Archive for May, 2011

Redskins All-Time Best/Worst Kickers

This is part 10 in a series of posts in which I’ll list my choices for the Redskins all-time best and worst players at each position. Agree, disagree? Let me know in the comments. Today we cover Kickers, next up Punters.

Worst

#5 - Jeff Hall

Hall was picked in the 6th round of the 1999 draft and never played in a game for the Redskins. He was cut during training camp his rookie season. It’s one thing to waste a draft pick on a player who never makes the team, it’s 10 x’s worse when said player is a kicker. Maybe it’s just me…but does the guy standing behind Hall in the above picture appear to have a hard on? That guy seems really excited about Hall’s kicking form.

Yes, that's an Ali Haji-Sheikh autograph...I'm proud of it!

#4 - Ali Haji-Sheikh

Sheikh played 1 season with the Redskins…which was 1 too many. Sheikh missed 6 out of 19 FG’s and 3 XP’s during the regular season. He would miss 3 out 4 FG’s in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl games. The Redskins still won the Super Bowl in 1987 and Sheikh managed to set a Super Bowl record with 6 XP’s…despite the fact that extra points were out of Sheikh’s range.

#3 - Bob Khayat

Khayat played in an era when players played both ways, I’m assuming he was a better offensive lineman than he was a kicker. From 1960-63, the 6’2 230lb Khayet played both guard and center for the Redskins in addition to his holding down his kicking duties. As a kicker Khayat barely made 50% of his FG’s going 38-74 overall.

#2 - Max Zendejas

Zendejas was the worst kicker from the “legendary” Zendejas family. Zendejas would make just 9 out of 14 FG’s during his one season with the Redskins. Zendejas was so bad that he actually missed an amazing 5 extra points on only 28 tries. He also converted only 4 of 9 FG’s over 30 yards.

#1 - John Aveni

I have no idea who John Aveni was other than to tell you he made Bob Khayat look like Gary Anderson in 1998. Aveni made just 5 FG’s in 28 attempts (17.8%) in 1961, I’m fairly certain Albert Haynesworth would fare better.

Best

#5 - John Hall

Surprised? I know…but the Redskins haven’t had much in the kicking department over the last 80 years or so. Hall was injury prone during his Redskins tenure but he was effective. Hall is 2nd all-time among Redskins kickers with 78.3% of his field goals made. He was 36/38 inside 40 yards. Hall now owns an eating and drinking establishment.

#4 - Curt Knight

Knight ranks 3rd all-time in Redskins history with 70 games played. Knight was a Pro Bowler in 1971 when he led the NFL with 29 FG’s.

#3 - Shaun Suisham

That just happened! Suisham is the Redskins all-time leader in FG% making 80.2% of his field goals. Suisham is also the Redskins all-time leader in FG% on field goals outside of 40+ yards, making 65.8%. The Redskins made a mistake cutting Suisham, that’s for sure. When a team struggles to score points missed field goals are magnified, Suisham was 18-21 when he was released.

#2 - Chip Lohmiller

Chip ranks #2 in nearly all cumulative categories for kicking including FG’s, XP’s, games played and scoring. Chip was a Pro Bowler, Super Bowl Champion and arguably the best kicker in the NFL from 1989-1992.

#1 - Mark Moseley

The straight on style, the single bar face-mask, the glorious permed mullet…clearly Moseley was #1. He holds nearly every Redskins record for kicking, besides accuracy…the guy wasn’t very accurate. He was a 2-time Pro Bowler, All-Pro, a Super Bowl Champion and one of the 70 Greatest Redskins. Oh yeah, he’s the only kicker in the history of the NFL to be chosen the league’s MVP!

Cheers and Hail

A Sneak Peak At The Redskins Worst Punter Of All-Time

Tomorrow I’m posting my picks for both the Redskins best/worst Kickers and Punters. For me, the obvious choice for worst Punter was one of my favorite players of all-time, Joe Theismann. 1 punt…for 1 yard. You can see it for your own eyes around the 1:52 mark of this video. I gotta tell you, to me it looks like it went exactly where he was aiming for it to go. I remember watching this game as a kid. The Redskins actually jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the 1st quarter. The wheels started to unravel when Willie Gault returned a kickoff for a TD and that was followed by Joe T’s infamous punt. The Bears had a 2nd quarter that rivaled the Redskins 87′ Super Bowl, scoring 31 unaswered points in the quarter.

The Redskins would eventually fall to the Bears 45-10. There’s a few more awesome highlights from the video. Willie Gault breaks off Barry Wilburn’s ankles on the kickoff return TD. Walter Payton throws a TD to Jim McMahon around the 3:25 mark.

