Washington Redskins: An Observation Concerning the Win Against the Giants

Redskins' tight end Fred Davis (#83) had a great game
against the Giants.

The Washington Redskins beat the New York Giants this past Sunday, 28-14, in a pretty convincing manner (on what was also the emotional 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks). The Redskins offense stuck to their rushing attack even while not always wildly successful and quarterback Rex Grossman spread the ball around in the air, completing 21 of 34 passing attempts. The Washington defense sacked Giants' quarterback Eli Manning four times, shut out the Giants in the second half, caused Manning to fumble the ball (which linebacker London Fletcher recovered) and rookie defensive end/linebacker Ryan Kerrigan made a huge play by tipping a pass, catching the tipped ball and running it in for a touchdown.

It was a good day for Redskins fans.

I commented to linebacker Lorenzo Alexander Monday in the locker room that the defense, even after facing a lot of adversity in the first half of the game, sure played with a vengeance in the second half. I asked him what, if any, adjustments defensive coordinator Jim Haslett might have made in the locker room during half-time to facilitate this amazing play. Alexander told me that none were made at all.

“There were no game-plan adjustments,” he offered. “We [had given] them one touchdown with a big play, mental errors and bad tackling. You take those away and who knows? They might have [ended up with] seven points at the most. We just started executing better and had an attitude. I think it was a mind-set.

“We’ve got guys that we brought in from different teams,” the linebacker elaborated. “Young guys that don’t know the history of the Redskins, the way we’ve been playing – at least for the last six-or-so years - and who are not accustomed to losing. So they’re not expecting, ‘OK… well, same old Redskins. Here goes the same old thing.’ Instead of that, there’s more confidence. ‘OK, we’re about to battle through this and win this game – some way, somehow.’

“We weren’t going to wait for something to happen,” Alexander finished. “We were going to make something happen.”

Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and Haslett have brought a new system and a new culture into Redskins Park. But probably more than anything – at least according to the players I’ve spoken to about it – the attitude, or change in attitude, of which Alexander speaks, comes because there just are not enough guys left on the team from past years to sustain a losing mentality. There is a fresh perspective coming from the new guys – guys who have won recently and who therefore expect it from this team.

Without going too much into numbers and statistics, just take a look:

Purdue University did not have a winning record in the 2010 season but Ryan Kerrigan did. Without going into too many of the statistics let’s just say that, even with his college team’s losing record, the Purdue football team co-captain tied for a Big Ten record with 14 fumbles forced and 33.5 sacks. He received the team's Most Valuable Player Award for defense and was named first team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association, The Walter Camp Football Foundation, the Football Writers Association of America, the Associated Press and The Sporting News.

That’s a lot to achieve and that isn’t even everything Kerrigan accomplished.

Washington’s rookie nose tackle Chris Neild’s West Virginia Mountaineers had a good season in 2010, winning nine out of 13 games (5-2 in the Big East). They shared the conference title with Connecticut and Pittsburgh and were invited to the Champ Sports Bowl. Neild himself was named all-Big East Preseason First Team by Phil Steele’s, Athlon Sports, Yahoo! Sports and Sporting News.

There are three rookies on the team now that were drafted from Nebraska: running back Roy Helu, Jr., wide out/returner Niles Paul and defensive back DeJon Gomes.

In 2010, the Cornhuskers won 10 of 12 regular season games, were 6-2 in the Big 12 conference and were Big 12 North Division Co-champions (with Missouri) and were invited to the Holiday Bowl for the second consecutive season.

Helu had an impact on the Cornhuskers successes during his tenure there with 3,404 career rushing yards. In the game against Missouri as a senior, he set a single game rushing record of 307 yards, three touchdowns (the shortest being 53 yards) and he was the first Nebraska player to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons since former Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders; Green Bay Packers running back Calvin Jones, who accomplished the feat in 1992 and 1993. These are just a few of Helu’s stats.

In his senior year, Niles Paul caught 39 passes for a team-high 516 yards, including one touchdown. Ranking among the Big 12 leaders in punt and kickoff returns, he had the longest kickoff return by a Cornhusker in more than a half-century, going 100 yards for a touchdown against Oklahoma State. Again, this is only a portion of Paul’s many accomplishments.

Gomes, according to the Nebraska website was “arguably Nebraska’s most versatile defender in 2010” and was described as a “ball-hawk” who played a defensive back-linebacker hybrid role (this could certainly explain some of his appeal to Shanahan and Haslett). During his senior year he had a sack and four tackles for loss, along with seven pass breakups as well as three intercepted passes and a fumble recovery, forcing two others. Again, there are awards, etc. that I have not mentioned.

Rookie wide out Leonard Hankerson hails from “The U.” Anyone who knows anything about professional football knows the reputation that the University of Miami has for producing good football players.

