Return to Washington Gives Gibbs an Edge

"You win with good people, the right character, the right smarts, then the ability," Gibbs said. "I'll just share one little thing with you. . . . [One year] we got off to a horrible start. And I think were like 1-2. Before we go out we always have a team meeting. And for some reason, I just said this: 'If any of you guys got anything to give the Washington Redskins, you need to give it tonight. We're in trouble.' "

When Gibbs looked up, there were "tears coming out of their eyes. And that's what it takes. You got to have players like that."

Yes, to Joe Gibbs, 1-2 is a "horrible start," the end is neigh and anybody who doesn't buy into that world view and that set of priorities -- anybody who doesn't cry with emotion at the disgraceful thought of going 1-3 -- better rethink his Redskins future. Let me note again what was mentioned here in September. Just 15 minutes after the Redskins lost by two points to the Eagles in Philadelphia last year, I counted nine Redskins sitting in the locker room all simultaneously laughing, chuckling or generally acting like they'd won. At that moment, I thought of Gibbs's genuinely morgue-like locker rooms after defeat.

I listened on the radio and then watched on television the press conference last night concerning the return of Joe Gibbs. This morning, I was reading a little about it from the ComPost. I excerpted this particular part of Boswell's column - from the middle - because I wanted to make a couple comments about it.

First, I remember this story from yesterday's press conference. Joe Gibbs did not say 'team meeting.' He said 'team prayer' before the game. In fact, the sports writer had all kinds of quotes wrong, out of context, and shortened to make his point, not Gibbs' point. But the question I have is this - does any reference to God and Christianity offend these people so much that they have to omit it from the public record?

The second thing is the point Boswell makes about players yoking it up after a loss. That is one thing that has been missing from this team the moment Gibbs stepped away in 1993. I think I can speak for the majority of Redskin fans when I say that we do not expect to go to the playoffs or SuperBowl next year. However, what we do expect and will see with Gibbs at the reigns is a general attitude improvement and vast improvement in discipline, competetiveness, and team play right from the start. The mark of a great team is the amount of penalties it gets - or I should say lack of penalties (with the exception of the old Oakland Raiders which prided itself on getting penalized). Their is a direct connection with lack of discipline and penalties. Expect to see the silly offsides, too much time, illegal movement penalties to disappear. This is now going to be one tough division. Expect a 10-6 or 9-7 record to take this division in the future.

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