 }})
The Colonel: ’All that hate’s gonna burn you up kid.’
Robert: 'Keeps me warm.’
I’m not Russian.
I don’t speak Russian.
I don’t know any Russians. Hell – I don’t even particularly care for vodka.
World War 3 is not here, but you wouldn’t know it talking to Washington Redskins fans, locked in mortal combat, even on the heels of an improbable 'greatest comeback in franchise history’ win.
You all know what I’m talking about. Do I have to say their names? Not since the great Quisp vs. Quake controversy of 1972 has so much venom and vitriol been spewed. It’s brother against brother out there.
Cousins.
Griffin.
Gruden.
Pick a side and be prepared to battle to the death.
I’ll confess I really, really don’t get it. Let’s start with a basic fact we can all agree on. When the Redskins gave up the farm to move up to #2 in the 2012 NFL Draft, no matter how you felt about the price paid, Redskins fans couldn’t have been more excited and hopeful about the first franchise QB prospect since Sonny Jurgensen. After a miraculous and compelling 2012 season, it wasn’t just Robert Griffin who was 'All in for Week 1’ – we all were. The idea that any Redskins fans were not exuberantly supportive of RG3 flies in the face of reason. We were. Every single one of us.
Some wondered early on, and many more after Griffin’s injury to close 2012’s playoff run, whether Griffin could sustain his reckless, gambling quarterbacking style long-term. Many wondered whether the read option was a gimmick offense, soon to be solved and shut down by defensive coordinators. But no one in Redskins Nation hoped for it to be so. No one.
But that special, unforgettable 2012 season was never to be repeated again. Griffin was never the same after his lone playoff appearance. Whether it was the effects of a 2nd ACL repair, an inability to run a more conventional passing-centric offense, or because new head coach Jay Gruden despised him and sought to destroy his career, Griffin never returned to form.
Those two seasons of shocking ineptitude, innumerable losses, drama, and another organizational 'do over’ with the firing of the Shanahan regime left this fanbase bewildered, downtrodden, and more than anything, angry.
It’s a funny thing about families. Go to the movies and you’ll see what we want to believe about that sacred institution. In times of trouble, crisis, and pain, families always pull together to triumph against all odds in Hollywood. But in real life, it’s never quite so pretty. When bad things happen to real families, sometimes, Dad starts drinking. Foul language and knock down drag outs ensue. Domestic violence may even rear its ugly head. When faced with almost unbearable pain, loss, and disappointment, we lash out at those closest to us. Not because we don’t love them, but because we do. Let’s be honest - who but those who love us would put up with it?
There’s a knock on our collective door Redskins fans. It’s Social Services wanting to know what in God’s name is going on in our house. And it’s nearing that time when we all need to get our houses in order and stop the nonsense. Life’s too short, and if we’re not careful, we’re going to mess up a really good thing.
I honestly don’t know what happened to Robert Griffin III. I might have thoughts on the topic, but the truth is, despite our propensity and desire to find a singular, all-encompassing, clear answer for the events in our lives, nothing is ever really quite that simple. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 53 years, it’s that nothing in life, particularly if it involves people, is ever simple. Multiple truths exist in any scenario. 'Facts’ vary depending on who is assessing them. The 'truth’ is never quite as obvious, inarguable, or certain as any of us want to believe it is. We live in a complex world, and we sometimes are never able to figure out how in the hell we got to this strange unexpected place. In a lot of ways, it’s a waste of our valuable life seconds even trying to figure it all out.
Sometimes, we all just have to let it go.
Anger, frustration, disappointment – no one can blame fans of a beloved NFL franchise, a team most of us grew up loving, for feeling those things. But it’s time to let it go.
We have a new guy under center now. He may be the next scrub in a long line of Redskins QB scrubs. He may be a career backup. He may be better or worse than Griffin. Or he may be a future Pro Bowler. Likewise, we have a new head coach. He may be in over his head, or an incompetent selfish prick. Or he may be a successful leader of this franchise for the next decade. We all have opinions, but if we’re being honest, none of us really knows what the future holds for either guy.
I do know a couple of things. Kirk Cousins is our current starter and Jay Gruden our current head coach. I think we should support them. I loved Griffin. I rooted for Griffin. But Griffin is probably not in this team’s future now. I know that. I also know that love or hate Kirk Cousins, he had zero to do with the fate of his predecessor. He’s just a QB who’s been given a chance to become an NFL starter and is doing his best to take advantage of that opportunity. Resenting him for the fate of RG3 – it’s simply irrational. Likewise, despite Jay Gruden's brief tenure in DC, many want to saddle him with the responsibility for all of the franchise woes. Maybe that’s fair, and maybe it’s horribly wrong. But love him or hate him, he is our current head coach. We’ll all find out together whether these two are up to the challenges ahead.
It’s time for the mortal combat to stop. It’s time for the emphatic 'truths’ fans batter each other with on a daily basis here, and elsewhere, to stop. It’s time Redskins fans stop rooting for their favorite player (no matter who that is) and root for this team’s success and each other as fans. And it’s time to remind ourselves that sometimes, great friends can disagree, and remember why we became friends and fans of the same team in the first place.
