Art Monk

Number 81 will be retired tonight during halftime in the Seahawks Game.

NFL X-Files 

A Knock at the Door 

Art Monk-Hall of Fame Induction Speech

The Posse (Washington Redskins) NFL Legends

Theismann to Monk 

Every Art Monk Playoff TD

Art Monk Reflects on Jersey Retirement

If JD5 had Art Monk, the Super Bowl would be ours.

It's OK If Marcus Starts

Marcus Mariota is an NFL Starter.

Maybe not the best starter. But he is starter level. He could start for several NFL teams.

Especially Chip Kelly, Kliff Kingsbury, and Kyle Shanahan space-based offenses.

His signing was one of the best moves Adam Peters made. 

Relax.

I was actually surprised Adam Peters and Tom Brady didn't do a deal to send Marcus to the Raiders.

Chip Kelly is offensive coordinator there. 

In other news, Preston Smith is back in D.C. Good move. He can help.

Is Jayden's brain fog related to absence of running game? I understand critiquing the offensive line. But the running game (and the screen game, a Washington forte) creates space for the QB in play action activity. And lightens the load of the O-Line.

Reduces the cognitive flood. Doesn't mean the QB or O-Line can't play better. They can and demonstrably have. 

Washington has good running backs. Croskey-Merritt. Rodriquez. McNichols. 

And I think Donovan Edwards could be a surge element later in the year. Like Ricky Ervins was for the 91 Skins. Here's one of Ricky's best performances.

Edwards can help now. Kickoff returns. Run only plays. Big in big games. Explosive take it to the house plays.  He could back off a defense in a hurry. If Washington can keep him on the roster, keep an eye out for Edwards emerging as a breath of fresh air come Playoff time.

Of course one of the best teams at platooning backs was the 17-0 Miami Dolphins, who defeated the Skins in that year's Super Bowl. 

They had two 1,000 yard rushers. And one 500 plus yard rusher. In order, they were Mercury Morris, Larry Csonka, and Jim Kiick. 

I think I'd take Terry McLaurin in fantasy football this weekend. Especially if Marcus starts. 

Conversely, Ashton Jeanty might be the fantasy pick on the Raiders side. He is due to break out. 

Unless the Commanders Run D resurfaces. 

Some Picks 

NFL Game Preview Picks offers a 6-4 Supreme NFL Court Decision for Washington. 

PFF Picks Commanders behaving as if Jayden Plays.

McCaffrey in the Kilmer Niner Strong-I

It is hard linking up the generations but people are already touting the Luke McCaffrey trick play where he passes for a touchdown.

He's a former QB. He puts me in mind of one Billy Kilmer, who was Slash before Kordell Stewart. Startling claim? Well, I mean Billy Kilmer was a part of the evolution of NFL Offense believe it or not.

It is hard for Washington fans to believe the nearly immobile QB they saw gutting out victories for George Allen actually played some tailback but there it is. He was, as you can imagine from his courage, a tough runner. 

Here's Old Whiskey actually running the football and doing a little run-pass option with his first team, the San Francisco 49ers. Kilmer was playing under Kliff Kingsbury precursor Red Hickey, inventor of the shotgun formation, who would use a Kilmer-John Brodie combo to throw wrenches in the game plans of opposing defenses.

One could imagine McCaffrey, or indeed young Jordan Magee, another ex-QB, vaulting the ball over to Jayden Daniels, essentially the same size as Randy Moss, for the unexpurgated touchdown.

LSU didn't throw to Daniels but what a threat that would be! All because John Brodie and Billy Kilmer used to do it for Adam Peters's 49er squad back in the day.

How many NFL players have ever run, passed, or caught TD passes in a game, even in a season? Could the much ballyhooed Daniels set some records in that regard?

Kilmer almost ran for as many yards as he passed for his senior year at UCLA. 

What would the nature of NFL Offense have been had Billy Kilmer somehow avoided the accident that almost ruined his career? Would RPOs and Pistol Formations and RGIII have come earlier in the growth of the sport of NFL Football?

