The Legendary Number 9

We lost Sonny Jurgensen.

Jurgy was an institution in Washington. 

The Community has been having a sort of wake for the Big Redhead. As is proper. 

There are a lot of theories as to when football went crazy in D.C. And somebody said after Sonny passed that it wasn't when Lombardi came to town. It wasn't when George Allen came to town. 

It was when the Skins traded for Jurgy.

And I think that was spot  on.

In every successful NFL town, there is always somebody who gets Fans through the inevitable hard times. 

Sonny. Bobby Mitchell. Charley Taylor. They did that during the Sixties. They didn't win much. But the chance to see the Big Redhead sling it to Bobby and Charley. You always thought: One year Sonny is going to take us to the Promised Land.

He proceeded to do exactly that. 

Then Lombardi came and Sonny got in the best shape of his life. Sam Huff was back. Sonny and Sam went 7-5-2. And the air was light in Washington for a season. It wasn't the last time Sonny and Sam would team up.

We lost Coach Lombardi. Things dipped under Bill Austin. 

Then we hired George Allen.

Who was a legend in his own right. Run the ball. Play defense. He converted me at the time. But it wasn't the best philosophy for the Big Redhead. There was even the time Sonny threw a TD pass. Came off the field. And Allen goes I wanted a field goal. 

The guy Allen preferred was Billy Kilmer. Old Whiskey. Who was a beer drinker. Former running back. Involved in the creation of the Shotgun formation. Another legend. 

With all the Sonny versus Billy debates in D.C. at the time, you'd think their relationship would be contentious. 

No. One of the staples of Skins Folklore is that Jurgy and Billy were great friends. It was a legendary friendship. One that at the end of Sonny's career featured a legendary third wheel: Joe Theismann. Who was just a future NFL MVP, that's all. 

Sonny made his way into Broadcasting and eventually became part of a legendary broadcast team: Frank, Sam, and Sonny. The air was whimsical and light, breathable, again in Washington. 

The Gods were made by Ovid. Virgil. Homer. Who spun tales about them making them legendary.

The Football Gods are made the same way. The Team Broadcasters spin campfire tales during the season. The Lore builds. The Spirit of the Age is created. 

The Skins were the campfire we gathered around. Frank, Sam, and Sonny told us stories about them. Like Roosevelt's fireside chats. 

Sonny was part campfire part campfire storyteller. It made him a linchpin of the Franchise and its Burgundy and Golden Era. 

Washington was as vicious and divided in the 80s as it is today. 

But Sonny helped make us One People. 

And that was truly legendary.  

They say Forty Men Together Can't Lose.

How much more so Four Million? 

Vintage Skins Cowboys

Tomorrow's Washington-Dallas game figures to be a real fiasco.

Dallas is out of the playoffs. Washington seems to have stocked its roster with players from the temp agency. 

1979 Week Sixteen was a doozy in the series. A lot at stake for the Skins. The Cowboys were already in the Playoffs. It's often referred to as the "double comeback" game. John Riggins was a Beast.  

Skins Roster that year. 

Here's the boxscore for the game. 

I think easily one of the best Dallas-Washington battles ever. 

The year before Washington beat Dallas 9-5. On Monday Night. Not a pretty game. Could get ugly again this Christmas day. 

Dallas decleated the Skins 37-10 in the rematch. 

The 1978 Skins started 6-0. They had a major slide afterward and finished 8-8. 

In 1986, Cowboys crushed Washington 30-6 in Dallas. Boxscore.

In the return engagement, Skins returned the favor. Blowing out Dallas 41-14. Boxscore. 

The 86 Skins were one of my favorite Joe Gibbs teams.

Here's that roster. 

Dunce Cap Picks NFL Week 6

The Dunce Cap was 4-3 last week. 12-10 on the year. This weeks picks feature Wunderdog point spreads. 

Eagles (4-1) at Giants (1-4). Eagles (-7.5). I'll take the Giants adding 7.5. Giants win, 34-17. Dunce Cap 1-0.

Dallas (2-2-1) at Carolina (2-3). Cowboys (-3.5). I'll take Dallas without the 3.5. Panthers! 30-27. Karma. Rico Dowdle. Dunce Cap 1-1.