In my opinion the greatest highlight comes around the 6:30 mark, it’s the reason I loved Theismann so much. The Redskins are driving for a token TD when Joe T. throws a horrible pick in the red zone that is returned by the Bears for 6 the other way…that’s not good. What is totally awesome is to watch Theismann run as fast as he can to try and tackle the Bears defender. He makes not one, but two attempts at the tackle. He literally almost screws himself into the ground trying to do so, it certainly wasn’t pretty. Here’s a guy who’s been sacked 4 times, threw 2 picks, fumbled a couple times and kicked a 1 yard punt giving a 110% effort to try and tackle a guy when he’s down by 30 points. The anti Haynesorth.

Cheers and Hail

PSA: Beware Of The Beck Flu

Heads Beck, Tails... photo via @Redskinsblog and @piketoon

I want to warn everyone reading this post about a terrible virus that’s terrorizing Redskins bloggers, fans and media everywhere. It’s a terrible disease that attacks your brain and makes you start writing or spewing crazy things. It’s called the “Beck Flu”. Scientists have tracked the source of this virus to a wooden toothed man in Ashburn, VA. Mike Shanahan was experiencing Beck-like symptoms when he started praising the accolades of a journeyman QB named John Beck a few weeks ago and the disease spread more rapidly than anticipated. The good news is I have the vaccine to cure this problem, cold hard facts about John Beck that should cure…or at least help temper the effects of this virus.

Seriously, what’s going on here? Everyone’s getting excited about Beck because he gives good interviews? Of course he’s going to say all the right things in interviews, how does that change anything he’s ever done on the football field as a NFL QB? I think I would be a great leader, would make dozens of copies of my Redskins playbook to give to others and I can lead the Redskins to the playoffs…anyone want me to be the Redskins starter in 2011? I don’t think so…and my NFL credentials are nearly as good as Beck’s!

10 reasons you should temper your enthusiasm for Beck becoming the Redskins starting QB:

Beck has one more career passing TD than I do.

Beck has the same amount of career wins as I do, which would mean he has zero. Beck has played 4 more seasons than I have.

Beck has been the 3rd string QB in 3.5 out of his 4 NFL seasons. He would’ve been 3rd string all 4 seasons if not for injury. 3rd string people…not the backup.

Beck wears jersey #3. Brings back horrible memories of Jeff George and makes me wonder if Hunter the Punter would be a better QB.
All that being said I’m all for healthy competition and giving the guy a shot. I appreciate his positive attitude and work ethic. But, if Beck is our opening day starter in 2011…I hope the lockout last till 2012.

One last thing Grossman > Beck

Cheers and Hail

Ugly Redskins Shirt Contest

I was surfing Ebay tonight looking for some vintage Redskins memorabilia when I realized that there’s an amazing amount of horrible Redskins shirts out there…and I’m not talking about Jeff George jerseys. I also realized that out of the many terribly awesome Redskins shirts, I may own the very worst best bad Redskins shirt ever. You can see by the pictures it’s the busiest, most informative shirt I’ve ever seen…when I wear it I feel like an old school walking football-reference. That being said, I’d love to see your bad Redskins shirts.

I’m having a contest to see who has the worst Redskins shirt among the readers of this blog. All you have to do is take a picture (or several pictures) of your bad Redskins shirt and email them to me at [email protected] . Include the words ‘shirt contest’ in the subject. There’s only one rule…you must either wear the shirt in the picture or have your picture taken while holding the shirt (I understand that the shirt may not fit anymore). Now, you may receive extra points if you take your picture wearing the shirt that no longer fits, seriously. The winner is going to receive another horrible shirt, an authentic Fatpickled t-shirt. The contest will be open for a week, send me those picks!

Cheers and Hail

Reggie Jones Is Really Good At Madden

Reggie Jones was our special guest last week on Pickled Hogs Radio. The Redskins snapped Jones off the Saints practice squad late last year with eyes on him being a contributor in 2011…more on that at the bottom of the post.

Towards the end of our interview Ken Meringolo of Hogs Haven asked Reggie about his Madden game. Turns out Reggie played in a league with other NFL players including several Redskins and Maurice Jones-Drew. A warning to gamers out there…MJD might be sore loser. Here’s Reggie talking about playing in MJD’s league:

I actually played against Horton and Kareem and they probably don’t want me to tell this, but I was in their dynasty. They invited me to dynasty, Jones-Drew was the commissioner and I ran thru every single person in that dynasty. I went undefeated. I was beating people, like 78 to 3 and 120 to 10…you know I was blowing them out. So, I win the Super Bowl and then I go back to start the new season and I see I’m kicked out the league. So, then I’m thinking, who does that? Who invites new competition in, then kicks them out once they realize that they can’t beat them? That’s not cool.