In 2010, Hankerson’s alma mater (also receiver Santana Moss’ and linebacker Rocky McIntosh’s) won only seven of 13 games but they did win most of the important ones, coming away with a 5-3 record within their conference. Hankerson ranked 12th in the nation in total receiving yards in his senior year and made 13 touchdowns (setting a Miami record and breaking Hall of Fame wide out Michael Irvin's mark of 11 set in 1986) and his average yards-per-game was almost 90 yards.

Last year, Hankerson received a 2010 SI.com All American ALL-American Honorable Mention and was 2010 All-ACC First Team. He won the 2010 Jack Harding Award, was the Miami Team MVP, team captain and received the 2010 College Football Performance Awards Elite Wide Receiver Trophy.

None of this information is by any means complete but it is still impressive. I mention it here to illustrate that a notable portion the current - albeit younger - Washington Redskins roster is used to winning, used to achieving and seems to not consider losing an option.

I remember at the end of the 4-12 2009 season, hearing first-round draft pick linebacker Brian Orakpo - who incidentally won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy while at the University of Texas - say how hard that season had been, in part, because he was not used to losing. He came from a successful football program with the Longhorns (their record was 12-1 in 2008, Orakpo’s senior year) and he was very frustrated after every Redskins loss. After 12 losses, he was beyond bothered.

Even last year, after Shanahan’s arrival, as the team was looking like they would end up with another losing record after falling in a sloppily played game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-16, Orakpo was obviously frustrated. After being blatantly held (recall Shanahan’s comment, “He wasn’t held… he was mugged”) while the Bucs scored a two point conversion to go ahead in the score, it was very obvious that the linebacker was tired of the failure.

"Man, we've lost in every fashion you can think of throughout the whole year,” the Pro Bowler said at the time. “It's something that's really tough to swallow."

The interesting thing about that Tampa Bay loss was that, as sloppy as it was, at least two of the better performances were made by players new to the team that year. This would validate the idea that if you have guys used to winning on the team, adversity will not change the way they play, no matter what they encounter during the game.

In that Buccaneers game, running back Ryan Torain gained 172 yards and then-quarterback Donovan McNabb put together some nice drives, one of which was 75 yards wherein he completed 8 of 12 passes and ended with a touchdown pass to wide out Santana Moss. The problem came at the end of the drive with a botched extra point. This became the losing margin for the Redskins because of Tampa Bay’s two-point conversion. Orakpo hit Bucs QB Josh Freeman three times in that contest.

Remember, Torain and McNabb were in their first year with the Redskins and Orakpo had only been there one year. That’s not enough time to learn how to lose, not enough time to make losing a habit.

Of the starters on the current Redskins roster, only 14 were on the team when Shanahan was named coach. The majority of this team does not have losing as an option in their psyche. If the team is having problems, the point is to do something about it - turn the tide and win the game.

On Sunday, the Giants had the ball for seven series in the second half. In most of those series, the Redskins’ defense made huge plays to end the series. They weren’t just series in which the Giants didn’t convert on third down… these were big plays.

It went like this:

1st series – Ryan Kerrigan tips quarterback Eli Manning’s pass, the pops pretty high up, Kerrigan locates it, catches it and runs it in for a touchdown.

2nd series – The Giants get the ball and run their first play. Chris Neild then sacks Eli Manning on second-down-and-nine for a loss of six yards so that New York has a third-and-long (15 yards). Manning throws a short pass to Ahmad Bradshaw who is stopped by Rocky McIntosh and O.J. Atogwe before making any yards after the catch. Bradshaw only gets 10 yards and they punt

3rd series – the Giants do convert on second-down-and-two-yards once but are stopped at the Washington 37 when they try to convert a fourth-and-one at the Washington 31 yard-line. Big Redskins stop led by London Fletcher and Josh Wilson.

4th series – I love this series because when the Giants get the ball, it is after Redskins QB Rex Grossman has been sacked twice in a row, first for a loss of seven yards and then for a loss of 16 yards. That could have really deflated the team. But the defense comes right in and makes a play. Eli Manning fumbles the ball on his first possession of the drive after being sacked by Neild and Fletcher so that it’s second-and-18. They punt after two unsuccessful attempts to move the ball.

5th series – Getting a Grossman fumble recovery at their 41-yard-line, the Giants move the ball to the Washington 20-yard line and try for a field goal. It is blocked by Orakpo and picked up by Fletcher who runs it out to the Washington 30-yard-line. Washington scores on the ensuing drive.

6th series – Giants convert on second down, get a delay-of-game penalty and on the next play (which is now second-and-15) Manning is sacked by Steven Bowen for a seven-yard loss so that it’s third-down-and-22-yards. They punt after Manning’s pass to Mario Manningham is incomplete.

