kleese has my vote for the human Redskins encyclopedia. When I read his posts, I am literally transported back 20 years. The details of each individual game, and even play are outstanding. Hell he even remembers the kickoff times for all of our games the last 30 years. Unbelievable.

[Stefanskins]

steve emtman

chris zorich

Marvcus Patton

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Kleese,

1997 was a big heart breaker for me. In my experience, George Allen leaves, we bring in a guy who was kind of ours who fails. Gibbs comes in and the rest is history. Gibbs leaves, we hire the heir apparent who fails, we bring in a new guy... Another model using Dallas where Norv came from, Landry fails and a new guy is hired who fails worse (kind of like us in 1994). His second year, while Dallas still sucks, they can beat you if you overlook them (kind of like us in 1995). Third year was a playoff year and the rest is history. We were in the running till late in 1997 so it looked like we were on the same schedule as Norv's mentor and might become the dominant team of the late 90s! Norv also came with a great resume that was one of the best you'll ever see. Since then I don't really trust my feelings about any coach we entertain. Should have remembered that while Gibbs had a good resume, he had some serious warning flags on it.

 

Great post. 

 

I really thought that we were on the right path back toward glory. From 3 wins in 1994 to 9 wins in 1996, I was sure that by 1998/1999 we would have re-established ourselves as another dynasty!

[SkinsFTW]

Great post. 

 

I really thought that we were on the right path back toward glory. From 3 wins in 1994 to 9 wins in 1996, I was sure that by 1998/1999 we would have re-established ourselves as another dynasty!

 

And between 1997 and 2000 we probably had more first round picks than any team in NFL history. People talk about the picks Dallas got for Hershel Walker but we blew ours so nobody but Redskins fans remember.

 

 

This clip compilation of him during his Tampa years is PRICELESS! ENJOY!

LOL that Alvin Harper video is hilarious. What a douchebag.

[Riggo-toni]

And between 1997 and 2000 we probably had more first round picks than any team in NFL history. People talk about the picks Dallas got for Hershel Walker but we blew ours so nobody but Redskins fans remember.

Yup! Somewhere in the archives there's a thread I started about this called Why the football gods hate us. Between the Sean Gilbert and the Ricky Williams trades, we had 5 first rounders in 2 years - two of which were top 5 picks. From that we got Brad Johnson, Champ Bailey, Lavar, and Samuels. Johnson (who also cost a 2nd and a third) was gone in 2 years. Samuels was a big hit. Bailey was a hit, but we never made cap space to extend him because we blew it all on the most overrated Redskin of all time Lavar. And we traded most of the picks we got from the Ricky trade to move back up to take Champ.

[Redskins Reparations]

I am surprised Tyler Polumbus has not been mentioned.

[Wildbunny]

The fact that a player is not good because he lacks talent does not mean he's an asshole and should not get respect for trying.

At least, that's how I view the thread. Guys that went here, took the money and did not care...

I'll hardly put Polumbus in that category.

If it's about those that sucked on the field, then TK & PCS need a few upgrades on those servers where lies ES because they aren't able to handle the huge load of guys that played for this team and just flat out plainty sucks.

edit: weird no profanities filter working right now? Or is it my mobile?

[ddub52]

Christian Fauria

Willie Parker

[Boss_Hogg]

This bamma x1000000000