As far as Jones chances on the field, I’m telling you all now…remember his name. Jones already has a Super Bowl ring with the Saints and has learned under coaches like Gregg Williams and Jerry Glanville. He’s got a positive attitude, he’s working hard and his goal is to be a starter next season. Here’s what Reggie had to say about the upcoming season:

I was told when I came in, I’m gonna come in competing for the starting spot at corner and I plan on putting in the work I need to put in to go ahead and take that spot. I mean, there’s a lot of talented guys on the roster at that position but I’m also talented and I feel like I’m gonna excel and go ahead and work myself into that #1 position alongside D-Hall on the other side.

You can listen to the entire interview below, and tune in tonight at 9pm for a new live show.

Cheers and Hail

Redskins All-Time Best/Worst Defensive Tackles

This is part 9 in a series of posts in which I’ll list my choices for the Redskins all-time best and worst players at each position. Agree, disagree? Let me know in the comments. Today we cover Defensive Tackles, next up are the Kickers and Punters.

Worst

#5 - Sean Gilbert

Don’t get me wrong, Gilbert was actually a beast on the field during his 1 season and we ended up trading him to the Panthers for two 1st round picks. However, Gilbert sat out the entire 1997 season after being franchised…despite the fact that he was only a couple million apart from the Redskins long term offer (Gilbert is Darrelle Revis’ uncle and would later be the brains behind Darrelle’s holdout last year). The Redskins franchised him again the next season and he again he threatened to sit out the year…God told him he should play for the Panthers. I’m a believer, but why does God always tell D-tackles (Reggie White) to play for other teams?

#4 - Bobby Wilson

Wilson was a 1st round draft pick in 1991 who would play 4 seasons in DC, totaling 42 games and 11 sacks. Not bad…until you realize that Ted Washington was taken 8 picks later. Washington played 17 NFL seasons and made 4 Pro Bowls.

#3 - Tracy Rocker

Rocker was a 3rd round pick of the Redskins who somehow went from NFL All-Rookie selection in 1990 to out of football just 1 year later. Rocker is now the defensive line coach at Auburn and coached Nick Fairley. Ironically, they both were SEC POY, Lombardi award winners and All-Americans who would see their stock plummet on draft day. Beware Detroit Lions?

Sorry Preppy, no pictures of Bob Slater could be found

#2 - Bob Slater

Someone tell me what happened with this guy? He was a 2nd round pick in 1984 who wowed Joe Gibbs in the preseason with 2 sacks against the Jets. After the game Joe Gibbs said “Slater is an excellent athlete,” Gibbs said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s very quick and he’s extremely intelligent. He’s got a great future.” Slater never appeared in a single game for the Redskins or in the NFL…a steep price to pay for a 2nd round pick.

#1 - Dana Stubblefield

Stubblefield was signed to a 6 year $36 million dollar contract after his NFL Defensive POY season in 1997, during which he had 15 sacks. In three seasons with the Redskins Stubblefield would total 7 sacks and 116 tackles. Another absolute bust who stole $$ from the Skins.

Best

#5 - Bill Brundige

Brundige played 8 seasons for the Redskins playing in 107 games. Sacks and tackles were not official stats during his playing days but he is said to rank 6th on the teams all-time sack list.

#4 - Joe Rutgens

Rutgens played 9 seasons in the burgundy and gold, appearing in 110 games. Rutgens is a 2 time Pro-Bowler. Again, sacks and tackles weren’t official stats during his playing days so we have to guess, my guess is he had a shit ton.

#3 - Darryl Grant

Grant played 141 games for the Redskins and is a 2-time Super Bowl Champion. Had several seasons with 100+ tackles, unheard of for a defensive tackle in this day and age. Finished with 27 career sacks and high stepped his way to one of the biggest plays in the history of the Redskins. A definite snub in my opinion for the 70 Greatest Redskins.

#2 - Diron Talbert

Talbert played 10 seasons with the Redskins, playing in 142 games and earning a Pro Bowl trip. Sacks and tackles were not an official stat during his era. Missed only 2 games during his Redskins career. One of the 70 Greatest Redskins.

#1 - Dave Butz

Butz played 14 seasons for the Redskins and is a 2-time Super Bowl Champion. Butz played in 203 games and is the Redskins all-time sack leader for a defensive tackle with 35.5 (sacks were kept for only half his career). A Pro-Bowler and All-Pro, Butz is a member of the NFL 80’s All-Decade Team and one of the 70 Greatest Redskins. Big-Bad-Butz.

Cheers and Hail