7th (and last) series – with 01:06 to go, the Giants start the drive and get a first down on a Manning pass to receiver Domenik Hixon for 14 yards. The Giants quarterback throws another complete pass for eight yards but on first-and-10 at their 39-yard-line, he is sacked by defensive lineman Adam Carriker and that’s the end of the game.

After the game when asked about the new attitude of this team, London Fletcher probably spoke for a lot of the 14 guys still on the roster that were on those 2009 and 2010 losing teams.

“This was the feeling I felt back in training camp,” the Pro Bowler said addressing the media. “We cleaned out a lot of negativity that’s been around this place - this building, this team - for a number of years.”

There is definitely a new feeling in that locker room. It’s different. It’s energetic, optimistic, it’s focused. There is no 'losing' mentality left... in the building or anywhere else.

Like Alexander said yesterday about some of the adversity that the team faced during the Giants Sunday. It would have sent them into a tail spin and, “We would have lost that game.”

Not this year.

Meet your 2011 Washington Redskins.

Hail.

Redskins’ Chris Wilson on Sportsjourney: Originality At Its Finest

Last Monday, Washington Redskins linebacker and defensive tackle Chris Wilson appeared on Sportsjourney.com’s broadcast with owner Lake Lewis. During the show Wilson, a multi-talented player and self-described “Jack of All Trades” announced that he is intrigued by a lot. While sports were the primary talk of the show, I found in listening to the discussion that “intrigued by a lot” was an understatement.

The beauty of the Sportsjourney broadcasts are that the conversation just flows naturally and, as the evening wore on; it became apparent that being a great linebacker is only one of Wilson’s goals.

Early on in the program, the defensive wiz said that he was trying to put a band together. He is learning to play the bass guitar and is attempting to get a few of his teammates to join his ensemble. Wide receiver Malcolm Kelly evidently has an electric guitar, fellow defensive lineman Kedric Golston is being recruited to play the drums and, although he hasn’t learned yet how to play, special teams standout and linebacker Lorenzo Alexander is being drafted to play keyboard.

Wilson says it’s important to be well-rounded.

Another one of Wilson’s aspirations is in the culinary world.  More specifically, he has decided to create a barbecue sauce that he has dubbed “Uncle Ed’s 95 Sauce…” which is “…coming soon to a local grocer near you.”

The things Chris Wilson says are not typical in any way, shape or form.

For instance, Wilson’s viewpoint on staying in shape during this lockout is worthy of note. During the show, he and Lewis discussed the players-only workouts. Many times, during the past couple of months, I have heard players say that they were staying in good physical shape so that after the lockout ends, they will be ready for football. Wilson, however, made the distinction that it is as important to stay in shape mentally.

“For me, it’s more mental,” he told his host. “I want to go in there and be sharp as far as calls, be sharp as far as what I’m seeing from the offense and that’s what it’s about… getting my brain acting faster. Athletically, I can do this but it’s about reacting.”

Wilson has a unique way of getting his point across - especially when he’s pumped up.

In continuing the discussion, Chris mentioned that he, wide out Anthony Armstrong and Lorenzo Alexander have been working out together. Part of competing, Wilson insisted, is conducting yourself in a professional manner.  He and his fellow Redskins are as competitive as any athlete and will match up against any other player in the league. They are definitely keeping in shape and Wilson made it that clear in a way that only he can.

Sportsjourney owner and host, Lake Lewis with Chris Wilson

“We get it,” he said. “These free agents, they think we playin’. You know, free agents, we come out – I went D-II, Anthony was D-III, Zo went to Cal but, you know, Zo had been cut.

“And, you know, we just ain’t backing down, you know what I mean? Can’t nobody do nothing with us. I’ll vouch - I’ll stamp any of those guys. Put ‘em on the field and you’re not gonna be able to nothing with them guys, you know what I mean? This shirt used to be baggy.”

Wilson then became more serious.

“We’re getting after it,” he said. “And when you put yourself around guys like that, that’s what being a professional is all about. It’s not only about showing up and participating in a professional organization. It’s about doing just that - being a professional and taking care of business.

“That’s what we have in the locker room,” Wilson went on. “The majority of the guys are optimistic that there’s going to be a season and we’re going to take advantage of every opportunity in every way – individually as well as a team. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing tomorrow (having the player workouts).”

Chris’s charity, the “CSW Faith Foundation” runs camps for kids in his hometown of Flint, Michigan (shout out to Flint from CW).  The inspiration to “get on with it” came from his aunt, who has recently written a book. Having been thinking about doing the camp for a couple of years, he had been worried about making sure everything was done just right. This is admirable, but he realized that he was wasting time and so he finally decided to just do it.

