Given Scot McCloughan’s history, you wondered.
When he arrived at training camp practices, his face red, and not the kind of red that occurs from being in the sun too long, you wondered.
When you talked to him coming off the field after a summer practice and got a whiff of what smelled like alcohol on his breath, you wondered.
When you saw him in the locker room after a regular-season victory, a wide smile on his, again, deeply flushed face, you wondered.
McCloughan came to the Washington after losing jobs with two teams – San Francisco and Seattle – because of his struggles to control what he had termed his abuse of alcohol.
Thursday, he lost a third NFL job, and alcohol abuse again appears to be the reason.
He was fired as general manager of the Redskins, a good job to have but a tough job to perform under even the best circumstances. And from all appearances and at least one report, in his two years in Washington, McCloughan didn’t give himself a chance to be at his best.
The Washington Post reported, based on "an official with direct knowledge of the situation," McCloughan was fired because of his continued problems with alcohol.
Where McCloughan goes from here – rehab is the hope – is unknown. He’s not talking – and hasn’t talked for months – and the Redskins aren’t saying anything other than what they offered in a press release, that he had been released from his duties with the organization, effective immediately.
No team is likely to be interested in dealing with him after what was seen as a last chance to prove he had beaten his problem and could put together a playoff roster.
This is a shame. McCloughan knows football. The game has been his life. But he needs to get his life under control before he even thinks about watching a game, studying film or evaluating a single player.
How the Redskins will handle free agency and the draft is secondary to the specter of a man’s life becoming undone, again, because of personal demons.
McCloughan at his best was a rare talent evaluator, a scout at heart who was able to find talented players in the middle and lower rounds of the draft and in free agency for coaches to develop.
He did it in Washington with wide receiver Jamison Crowder in the fourth round, defensive back Kyshoen Jarrett (his career was cut short by an injury late in his rookie season) from Virginia Tech in the sixth round, and running back Robert Kelley, a college free agent who became the starting running back last season as a rookie.
McCloughan’s overall record with the Redskins, though, has been mixed. He drafted a solid starter, Brandon Scherff, with the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft. Scherff was projected as a right tackle but was moved to right guard in his first training camp.
The fifth overall pick is a premium price for a right guard although Scherff was selected, but opted not to play, for last season’s Pro Bowl. Other draftees, outside linebacker Preston Smith, a second-round choice in 2015, and running back Matt Jones, a third-round pick in 2015, have failed to develop as hoped.
Jones lost his starting job last season to Kelley, who proved to be a more dependable, powerful and consistent performer.
Last year’s first-round selection, wide receiver Josh Doctson, played sparingly in two games and missed the other 14 because of an Achilles tendon injury.
All that seems trivial compared to the idea of someone fighting for so much more than just his career.
The NFL is a high-risk, high-reward business.
The Redskins took a big risk when they gave McCloughan control of their personnel decisions. As it turned out for them, and, sadly, for McCloughan, there has been no reward.
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