If we don’t, all that anger is going to eat us up
Robert: 'Keeps me warm.’
I’m not Russian.
I don’t speak Russian.
I don’t know any Russians. Hell – I don’t even particularly care for vodka.
World War 3 is not here, but you wouldn’t know it talking to Washington Redskins fans, locked in mortal combat, even on the heels of an improbable 'greatest comeback in franchise history’ win.
You all know what I’m talking about. Do I have to say their names? Not since the great Quisp vs. Quake controversy of 1972 has so much venom and vitriol been spewed. It’s brother against brother out there.
Cousins.
Griffin.
Gruden.
Pick a side and be prepared to battle to the death.
I’ll confess I really, really don’t get it. Let’s start with a basic fact we can all agree on. When the Redskins gave up the farm to move up to #2 in the 2012 NFL Draft, no matter how you felt about the price paid, Redskins fans couldn’t have been more excited and hopeful about the first franchise QB prospect since Sonny Jurgensen. After a miraculous and compelling 2012 season, it wasn’t just Robert Griffin who was 'All in for Week 1’ – we all were. The idea that any Redskins fans were not exuberantly supportive of RG3 flies in the face of reason. We were. Every single one of us.
Some wondered early on, and many more after Griffin’s injury to close 2012’s playoff run, whether Griffin could sustain his reckless, gambling quarterbacking style long-term. Many wondered whether the read option was a gimmick offense, soon to be solved and shut down by defensive coordinators. But no one in Redskins Nation hoped for it to be so. No one.
But that special, unforgettable 2012 season was never to be repeated again. Griffin was never the same after his lone playoff appearance. Whether it was the effects of a 2nd ACL repair, an inability to run a more conventional passing-centric offense, or because new head coach Jay Gruden despised him and sought to destroy his career, Griffin never returned to form.
Those two seasons of shocking ineptitude, innumerable losses, drama, and another organizational 'do over’ with the firing of the Shanahan regime left this fanbase bewildered, downtrodden, and more than anything, angry.
It’s a funny thing about families. Go to the movies and you’ll see what we want to believe about that sacred institution. In times of trouble, crisis, and pain, families always pull together to triumph against all odds in Hollywood. But in real life, it’s never quite so pretty. When bad things happen to real families, sometimes, Dad starts drinking. Foul language and knock down drag outs ensue. Domestic violence may even rear its ugly head. When faced with almost unbearable pain, loss, and disappointment, we lash out at those closest to us. Not because we don’t love them, but because we do. Let’s be honest - who but those who love us would put up with it?
There’s a knock on our collective door Redskins fans. It’s Social Services wanting to know what in God’s name is going on in our house. And it’s nearing that time when we all need to get our houses in order and stop the nonsense. Life’s too short, and if we’re not careful, we’re going to mess up a really good thing.
I honestly don’t know what happened to Robert Griffin III. I might have thoughts on the topic, but the truth is, despite our propensity and desire to find a singular, all-encompassing, clear answer for the events in our lives, nothing is ever really quite that simple. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 53 years, it’s that nothing in life, particularly if it involves people, is ever simple. Multiple truths exist in any scenario. 'Facts’ vary depending on who is assessing them. The 'truth’ is never quite as obvious, inarguable, or certain as any of us want to believe it is. We live in a complex world, and we sometimes are never able to figure out how in the hell we got to this strange unexpected place. In a lot of ways, it’s a waste of our valuable life seconds even trying to figure it all out.
Sometimes, we all just have to let it go.
Anger, frustration, disappointment – no one can blame fans of a beloved NFL franchise, a team most of us grew up loving, for feeling those things. But it’s time to let it go.
We have a new guy under center now. He may be the next scrub in a long line of Redskins QB scrubs. He may be a career backup. He may be better or worse than Griffin. Or he may be a future Pro Bowler. Likewise, we have a new head coach. He may be in over his head, or an incompetent selfish prick. Or he may be a successful leader of this franchise for the next decade. We all have opinions, but if we’re being honest, none of us really knows what the future holds for either guy.
I do know a couple of things. Kirk Cousins is our current starter and Jay Gruden our current head coach. I think we should support them. I loved Griffin. I rooted for Griffin. But Griffin is probably not in this team’s future now. I know that. I also know that love or hate Kirk Cousins, he had zero to do with the fate of his predecessor. He’s just a QB who’s been given a chance to become an NFL starter and is doing his best to take advantage of that opportunity. Resenting him for the fate of RG3 – it’s simply irrational. Likewise, despite Jay Gruden's brief tenure in DC, many want to saddle him with the responsibility for all of the franchise woes. Maybe that’s fair, and maybe it’s horribly wrong. But love him or hate him, he is our current head coach. We’ll all find out together whether these two are up to the challenges ahead.
It’s time for the mortal combat to stop. It’s time for the emphatic 'truths’ fans batter each other with on a daily basis here, and elsewhere, to stop. It’s time Redskins fans stop rooting for their favorite player (no matter who that is) and root for this team’s success and each other as fans. And it’s time to remind ourselves that sometimes, great friends can disagree, and remember why we became friends and fans of the same team in the first place.
If we don’t, all that anger is going to eat us up
