News

Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall made news with his comments on Eli Manning after Sunday’s game. Hall said,

“He made the play to beat us, but I don’t feel like he made that play. I feel we gave him that play. I could have thrown that ball and [Cruz] would have scored. It wasn’t something where [Manning] was a rocket scientist and he figured something out. We just played that as bad as possible.”

His comments received responses from different Giants players including Eli Manning who said,

“I appreciate him giving it to me. I didn’t think it took a rocket scientist to figure it out, either. You had a guy running open, and you hit him.”

You can read more of the comments here.

Chris Cooley is returning to the team after an eight week absence. As a tight end, he is the Redskins franchise leader in receptions. He could be an excellent target for quarterback Robert Griffin III if he is able to play on Sunday.

» Continue reading “Redskins Roundup: News and Steelers”

Washington Redskins release their veteran tight end Chris Cooley

On Tuesday, the Washington Redskins released their 9-year tight end Chris Cooley.  During his years with Washington, Cooley was one of the most recognizable players among the fanbase.

According to the Washington Post, Cooley believes he can be productive with other team, but it won’t be easy playing for another organization.

Cooley has stated early this offseason that he wanted to be the starter for the Redskins, but the team announced that Fred Davis would be their starting tight end.  Cooley now has the opportunity to find another team that is willing to let him start.

In his career with Washington, Cooley had 428 catches, which is the franchise record at tight end, and 4,703 yards and 33 touchdowns.  He played five games in 2011 before he was placed on the injury reserve with a broken finger and an injured knee.

As their aren’t many teams looking for starters, one team that could use some help at tight end, especially with vertran leadership, is the Chicago Bears.  They currently have Kellen Davis as their starting tight end and he has never put up big numbers for the Bears.  Cooley could be a help and guidance to utilize the Bears’ offense by using the tight ends as a weapon.

Chris Cooley

If you pay attention to the NFL, you’ve probably heard that Chris Cooley expressed a certain pleasure about watching Tony Romo and the Cowboys implode after a 24 point third-quarter lead against the Lions last Sunday.  On DC sports-talk radio 106.7 The Fan, Cooley said:

“It’s amazing, amazing to watch him choke like that,” Cooley said on 106.7 The Fan in Washington. “I’m just saying, (if) I’m up 24 points in the third quarter, if I’m the head coach, I feel like I could probably just take a knee for the rest of the game, punt it away and there’s no way that Detroit’s gonna drive on you that many times. The only way you’re gonna give up that many points is turnovers, right? It’s hilarious to watch him throw pick sixes, too, back to back. I loved it.”

Naturally, Cowboys and Romo fans pounced.  How DARE he accurately recount the failures of a rival and be HAPPY about it?!

So these haters did what all haters rationally do…sent Cooley death wishes via twitter.

However, they forgot who they were messing with.  Cooley isn’t your average NFLer.  He is both a PR person’s dream and nightmare, saying whatever he pleases.  It helps him relate to fans, but it can also get him into some hot water.  But he doesn’t care, he’s going to do it anyway, and he said as much in his response to these people on his blog.

Here are some highlights, and the full link (which is a must-read) is here:

Though players earn their worth on the football field, there’s not a player in the league unfamiliar with the media. And as a player who has decided to share my real personality with the fan base, I make a clear choice with expressing my political incorrectness as an entertaining attempt to engage as a real person. I will not apologize if my sense of humor and hint of sarcasm is difficult to ascertain by the more serious NFL supporters. I will never make an apology to any offended Dallas fans and I expect every Redskin fan to cheer at the folly of a Cowboy.

…

From genius talking heads like Skip Bayless and former Maryland great Norman Esiason to the bible thumping twitter bullies, it’s very clear that a cult like group of Dallas supporters has emerged to stand in defense of the epic Tony Romo. To them, my tongue-and-cheek opinions scream sacrilege and idiocy. It’s a funny thing, the way simple lighthearted banter can change gears so quickly, but that’s part of the amazing world of sports fanatics. You don’t want me to be boring, but as soon as I’m entertaining I’m crossing a line. You can’t have it both ways.

…

I’d like to give a special thanks to those fans who want to choke me out, burn my house down and not only see me endure career ending injury, but break my neck and die. Clearly football is important to you, you are the people who make the NFL what it is!  I’m aware at this point, that I could choose the high road, but a little pettiness makes for much more fun. Plus, I’m assuming if you tweeted you wouldn’t mind a response

He then goes on to post a snippet of the tweets he received with pretty awesome responses (there is also a video embedded of Skip Bayless ripping him).

