- Jason Cole at Yahoo! Sports has a fascinating profile of DT Albert Haynesworth. From an on-the-field standpoint, the most interesting thing is just how good a lot of people believe Haynesworth can be:
“There aren’t many times when you have a player like that hit free agency, a guy who can change the balance of power,” one long-time agent said. “You’ve had Reggie White and Deion Sanders [with San Francisco and Dallas], just a couple of guys with that kind of talent [who were able] to switch teams. They helped their teams win Super Bowls. That’s huge and it helps the case for the players.
“Most of the time, the players who hit free agency aren’t truly premier guys. It just doesn’t happen. That’s why a lot of people look back at free agents and say, ‘Oh, that guy was a bust.’ He wasn’t really a bust, he just wasn’t worth all the excitement that was created. It’s a real perception thing.”
- The Associated Press has a similarly in-depth look at owner Daniel M. Snyder, who takes responsibility for some of his early mistakes and claims to have learned patience the very, very hard way:
“It all started when I got cancer. That was scary, but quite frankly, that helped build some maturity with me. But the most startling was losing my father, losing your best friend, losing your true mentor. It aged me and matured me. And I think I’ve tried to be closer to what he was since he’s passed away,” said Snyder, the emotion showing in his voice. “We go through that phase in life when we think our parents aren’t that sharp and we end up realizing that they’re extremely sharp. … He was more patient than me – always. He was less knee-jerk. He was more ‘Let’s sit and talk about it.”‘
- Clinton Portis appears to have gone for the blonde look, although I haven’t seen him like this in person yet.
- Over at Redskins.com proper, Gary Fitzgerald gets you ready for next week’s start of training camp with a look at five veterans to watch.
- And Jim Johnson, architect of the attacking Philadelphia Eagles defenses of the last decade, is being replaced as defensive coordinator while he continues treatment for a cancerous tumor. We wish him all the best in his battle.