LA Rams (3-2) at Baltimore (1-4). Rams (-7.5). I'll take Baltimore adding 7.5. Rams. 17-3. Dunce Cap 1-2.

Niners (4-1) at Bucs (4-1). Bucs (-3). I'll take the Niners plus the field goal. Buccaneers. 30-19. Dunce Cap 1-3.

Lions (4-1) at Chiefs (2-3). Chiefs (-2.5). I'll take the Chiefs. Chiefs 30-17. Dunce Cap 2-3.

Patriots (4-1) at Saints (1-4). Patriots (-3.5). I'll take the Saints plus 3.5. Patriots. 25-19. Dunce Cap 2-4.

Bengals (2-3) at Packers (2-1-1). Packers (-14). I'll take the Bengals adding two touchdowns. Packers. 27-18. Dunce Cap 3-4.

The Dunce Cap is 15-14 on the year. 

The Commanders are favored by 4.5 on Monday Night. Bears are the anti-public pick. The Public is buying Washington at a 64% clip. Caleb Williams is playing better under Ben Johnson. Could be another Bears-Skins Classic. 

CBS Sports Week 6 Picks. Long picks the Bears. Prisco picks Commanders.

NFL Game Preview Panel picks the Commanders 8-2, with one wag prognosticating a 73-0 wipeout (see below). The video also references the Bears defeat of Washington in the 1984 playoffs, 23-19. See below.

Trying to put a hex on things. 

An Abridged History of an Old School Rivalry

Bears 73, Redskins 0 

Bears 23, Redskins 19 

Bears 45, Redskins 10  

Redskins 27, Bears 13 

Redskins 21, Bears 17 

Redskins 48, Bears 22 

Commanders 18, Bears 15 

Washington leads series all-time, 28-25-1. 

What Good Backup QBs Can Do

Just a reminder of what backup NFL QBs can do.  

Earl Morrall was the backup QB for the Miami Dolphins in 1972. 

When Bob Griese went down game 5, Morrall came in and went 11-0. Morrall came in second for AP Player of the Year. Our beloved tough guy RB Larry Brown was MVP that year. 

Don Shula, then Coach of the Baltimore Colts, started Earl in Super Bowl III. He had a rough game. Lost to Namath and the Jets. 

That memory must have stimulated Shula to go with Griese in the Super Bowl versus our Washington Redskins. 

Morrall had a career record of 63-36-3.  

One memorable backup in the Gibbs Era was Jeff Rutledge of the 1990 Skins. 

The Skins were down to Detroit 38-21. 

Rutledge came in for Stan Humphries. Went 30-42 for 363 yards a TD Pass and a TD run. The Skins won 41-38 in OT.

Coach Gibbs was inspired and started Rutledge in the Body Bag Game. Brian Mitchell finished that game at QB. That's how that game turned out.  

Ordinary starter Mark Rypien came back in the rubber match versus the Eagles in the Playoffs and ended Buddy Ryan's Eagles Career.  

Green Bay versus Washington Notes and Picks

Here are a few notes as to the Thursday Night Football matchup between the two Lombardi Franchises, Green Bay and Washington. 

Pete Prisco picks the Packers.

Nine of 10 Game Preview Analysts pick Green Bay.

Packers versus Skins 1983. MVP Joe Theismann versus Lynn Dickey. First one to 50 wins. Boxscore.  

Skins Packers 1972 Playoffs. Boxscore.

Commanders 2-3 Last 5 Games versus the Pack 

Seems like an uphill climb. Green Bay at Lambeau. If the Commanders win, how they did it on the short week should be fascinating to find out. 

Like Lombardi, Curly Lambeau also coached in Washington. Green Bay under Lambeau was the League's first threepeater.

Coach Lombardi's year in D.C. The 69 Season Results.

The Lord is His Shepherd

Rick Snider passed away this week. I was a big fan of his.

I will always remember Rick as being a big reason the Washington Football Franchise didn't go the way of the Dinosaur.

All that losing. All that misbehavior. It ground you down till you couldn't stomach it anymore.

Then Rick would remind people of the tradition we had here. He worked hard at that. I'm thankful it paid off for him.

He got to report on Washington's drive to the NFC Championship game. It must have felt like the end of a long war. Like Sammy Baugh. Home from World War II.