It's Only a Paper Moon

It is a Barnum and Bailey World. As phony as can be. 

Wise words from Nat King Cole. 

Take the NFL Offseason with a grain of salt. Speaking of salt, here is an interview with an Old Salt, Old Whiskey, jawboning with Dick Schaap.

I thought it was interesting. Joe Whitt mentioned playing 18 guys on defense at one of the Commanders' Press Conferences. It is a bit Barnum and Bailey to back engineer that comment. But I put that together with clownish phrases like "Air Raid" and "shootout" and I start thinking high scoring games and worn out defenses. 

Plus, the Commanders are still working on their DBs and their Offensive Linemen. Meaning they're not ready. It is Circus time. Of course they're not ready. If we're still here in September it is time to worry.

Meantime, it is time, at least for me, to add to our Billy Kilmer Scrapbook.

First Saints Quarterback Ever

Buddy D When Men Were Men 

Doc Interviewed Whiskey a Few Years Ago

Pulling Out the Scrapbook

Some guys in the media are pulling out the scrapbooks on Old School Washington Football. I can't blame them. There is no real hard evidence on what the Commanders will be this season until September. You get tired of speculating, though some of it is fun.

They were trying to rummage up the Five Most Iconic Plays in Redskin History. Here are a few they were speaking of:

1. Number One was Riggo's Romp.

2. Number Two Darryl Grant taking a pick in for a touchdown against Dallas in the NFC Championship Game.

3. Number Three was Darrell Green jumping out of his rib cage in Chicago.

I lost track after that. Guess I'll conjure up a few more.

4. Charley Taylor's TD Catch against Dallas in the NFC Championship game.

5. Darrell Green's stop against Minnesota. Without Darrell Green, that's a Viking touchdown.

Of course, Santana Moss made TWO ICONIC plays not just one.

It's these guys the whole nickname thing is trying to connect to. It is going to be hard for fans today to remember the Founders, so to speak. The New Owners want the passion back. Just changing the nickname won't do that.

These young fellas today got to start doing it. That's the only thing gets the mojo back in butts to sit in seats and rock stadiums. 

But us geezers who lived through that 70s, 80s, early 90s era we're not in danger of forgetting the guys who put football on the map in D.C. 

I have no doubt that if they start winning these young Washingtonians will go as nuts as we did back in the day.

Commanders Raising Hail is a Cheap Trick

Since the demise of the nickname, the Washington NFL Franchise has been bereft of a Team Anthem, in essence, because the nickname was central in the lyrics of the Team's Fight Song: Hail to the Redskins.

HTTR was a college rah rah type ditty played with gusto at moments of touchdownish excitement. Bill Parcells took note of the college like atmosphere when he compared playing the Skins to playing Southern Cal.

When Rookie Camp opened, the Commanders came out with Gonna Raise Hail as a meme. Coach DQ wore a shirt featuring the now familiar inoffensive "W" with a controversial feather attached to one corner of it.

I can't think though who would find Cheap Trick's Gonna Raise Hell offensive other than really devout Christians. It is a workout anthem for a lot of people. But is it HTTR?

It is clear that the team struggles with its heritage both from a marketing standpoint and from an on-the-field performance standpoint. You can't blame them for wanting to reclaim the performance standards of the Golden Era. 

That was the Age of Camelot for Skins Fans. And many are hoping Jayden Daniels will be Prince Valiant bringing Camelot back to D.C.

                          Jayden Daniels Rides into Town
 

How can you recall Camelot without offending sensibilities? 

Well, as many have pointed out, the Colors are not offensive. And . . . the PLAYERS are not offensive. They could be offensive to opponents. And to Mike Ditka. But Camelot was an age of heroes and the folklore of our heroes help us claim what they passed down to us. 

Retiring 28 was a step in that direction.

 

You could say 28 was the Keeper of The Flame for Skins Fans. That's another Cheap Trick song.

Guess we should invite them to do a Half Time set.