Offseason Retrospective – July

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July 6, 2021

By Noonefromtampa

Training camp opens in about twenty days, the players and coaches are enjoying some well-deserved time off. But in what should be a dull time in NFL news, with everyone preparing for their Fourth of July barbecue, fireworks went off.

A tried-and-true public relation strategy is to announce controversial news just before a weekend or holiday in attempt to deflect attention to the news being released. The NFL went for the daily double. So, just before one of the biggest holidays in America, the Washington Football Team announced that Tanya Snyder was becoming co-CEO of the franchise and then days later, the NFL announced that Beth Wilkinson’s report on the state of the WFT’s front office and culture was complete.

It was announced that the franchise would be fined $10M for having a toxic work environment and that Tanya Snyder would be assuming day-to-day control of the team while Dan focuses on the new stadium. As is normal for this team, nothing is ever easy and simple. Wilkinson delivered a verbal presentation outlining ten changes needed to be made by WFT and no written report was presented. That upset the media and many representatives of the groups affected by the toxic culture, accusing the NFL of attempting to sweep the events under the rug. Then the Washington Post reported that Dan Snyder could not re-assume daily control of WFT without permission from Roger Goodell. This report was disputed by the team.

While praising the new management team brought on in the past year for being diverse and inclusive, the NFL will monitor progress being made against the ten recommended changes, with the Washington having to provide regular reports with the first one due July 31, 2021.

The ten recommendations, which are focused transforming the boys’ club behavior to a professional corporate environment, are:

  1. Protocols for Reporting Harassment
  2. Disciplinary Action Plan
  3. Regular Culture Surveys
  4. Regular Trainings
  5. More Diverse Workforce
  6. Establish Clear Lines of Authority
  7. Expand and Empower HR and Legal
  8. Develop Formal Onboarding, Performance Management and Compensation System, and Exit Interview Process
  9. Protecting Cheerleading Team
  10. Regular Assessment of Policies

July Birthdays

There are a large number of July birthdays so we will only be able to hit some of the highlights this month.

Current Players:

Super Bowl era players

Diron Talbert, a member of the Super Bowl VII team and one of the 70 Greatest Redskins, can best be remembered for putting the hate into the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry. This is a peculiar irony because Talbert is from Texas, having played both his high school and college careers there. There is animosity between him and Roger Staubach to this day stemming from Talbert calling Staubach a “sissy” and saying that Staubach wore skirts.

Joe Jacoby is somehow not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite the follownig:

  • Three-time Super Bowl champion (XVII, XXII, XXVI)
  • Four-time Pro Bowl player (1983-1986)
  • Three-time First Team All-Pro (1983, 1984, 1987)
  • NFL 1980’s All-Decade Team

He was one the elite left tackles in the 1980’s. HOF voters should be ashamed of themselves.

Jerry Smith is another former Redskins player not in the Hall of Fame despite having an impressive career. His exclusion most likely stems from his lifestyle as a closeted gay football player in an era where being gay was considered a detriment.  He was both a Pro Bowl and All-Pro player who held the NFL record for most receiving touchdowns by a tight end with 60 when he retired. Three Hall of Fame tight ends who were contemporaries of Smith all had fewer touchdown catches: Mike Ditka (43), Jackie Smith (40) and John Mackey (38). Again, HOF voters should be ashamed of themselves.

Len Hauss played 14 seasons for Washington and was named to the 70 Greatest Redskins list. He was part the Super Bowl VII team and was named to the Pro Bowl five times.

Mark Murphy, who is currently the President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, played eight seasons for Washington. His best season was 1983 when was named All Pro, selected to the Pro Bowl, and led the NFL with nine interceptions. He played in Super Bowl XVII (won) and Super Bowl XVIII (lost).

Other notable players:

Trent Williams and Chris Samuels continued the tradition of the team having outstanding left tackles. Both played 10 seasons for the team and were multiple-time Pro Bowl players.

Nick Sundberg, who was not re-signed this past offseason, played for the team for 11 years and was a multiple-time nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

Chris Cooley was the best tight end Washington had since Jerry Smith. His 429 receptions for 4,711 yards and 33 touchdowns are second only to Smith.

Brian Orakpo is sixth on the franchise sack list with 40.

Michael Westbrook and Gus Frerotte were involved in two of the more infamous incidents in team history. Westbrook got into a fight at practice with teammate Stephen Davis whom he pummeled in front of the media and was fined $50,000 by the team. Frerotte headbutted the wall after scoring a touchdown and had to leave the game with a sprained neck.