This is the kind of thing athletes should do more of, not less.  Fans want their team to care, want their team to be as invested in games and rivalries as the fans themselves are.  But when a player shows he is, he is unprofessional and criticized.  Fans are tired of cookie-cutter answers and half-assed comments, but when a players says something interesting he is crucified and sent death threats over the airwave courage of social media.

Make up your mind, and remember that nothing he said was wrong.  Cooley was recounting his own feelings, and I wouldn’t be surprised if most players on one end of a rivalry felt the same way when their nemesis has an epic meltdown (which, sorry Cowboys fans, is exactly what the Lions game was).

It’s sports.  Fans aren’t the only ones allowed to have fun with it.

Chris Cooley has been the undisputed No. 1 tight end for the Washington Redskins pretty much since he came into the league in 2004.  He’s been used as the No. 2 target behind wide receiver Santana Moss for years, and has made it to the Pro Bowl while being a lethal offensive weapon.  However, he was injured in training camp this year, giving room for another tight end to close the gap: Fred Davis.

Fred Davis

Davis has been coming along the last few years, getting more catches and being targeted more on offense.  This year, he came into camp with a new number, 83, and an attitude that this year was going to be different.

“New number, new Fred. In fact, call me Frederick now,” he joked with the media while walking onto the practice field on Day 1 of camp.

With Cooley out, Davis saw his opportunity to step up on the tight end depth chart.  Cooley’s presence always left little to no room for anyone else, but with his out (and now not being used as much while he finishes his recovery) Davis stepped up in a big way on Sunday against the Giants.

He lead the offense with 107 yards off of 5 catches.  That’s more than a third of the 305 passing yards Rex Grossman had all afternoon, and an average of 21 yards per catch.  This 21 yard average equaled the total of Cooley’s work, who had two catches for 21 yards.

There are more factors to take into consideration than just one game.  First of all, Cooley has been a target on the Redskins for longer.  Defenses know they have to defend him, and they know that he will be a regular receiver.  With all that attention paid to him, he is still able to be productive.

Chris Cooley

With Davis making plays, it will eventually draw attention away from Cooley.  When the defense on Davis gets stronger, that’s when we will get to see if he is a legitimate threat to Cooley.  If he can keep it up, he will be used.  If not, when he draws more defense, it will hopefully open up Cooley for more options as well.

Having one tight end who can act as a wide receiver is good, but having two is even better.  The more threats, the more Grossman will be able to spread out defenses and get the ball down field.  We saw it work last Sunday, but that was also against a Giants defense that was depleted with injuries.

While the eyes on offense will be on Grossman and Davis to see if they can have repeat performances against the Cardinals, the defense will be tested.  With Kevin Kolb leading an offense that involves Larry Fitzgerald, the passing defense will have to stand strong.

Safety DeAngelo Hall is ready for the challenge, telling the media today that he loves the opportunity to make plays.  If a challenge is what the Pro Bowl MVP wants, he’ll certainly get it.  The match-up between him and Fitzgerald will be one to watch on Sunday.

The offense stepped up, now it’s time to see if it can sustain.

Rex Grossman

Another year, another problem with a quarterback.  Jason Campbell, Donovan Mcnabb, no matter who the Redskins get, it doesn’t quite fit.  The QB battle between Rex Grossman and John Beck got a lot of national attention for a contest between two relatively mediocre and unknown as these two.

With Grossman announced as the starter for this Sunday’s opener against the Giants, there’s plenty of reason to be skeptical about the Redskins’ offense.  Saying that the Redskins had trouble scoring touchdowns last season would be like saying Charlie Sheen occasionally has a fit: a gross understatement.  Grossman doesn’t appear to be the type of quarterback to make a bad offense successful, but this year is a different story for the burgundy and gold and not because of the guy throwing the ball, but because of everyone else.

The Redskins have improved at just about every offensive position.  While they lost Clinton Portis in the off-season, they went out and got Chris Hightower, who has more than impressed in the preseason.  Rookie Roy Helu earned his spot, leading all rushers in the preseason with 173 yards.  Ryan Torain is coming into his own as well, and a somewhat unknown offensive line has been clearing the way for them.

» Continue reading “New-Look Offense May Surprise for Redskins”