Blast from the Past: Gibbs Takes Over in D.C.

Yahoo Sports ^ | 1/7/04

[7thson]

On a serious note - have you noticed that most of the crimes committed were during the last ten or so years? This begs the question - are sports franchises in general bringing in more thugs or is it just being reported more?

[7thson]

On a serious note - have you noticed that most of the crimes committed were during the last ten or so years? This begs the question - are sports franchises in general bringing in more thugs or is it just being reported more?

[sinkspur]

This begs the question - are sports franchises in general bringing in more thugs or is it just being reported more?

It starts in high school, when gifted athletes don't have to make grades, when they don't even have to attend class.

On to college, they attend class even less, don't graduate, and get paid under the table.

Why should a kid from the 'hood, conditioned to think he's special, be expected to adhere to the same laws those who can't catch a football have to observe?

And, when franchises look the other way, it reinforces that they're "special."

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

We have the World Famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders! You can keep your band.

Well said!

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Plus, when have they ever made not one but two made-for-TV movies about the Redskins band?

[7thson]

You've hit the nail right on the head. But you know what?

The ploughboys still S**K!!!!

Isn't nice to have a rivalry back again? 8-)

[ko_kyi]

I remember that game well. I COULDN'T BELEIVE they were dropping back to pass again.

Some reporter suggested that Norv had a devil on his shoulder, whispering in his ear that if they could just get ONE more score, the game is won.

Clock management is the most noticable difference between the average coach and the good coaches.

[sinkspur]

Isn't nice to have a rivalry back again? 8-)

Yes, it is. The NFC East will rule, again, with Gibbs and Parcells back where they belong.

But, I don't look for either of these guys to stick around much longer than three or four years.

But those three and four years are gonna be great!

[Hatteras]

ESPN Classics had the NFL Films w/ Steve Sabol on last night. They showed the Redskin Superbowls. Brought back some fond memories (and not so fond memories, i.e. Raiders SB18) I caught it late so I didn't see whether they included the first SB against Miami (Garo's "pass" to Mike Bass)

Two things that I picked up on were, 1. That offensive line, Warren, Starke, McKenzie, Bostic, Grimm and Jacoby (Lachey and Schlereth for McKenzie and Starke later on) were the greatest ever assembled and.... 2. That Defense was laying some wood on some people. Many of the shots they took on John Elway and Jim Kelly were brutal though a few would now be flagged for "roughing the passer".

Oh, and I forgot, 3, Dave Butz was a monster.

[7thson]

The passing of time dims the memory. I vaguely remember the first Miami-Washington SuperBowl. The second one some things stand out. Joe Theisman knocking the ball out of the Dolphins defenders hands that - if caught - would have been the game breaker going Miamis way. The runback for a touchdown after Washington scored, and - of course - Riggo running for a TD on 4th and 1.

I did not see the Oakland-Washington Superbowl as I was out at sea. I do remember though losing 400 dollars on bets I made throughout the ship. Throughout the year, Washington was awesome. The scored the most points of any NFL team - up to that time - that year. The second game against Dallas where the Hogs and Riggo got off the plane wearning combat camos. Landry almost having a nervous breakdown as White called an audible and lost yardage. The Skins peaked way too soon when they beat the Rams 51-7 in the playoffs.

The Denver-Washington superbowl - I was nervous. Washington did not have a strong team. They won the NFC Championship by one point and had the good fortune to play it in Washington only because they were a division winner and Minn was a wildcard. Washington had the worse record of division winners. For two weeks I read and believed the Elway hype. When Denver scored the first two times they got the ball and it was 10-0 Denver, I was dismayed that Washigton was going to get stomped. The absolute shock of the 35 point quarter. One play where Doug Williams faked the handoff and three downfield - the entire Denver defense being sucked in on the play and leaving the receivers wide open.

But the Buffalo-Washington Superbowl was special. To me, the other four did not have the hitting this one had. It seemed as if the entire Washington defense was composed of Ronnie Lotts and Lester Hayes. The first Washington defensive series, you knew they came to play. Hit after hit after hit, Buffalo playes were going down - it was truly awesome. I thought it was the best defense Ritchie Pettibon ever put together. All the hype on Jim Kelly - the sports reporters were already giving him the MVP - and his future endorsements. Mark Rypien - no Hall of Famer - just went out there and won the game. Gibbs best team ever!

[Hatteras]

"His biggest mistake was that he didn't worship Sonny, and Sonny made him pay. Jorgenson is the most petty person I have ever heard in a radio booth, but apparently he holds some influence with the Redskin faithful."

