|
ALBERT HAYNESWORTH: THE TRUTH
- After compiling an All-American career
at the University of Tennessee, Albert Hanyesworth developed into possibly the most dominant DL in the NFL. Haynesworth was
selected for the Pro Bowl and won All-Pro honors in both 2007 & 2008. After becoming a free agent, he signed a seven-year
$100 million contract with the Washington Redskins in 2009. The deal included $41 million guaranteed.
- The incident which has overshadowed Haynesworth
career was his 2006 stomping of Andre Gurode. Haynesworth stomped on Gurode's head and opened a severe cut. As a result, Haynesworth
was ejected from the game by the referee, and suspended for 5 additional games by the NFL. He later apologized for the assault
on Gurode, saying "What I did out there was disgusting".
- In spite of what you hear in the media,
aside from the Gurode incident, Haynesworth hasn't had too many other issues - either on or off the field. A couple of traffic
accidents (charges were dropped in both cases). Recently there was a paternity suit (pretty standard in the NFL &
NBA). They also like to talk about a fight when he was in college - about 10 years ago.
- Haynesworth is currently engaged in a face-off
with the Redskins over his failure to appear in the off season workout program, and more importantly his decision not to report
for a mandatory minicamp.
- The reason Haynesworth is unhappy is the
way he is being used in Washington. He was promised (before signing) that he would be allowed to make plays. But when Haynesworth
arrived he was frustrated by Greg Blatche's restrictive schemes in which the LB's make most of the plays.
- A popular media myth is that Haynesworth
was ineffective last season. However if you look at (LB) Andre Carter's stats, he totalled 11 sacks last season, 7 more than
the year before playing with Haynesworth. Rookie LB Brian Orakpo also had 11 sacks last year and was even selected for the
Pro Bowl.
- Haynesworth actually played in 70% of the
defensive snaps, the second most of any Redskins defensive linemen. Very few DT's are going to give you more than 60 plays
per game.
- Another myth the Redskins are circulating
throughout the media is about Haynesworth's contract. Mike Shanahan loves to tell people that he gave Haynesworth the "option"
of accepting the check for $20 million, or leaving to find a better situation playing for another team. However, what he's
not saying is that the Redskins had to pay him or release him. The Redskins were aware Haynesworth was unhappy playing
nose tackle in the 3-4 scheme. Why didn't they just release him?
- The Redskins owner/general manager, Danny
Snyder, signed Haynesworth to a bad deal (for the Redskins), and understandably didn't want to walk away from the deal
empty-handed. But now Shanahan has to go into his first training camp dealing with a major distraction and a media circus.
- Redskins are trying to portray themselves
as the "good guys", and paint Haynesworth as the greedy, lazy, spoiled athlete. But let's not forget how many players
have left Washington feeling cheated or under-paid by Dan Snyder (LaVar Arrington, Brian Mitchell, and Jon Jansen for example)
Snyder also played hardball when Sean Taylor asked for more money.
- The Haynesworth camp has some additional
leverage in this situation because when the Redkins were wooing Haynesworth 2 years ago they illegally contacted
his agent, Chad Speck, before the free agency deadline. The Titans reported the Redskins to the NFL, an investigation was
performed, but they couldn't prove any wrongdoing. If things get too nasty during training camp, I'm quite sure Mr. Speck
might be tempted to release some damaging documents that proved the Redskins tampered with Haynesworth.
- Violation of tampering rules can result in forfeiting
draft picks, which is what happened to the 49ers when they were found guilty of tampering with Chicago Bears linbacker Lance
Briggs in 2008.
|
