 }})
Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors
Guest
Commanders owner Josh Harris has hit another home run.
Harris and the Commanders unveiled their new Bobby Beathard Draft Room at OrthoVirginia Training Center, and Beathard's family is so proud and grateful for the Commanders' efforts to pay tribute to their former general manager.
"It was amazing. It was overwhelming. It was just wonderful," Christine Beathard, Bobby Beathard's spouse, said. "It was like having somebody really appreciate what Bobby was."
Why the room for Beathard? Well, for starters, it was Beathard who hired a NFL coach to be the head coach of the Redskins, who had never been a head coach at any level of football. But Beathard saw enough in Joe Jackson Gibbs that he took the risk on Gibbs and hired him in 1981.
Gibbs could not only coach, he remains to this day the only NFL head coach who won three Super Bowls, with three different quarterbacks and three different feature running backs. What's more, none of the three quarterbacks were Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
Beathard made the right hire in 1981 and also made huge selections in that draft. He traded down from No. 9 to No. 20 and took guard Mark May. Then, he traded the second-round choice for RB Joe Washington. In that draft, he also selected guard Russ Grimm, DE Dexter Manley, WR Charlie Brown, DT Darryl Grant, and TE Clint Didier. Then, he signed undrafted offensive tackle Joe Jacoby.
How's that for one NFL Draft weekend? "Shoot, if we're half as good as him, we'll be alright," general manager Adam Peters said with a laugh.
"People write stories, and they write about what he's done, but that room made me think people understood that he was so much more than a good GM," Christine Beathard said. "So many of the pictures, he was smiling or laughing. And I look at some of the videos where he is running out on the field and he embraces virtually everybody he meets."
In 1980, Beathard had the 18th pick, and he selected future Hall of Fame WR Art Monk. In 1983, with the last pick of the first round, he chose Hall of Fame CB Darrell Green.
In addition, Beathard had the ability to hit it big with late draft choices: Monte Coleman (289) and Rich Milot (182) in 1979, Barry Wilburn (219) and Raleigh McKenzie (290) in 1985, Mark Rypien (146) and Kurt Gouveia (213) in 1986. In 1989 he traded Mike Oliphant to the Browns in return for Earnest Byner and then chose guard Mark Schlereth (263).
It's fitting that the Commanders, moving forward as winners again, have honored one of the biggest winners in franchise history. Naming the draft room in memory of Beathard will serve as a reminder that those currently in the organization stand on the shoulders of some successful men who came before them.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders praised for honoring and appreciating Beathard
Continue reading...
Harris and the Commanders unveiled their new Bobby Beathard Draft Room at OrthoVirginia Training Center, and Beathard's family is so proud and grateful for the Commanders' efforts to pay tribute to their former general manager.
"It was amazing. It was overwhelming. It was just wonderful," Christine Beathard, Bobby Beathard's spouse, said. "It was like having somebody really appreciate what Bobby was."
Why the room for Beathard? Well, for starters, it was Beathard who hired a NFL coach to be the head coach of the Redskins, who had never been a head coach at any level of football. But Beathard saw enough in Joe Jackson Gibbs that he took the risk on Gibbs and hired him in 1981.
Gibbs could not only coach, he remains to this day the only NFL head coach who won three Super Bowls, with three different quarterbacks and three different feature running backs. What's more, none of the three quarterbacks were Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
Beathard made the right hire in 1981 and also made huge selections in that draft. He traded down from No. 9 to No. 20 and took guard Mark May. Then, he traded the second-round choice for RB Joe Washington. In that draft, he also selected guard Russ Grimm, DE Dexter Manley, WR Charlie Brown, DT Darryl Grant, and TE Clint Didier. Then, he signed undrafted offensive tackle Joe Jacoby.
How's that for one NFL Draft weekend? "Shoot, if we're half as good as him, we'll be alright," general manager Adam Peters said with a laugh.
"People write stories, and they write about what he's done, but that room made me think people understood that he was so much more than a good GM," Christine Beathard said. "So many of the pictures, he was smiling or laughing. And I look at some of the videos where he is running out on the field and he embraces virtually everybody he meets."
In 1980, Beathard had the 18th pick, and he selected future Hall of Fame WR Art Monk. In 1983, with the last pick of the first round, he chose Hall of Fame CB Darrell Green.
In addition, Beathard had the ability to hit it big with late draft choices: Monte Coleman (289) and Rich Milot (182) in 1979, Barry Wilburn (219) and Raleigh McKenzie (290) in 1985, Mark Rypien (146) and Kurt Gouveia (213) in 1986. In 1989 he traded Mike Oliphant to the Browns in return for Earnest Byner and then chose guard Mark Schlereth (263).
It's fitting that the Commanders, moving forward as winners again, have honored one of the biggest winners in franchise history. Naming the draft room in memory of Beathard will serve as a reminder that those currently in the organization stand on the shoulders of some successful men who came before them.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders praised for honoring and appreciating Beathard
Continue reading...