John Keim posted a nice memorial podcast. 

Since Rick was a man of tradition, here's a traditional Bible Quote often used when people pass. 

Training Camp

Training Camp looms. Rookies are here. People say Redskins nickname coming back.

John Keim Report

It’s time to bring back Washington Redskins

Street Scores 

Ed Oliver 

Al Galdi 

Rick said no body changes their mind on Trump. I did. You don't protect children from sexual predators. You lose my support. Permanently.

Love Rick. Don't love Trump. Even though I voted for him. Three times. 

If his moral compass doesn't know jack about child predators, it ain't gonna know jack about NFL Nickname Controversies.  

The Rookie King of the NFL in 1937 and King of the Texas Rangers in 1941

Sammy Baugh is a fascinating guy. 

As a rookie multi-talent, QB, DB, and punter, he won the NFL Championship in 1937. 

In 1941, he starred in an anti-Nazi infowar movie serial called King of the Texas Rangers. Fighting the Fifth Column.

In Michael Wilbon's homage to Baugh upon Slingin Sammy's passing in 2008, Steve Sabol is cited as noting Robert Duvall based his Lonesome Dove character Gus McRae in part on Sammy Baugh with whom he had met while researching the part.

Maybe King of the Texas Rangers was what inspired Duvall to consult Sammy as well as to get the flavor of the Texan Accent.

In football jargon, Duvall was obsessed with game film from an acting standpoint.

Anyway, you can stream King of the Texas Rangers on YouTube at Atomic Age Pictures. 

I stumbled on all this trying to figure out what precedents Jayden Daniels might set this year and I think the best he can do is to win the Super Bowl as a Rookie, which no one has done. 

Determining if no one had won an NFL CHAMPIONSHIP as a Rookie QB was easier for me being an amateur Redskin historian and knowing about Sammy Baugh. BUT, if he was the only one or the FIRST seems to be a research project worthy of a grant simply because recordkeeping during the early era of Pro Football was virtually nonexistent.

However, Skins fans know winning the league title as a Rookie for Jayden wouldn't even be a team first. 

Well.

Only the Super Bowl Era counts. 

Right?

No Rookie QB Has Ever Won the Super Bowl But . . .

In 1937, Rookie Slingin Sammy Baugh, official job title "Tailback", but in reality, Quarterback, led the Washington Redskins to the NFL Title.

 

Source: JSTube36

Could Jayden Daniels be the second Washington Rookie QB to take the League Title and the first to win the Super Bowl?

Musical Spheres of the Championship Years and 1991

Arguably the best overall team in the history of professional football in Washington, the 1991 Washington Redskins went 14-2 and won Super Bowl 26 beating Buffalo 37-24. 

The Year was a typical war and famine cavalcade. The Gulf War and the dissolution of the former Soviet Union were big headliners. 

The Mount Fuji Jazz Festival of 1991, the Frankfurt Jazz Festival, and the Bern Jazz Festival were among the year's Jazz Festivalia. Don't forget D.C.'s own Jazz Festival. When's the happening? August 28 thru September 1st. 

Here's Paul Carr and Sharon Clark two of the participants in this year's festival.

Some interesting hits from other genres:

Crazy by Seal

Urban Dance Squad --Deeper Shade of Soul

Silent Lucidity by Queensrÿche

Knockin on Heaven's Door by Guns N' Roses

Metallica Enter Sandman 

Some of the Flicks at the Movies then were:

The Doors

Silence of the Lambs 

Scenes from a Mall

La Femme Nikita 

Defending Your Life 

Truly Madly Deeply

City Slickers 

The Naked Gun 2.5: The Smell of Fear

Musical Spheres of the Championship Years and 1987

The year 1987 was a strike shortened year in the NFL. The big thing in Washington was The Replacements. Derisively called scabs. Magnificently, they defeated the mostly Real Cowboy Dallas Cowboys.

This all culminated in the out-of-this-world Super Bowl 22 Championship.

Some music hits of the year:

Bad by Michael Jackson

Here I go Again on My Own Whitesnake

Shakedown, Bob Seger's theme song to Beverly Hills Cop II.