It's "Jurgenson" and what your saying is blasphemous. Sonny has the absolute best football mind in the game or the media booth. He's a homer but he's not afraid to be critical of the Redskins and he'll give you the honest, and often brutal, truth. So if he didn't like your boy, there was a good reason and ultimately he was proven to be correct.

...The Redskins will be kicking off left to right across your radio dial this glorious October afternoon, so turn down your TV volume and turn up your radio and thank you for joining us today on the Washington Redskins Radio Network. I'm Frank Herzog and joining me are legendary Hall-of-Famers, Sam Huff and Sonny Jurgenson...

By the way, Sonny has been "unofficially" coaching young Redskin QBs for years. He lives and breathes for that team.

[TN4Liberty]

Sonny has the absolute best football mind in the game or the media booth

By the way, Sonny has been "unofficially" coaching young Redskin QBs for years.

Doesn't speak too well for his football mind, does it?

[xJones]

I can't think, off the top of my head, of a coach who left the game for 10 years, came back and realized the game had passed him by.

For 200 dollars, who was Barry Switzer? :) Okay, he had been the winning OU coach whose idea of team discipline was holding them down to only one orgy a week, but the Cowboys got stuck with him.

Series, with the great Gibbs back with the Redskins and Parcells now with the Cowboys this could get really fun.

[End Times Sentinel]

I'd even add in Tom Coughlin with the Giants.  The Jags downfall was really attributed to some unlucky drafts:

 

99: 1.  Fernando Bryant  2.  Larry Smith  3.  Anthony Cesario

00.  1.  R.J. Soward  3.  T.J. Slaughter

01.  2.  Maurice Williams  3.  Eric Westmorland

 

Given, the 02 draft was strong with three solid starters and Leftwich looks like a star in the making, but getting a below average RT out of a group of seven day one picks will catch up with you sooner or later. 

 

Also I should say that all of the players listed above were widely thought to be very good prospects, it's just that they didn't pan out for one reason or another.

 

There's going to be some great football to be played in the NFC East in the years to come!

 

 

 

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[MizzouTigerRepublican]

You are correct there. I think that with the booming information age all of these crimes were probably going on with every team well before but are now just being reported more often. Back in the 70's Dallas was the most high profile team so I am sure that most of their transgressions were written about more than say someone who was a backup TE for X team. With that being said, I have never claimed the Cowboys to have taken moral stances on players. It was another poster that claimed the Redskins never brought in or drafted those kinds of players. Dallas has sure had its share of bad apples but don't say that any other team hasn't had them or wont have them.

[MizzouTigerRepublican]

I think that you have to win a few games for the rivalry to be back. Yawn... wake me up when the Cowboys aren't using the Redskins as baby seals.

[MizzouTigerRepublican]

What in the world are you talking about? Barry Switzer won a freaking superbowl with Dallas in 95. Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson are the only coaches to ever win a national title in college and in the NFL. Granted Barry did ride Jimmy's coat tails with his players to the title but he still has a title. As Jim Rome would say SCOREBOARD.

[HenryLeeII]

are sports franchises in general bringing in more thugs or is it just being reported more?

My guess would be a combination of the two. First we have the advent of the 24/7 news cycle, cable with its multiple sports and news channels (and the need to fill their programming slots), and our culture's tabloid mentality with its need for the prurient details.

Then, we have the Latrell Sprewell's and Ray Lewis's, involved in attempted murder and a double homicide, respectively, with very light penalties from their leagues. Do you think either would be playing back in the 60's or earlier when society would have demanded a quick end to their careers (and they probably would have seen jail time). And athletes mirror the general breakdown of society as far as hooliganism, drug abuse, wife-beating, etc.

[xJones]

Don't you recall the other Arkansas Goober's famous quote after firing Jimmy Johnson shortly after the Superbowl win in 1993? Jerry Jones claimed that he could hire 500 other coaches to take the Cowboys to the Superbowl in 1994. After the Cowboys lost in the next season's playoffs, the sports writers had a field day writing that Jerry had hired coach 501.

Yes, the Cowboys won the Superbowl the following year, based on an excellent previously existing roster of talented players, but Switzer was no Parcells or Gibbs. He got lucky for a few years and Cowboy players' behavior became the joke of the NFL - although none of them fired machine gun bullets out of their dorm windows as a few previous Switzer OU players had.

[leadpenny]

Phil Simms is on the Imus in the Morning (MSNBC) program for the next 10 minutes or so. My guess is that he will talk about the Joe Gibbs thing.