The End of an Era But Obligatory Losing Still Entrenched

It is over for the 2023 Washington Franchise. With so much up in the air, there just is no stable footing for the players.

People talking about leaving. No one knows who the coaches will be. The ETA on winning has been postponed for God knows how long. Some say the team nickname will change again.

They were closer to winning at the start of this year. Now, with an anticipated roster purge, how much of the "core group of guys" will be left? If your leaders are talking about leaving where are your leaders going to come from? 

They are now farther away from winning. If only for the probability they will be asking a boatload of first-timers to play like seasoned veterans next year and maybe beyond.

The New Coach will have some recruiting to do. If he or she can't convince Payne, Allen, and McLaurin to stick around, that'll probably mean winning will be out of the question in 2024.

If the New Coach has a roster of system guys, vets who have played the incoming schemes, to do some leading and player coaching, and Sam Howell is kept, maybe they surprise people.

Joe Gibbs had a core group leftover from Jack Pardee. He had Theismann and Riggins and Butz. He had George Starke, Doc Walker, Neal Olkewicz, and Monte Coleman. Young Art Monk was a rookie on the 1980 team. Gibbs kept a few coaches.

The team has needs pretty much everywhere on defense and on the offensive line. That list of needs could expand if players who don't want to stick around for more obligatory losing are granted their wishes to seek deals elsewhere.

It's a shame. It really is a no-win scenario. It will take a great amount of skill at Lego to put a winning team together in time to keep the old Redskin fan base. I think that's a losing proposition, if you pardon the pun. 

It makes sense to try to start from scratch with a new fan base.

And that's what it looks like. They will be building a new fan base AND a new franchise. That's why I'm not ruling out the owners moving the team. The Prime NFL Viewing Age Group in Washington knows nothing but habitual losing. Somewhere fresh does not have that mental handicap.

For that, a good model would be the Carolina Panthers 1995 expansion team.

They were truly starting from scratch.

The Panthers stole a bit from George Allen's script. That 95 team brought in some wiley veterans. They went 7-9 their first year and 12-4 the next. 

Maybe something similar can happen with this Washington Franchise.

The Brutal Football Mind of Chris Hanburger

I've always wondered why Chris Hanburger never became a Coach in the NFL. When you talk about "intellectual brutality" you're talking about Number 55 of the Washington Redskins Chris Hanburger.

I remember Hanburger had a nose for the ball. He was a Pick-6 Linebacker if there ever was one. Ryan Kerrigan is the only Redskin I can think of that ever came close to Hanburger's penchant for the interception. 

He wasn't very big. Six-two. Two eighteen with pads on. He was the size of today's Hybrids. But he packed a punch. His hook tackles are illegal today. He also threw a few clotheslines. Teamed up with Sam Huff on Lombardi's 1969 team, Hanburger was a painful presence for opposing offenses. If Sam didn't get you in the middle, Hanburger shoehorned you on the outside. Those two were devastating on an ethereal level.

You'd see the offense looking good on a play then out of nowhere here comes 55 like he was shot from a rocket launcher to blow it all up in the backfield. As often as not, Hanburger made plays with his Brain. Reading and reacting like it was second nature. That was probably drill work and film study. Pattern recognition, baby. Christian Hanburger had it boy. Instant diagnosis. Lightning insight.

Chris Hanburger plainly and simply knocked hell out of people. 

He was a turnover manufacturer of outrageous proportions. He had nineteen picks and seventeen fumble recoveries. No doubt some of that was due to George Allen nagging the Redskin Defense to get turnovers. "We have to get five turnovers to beat Dallas!"

If today's Washington football team on defense has any room for improvement, it is in the turnover department. If they have a good harvest of turnovers this year they could be a true horror for other teams. Commanders defenders should have a look at Hanburger's old highlights. Just watching him pick the ball off improves your olfactory glands and you can just smell the pigskin spinning in the air ripe for the picking and the sixing.

Rick Snider paid tribute to "Chris Linebacker" on a pre-draft YouTube a year ago noting Hanburger was drafted in the 18th Round. Meaning don't overlook those late round picks and undrafted free agents. 

They can become Hall-of-Famers.

Sage advice this year as well as one of the most fun Washington football offseasons in recent memory continues.

I Think Charlie Gogolak Needs to Practice

 A little history of Sam Huff from a Giants perspective:

A Giant Mini-History of Skins Great Huff

The phantom timeout. Sam Huff's beef with Allie Sherman. Sherman had chopped up one of the most legendary NFL defenses of all time, a defense Huff had helped create. 

Sam loved New York. Didn't want to leave. But Sherman traded him along with several other greats on that Giants defense including Rosey Grier.

Sherman's newly formed defense surrendered 72 points to Huff's Redskins November 27th, 1966.

I guess Sam made his point. Seventy-two of them, in fact.

Nick Giaquinto

Do you remember Nick Giaquinto?

He was according to Wikipedia the first H-Back. While at UConn, Nick once ran for 277 yards. I can't ride a bike 277 yards. For the Burgundy and Gold, he also did some halfback, special teams. And garbage detail apparently. Joe Gibbs nicknamed him the Trashman. 

Nick coached Sacred Heart University Baseball for 29 years. 

Nick's best year was 1983. He caught a couple passes in that legendary 1983 Green Bay Game. Later on, in the second St. Louis Cardinals game, Nick did a Riggo drill carrying 10 times for 44 yards. He concluded his march with a bulge for a TD.

Here's Nick Giaquinto on the 1982 Skins:

 

Nick Giaquinto