La Bamba by Los Lobos

I think We're Alone Now by Tiffany

Sweet Chid of Mine Guns and Roses

Father Figure by George Michael

It's the End of the World as We Know It by R.E.M.

In Da Movies Ahno fought a being from another world. He-Man fought Skeletor. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover do their first Lethal Weapon. Steve Martin did a take on Cyrano. A Great White Shark returns to eliminate vacationing humanity.

James Bond and Bigfoot were also back.

The Redskins too were back. Winning their second Super Bowl.

Musical Spheres of the Championship Years and 1982

It is fitting the first real commentary from Joe Theismann on the 2024 Commanders came this week as we look at music from that incredible Super Bowl year of 1982. 

Game Highlights. Tale of Two Seasons.

Billie Jean.

Theismann said Jayden Daniels ought to skip the preseason, or so I heard. Some people revolted against the notion. But I hold Joey T to be a heckuva lot wiser than most of today's commentators. 

I mean, rookies struggle with the length of the NFL Season. It is such a malignant force, said length, that your best metric for who will win in the playoffs is who is the healthiest. The NFL has not tempered its greed by expanding rosters which would allow for mitigation of wear and tear. 

The Message

So much for the League's commitment to quality. Expanded rosters would allow for better performances as playing time gets more evenly distributed. Playing time makes players better. That's why they are called "players". If you don't play, you are not a player. If you don't play, how do you know where your game is at? If everybody plays, everybody is more likely to be happy and happy football teams make better decisions on field and off. 

It sounds like I'm making the argument against Theismann's position. But no. I'm saying I'd like Jayden to be available for the playoffs. I'll entertain any such notions as would incline fate to cheat in that direction. The most games he's ever played is 14. The late bye might give him and the other rooks a boost. If the Commanders get a playoff game, he's looking at, minimum, 21 games. With that much wear and tear, I don't think we make the Super Bowl. 

Tough

We'll be out of gas. I mean, vets will be OK. Rooks will have jet lag. Lightening the load would be good, as Joe Theismann as in Wise Man has pointed out. How to Be A Champion Every Day.

Led Zeppelin

Scorpions 

The North Sea Jazz Festival

Willie Nelson 

Bobby Sue

Dolly Parton 

Here are some of the flicks that year:

Blade Runner

Fast Times at Ridemont High. Rockin tune from that movie.

Creepshow

Eye of the Tiger Man 

Conan Da Bahbarian 

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Khan 

Musical Spheres of the Championship Years and 1972

The year 1972 was a great year in music and a great year for Washington NFL Football. 

The Washington Redskins won the NFC Championship beating their arch nemesis the Dallas Cowboys 26-3 before losing the Super Bowl to the undefeated Miami Dolphins. 

Like people say, whenever the Skins beat the Cowboys in the NFC Championship game, the Super Bowl always seemed like an afterthought.

The Watergate Scandal was born in 1972. Only Nixon could go to China. Fischer defeats Spassky. Here's Nixon schmoozing with George Allen parts 1 and 2. This is the game Tricky Dickie and Coach were apparently talking about.

My favorite song from 1972 is Johnny Nash's I Can See Clearly Now. If you hadn't known the background of Nash, you'd swear you could hear a dash of Reggae in the tune. Good ear. The Covers out there unfortunately seem to subtract the Reggae elements. Jimmy Cliff did a great rendition. It is time for an Orchestral Reggae treatment. Maybe one's already been done.

Some all-time great records were getting airplay in 1972. The reissued Nights in White Satin and November of '71's Stairway to Heaven.

You probably don't remember Mouth and MacNeal. They made a catchy little tune called How Do You Do which made Number 8 on Billboard. 

Man of La Mancha, the film version, came out in 1972. Johnny Mathis did a wonderful medley from the musical.

Morning Has Broken charted in '72, making number one Easy Listening. It was not a Cat Stevens original. Here's more on that story.

If you went to the movies in 1972, you could see Jeremiah Johnson, Superfly, Boxcar Bertha, the Poseidon Adventure, and my personal favorite, The Legend of Boggy Creek, Rated G.

Musical Spheres of the Championship Years and 1942

December 14th, 1942.

With the memory of 73-0 deeply fixed in their minds, the Washington Redskins captured the 1942 NFL Title, defeating the Monsters of the Midway, 14-6.

Smash hits musically at the time:

Every Night About this Time by The Ink Spots

Travlin Light by Billie Holiday and Paul Whiteman

Tangerine by Jimmy Dorsey, Bob Eberly, Helen O'Connell

A glimpse of some '42 hits by Hot Sounds.

Forty-two was Ray Flaherty's last year in D.C. When you say Washington's Hall of Fame Coach, people think Joe Gibbs. No, we had another one. Ray Flaherty. He gave George Preston Marshall what for. It was the braggart Marshall who was responsible for lighting a fire under those "crybaby" 1940 Chicago Bears goading George Halas and the Bears into knocking hell out the Redskins. When Marshall poked his nose into team business, Flaherty would bust his chops. Threaten to walk.

One wonders what Flaherty would have done to Dan Snyder.

Some flicks people went to: The Black Swan, Pride of the Yankees, and something called Casablanca. See Operation Torch.

Yes, it seems Casablanca was a propaganda film. To drum up fervor for service. It is probably the best propaganda film. Though Mrs. Miniver would give it a run for the money. Mrs. Miniver was also 1942.

Nineteen Forty-Two was a time for choosing. A few months after the release of Casablanca and the detonation of Operation Torch, Ray Flaherty chose to leave the Washington Redskins for the war. 

Welcome back to the fight, Ray.

It was the first real punch America threw at the Bully, 1942 was.

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.

Two First Year Coaches Who Played to Win in Washington

There's a new Coach in his first year in Washington. 

You might get the impression development and obligatory losing is the order of the day. Given recent history.

That's not the way it was. We did it differently back in the day. 

In 1969.

And in 1971.

So you can go elsewhere with "development".

Here it is Old School. We play to win.

Musing on Coaches

A lot of people talk about Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson and 49ers Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks when head coaching changes are discussed. The Lions have another guy Washington should be interested in: Quarterbacks Coach Mark Brunell.

Brunell played QB for Offensive Geniuses Mike Holmgren, Joe Gibbs, and Sean Payton. He played for two hard-coachers, Rex Ryan and Tom Coughlin. He was the starting QB for that 2005 Gibbs 2.0 Redskin squad that went 10-6 and beat the Bill Parcells coached Dallas Cowboys twice, the first time being a gem of a game where Brunell rifled two late TD passes to Redskin legend Santana Moss.

So Brunell has history in Washington. He is working with a hot coaching staff. The Lions are having a good year and are influential around the NFL. So Brunell will be familiar with what is winning in the contemporary NFL.

Although Brunell is in his fifties, he was coaching at the High School Level until his hiring in Detroit. So relating to today's youth should not be a problem.

The Lions, 49ers, and Dolphins are looking like teams that will be birthing new Head Coaches in 2024.

If Washington can't interest Steve Wilks, perhaps they can persuade 49er Passing Game Coordinator Klint Kubiak to come in to interview. Kubiak is a coach's son and that demographic has been successful as of late. His alliance with Kyle Shanahan in Frisco strengthens the Shanahan-Kubiak coaching tree. Mike Shanahan, one of the NFL ancients, won two Super Bowls. His son Kyle has been to a Super Bowl as Head Coach and is threatening to add a return engagement THIS year. 

Gary Kubiak, Klint's dad, won a Super Bowl in Denver. Kubiak was Shanahan's (then the offensive coordinator) back-up QB in Denver in 1991. He came in for John Elway and played a great game (113.9 rating) in the AFC Championship Game. You read that right: Gary Kubiak could very well have started Super Bowl XXVI against our beloved Washington Redskins. The Broncos narrowly lost that AFC Championship game to the Bills, 10-7.

One could imagine a Shanahan like two-for deal bringing the 62 year old Kubiak out of retirement to coach with his Son. We've done that before in Washington. This time Kubiak the younger would be the Head Coach to my mind. 

The Dolphins' Frank Smith is being touted as a Head Coach possibility. He has a Joe Gibbs type resume. And if you are into numerology, Smith was born the year Gibbs became Head Coach in Washington.

He's technically part of the Shanahan coaching tree as he's offensive coordinator for Mike McDaniel, one of the Shanahan sleepover kids who coached on Mike Shanahan's Washington squads.

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.