Chris named his foundation the “Faith Foundation” because not enough kids in his hometown believe in themselves. He holds himself as an example of someone who, as a youngster, was not ‘crowned’ as someone who would succeed the way he has – i.e., going to a Division II school, being undrafted and yet still rising to the ranks of the NFL professionals through hard work, his faith and a strong belief in himself.

In a 2009 article from The Curly R, it says that Chris:

“…hails from Flint, Michigan where he often heard he was too small for football so he developed a philosophy of dominating the man in front of him and letting the rest take care of itself.

Since coming to Washington Chris has been a situational player, an undersized pass rushing defensive end with a quick first step. In two seasons with the Redskins Chris has registered 27 tackles and five sacks, which is a pretty good ratio, it would appear the defensive coaching staff knows how to use Chris.”

His philosophy obviously works.

Let us not forget that CW is the Washington player who recorded the last sack in the post-season for the Washington Redskins in 2007 against the Seattle Seahawks. Quarterback Matt Hasselback was the recipient of the sack and Wilson’s move forced a fumble. About the playoffs, Wilson says, “The last time the Redskins got there, C.W. was off his leash.” Once again, you gotta love the way #95 gets his points across.

(Speaking of “Jack of All Trades,” Wilson plays not only linebacker, defensive end and defensive tackle; he plays safety up at the goal line.)

Wilson is a great person but he is also a great teammate. It’s not unusual to hear players support their colleagues and that is as it should be. But in the case of the Redskins, last season, there was understandable, albeit slight, consternation in the locker room over the decisions that defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth made by choosing not to buy into the new defensive scheme, not make the conversion to nose tackle and not attend any of the voluntary team activities. Lots of players were open about the way they felt but and there is nothing wrong with that. It was interesting to me though, that as I went back through dozens of interviews with players as the situation with Haynesworth unfolded; I could not find a single one that Wilson gave where he said anything negative at all. This is no surprise as Chris Wilson is, by nature, a positive person.

I found this to be especially so when talking about last season in general. There were so many distractions off the field; Haynesworth’s and McNabb’s situation especially. But the linebacker is ready to move forward.

“I love to play football,” he said. “I love defense… My job is to be ready – to be prepared. And that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re learning the plays, learning the different positions, realizing the concepts of the entire defense… and I’ll leave the rest to Mike Shanahan.

“I mean, I believe in the system. I’m gonna buy into it. Y’know, that’s what I do. I buy completely into it.”

At this point, Lake Lewis brought up the cohesiveness he observed in the locker room last season, and even in the wake of Haynesworth letting his teammates down, seeing guys protect the former Titan. What Wilson said next is an example of why I never found any quotes from him last season that were negative.

Notice the great way Chris gets his point across:

“Oh yea… I’m going to ride him out till the end,” he asserted. “Because we know what he can do. You know, guys wouldn’t be upset if we didn’t know what he could do – if we didn’t expect more of him. Everybody knows Albert… he’s the most dominate player. As far as a man dominating another man, I haven’t seen anybody do it like Albert Haynesworth and that’s the truth of it.

“That’s just the truth,” he continued. “Do you agree? You ever see a grown man just get pushed back? Pushed down… another grown up?"

Wilson looked thoughtful as he went on.

“However, it’s about his decisions and you gotta be careful in this game.  I don’t hold any grudges against Albert. It is what it is. I’m gonna call a duck, a duck. But Albert went through some things last year and, now he’s had a season to reflect on everything. If he and Mike Shanahan can put everything behind them… well, you know, you gotta forgive.

“But… you don’t want to be that woman that’s getting beat by her boyfriend and talking about ‘but he loves me’ you know?” Chris said with a grin. “You don’t want to be that either.”

Even though Wilson knows he doesn’t have to make the decisions of a head coach, he most certainly has opinions about the strength of a team and how to use its personnel. When discussing whether or not the Redskins need Albert Haynesworth to win, Wilson has an interesting perspective.

“I wouldn’t say we need him to take the next step,” he considered. “Football is not that type of sport. There are a lot of great players on the bench. You don’t need anybody. This is not basketball. Don’t let my praises (of Haynesworth) fool you. I mean, he’s a beast.  But you gotta play within the scheme; you gotta be in your gap. You gotta know when to rush, when to play the run, you gotta know what the offense is trying to do, you gotta know the calls. There’s a lot that goes into this football thing and we have a lot of great players on defense. We stay in the top 10… well; last year was the first time since I’ve been there we haven’t been in the top 10.

“But I do feel like we need to just write something in stone because I felt like we were wavering like ‘Albert’s the enemy… Albert’s not the enemy’ and you can’t do that."

Once again, Chris Wilson says it like no other:

“For lack of a better metaphor,” he said, “I’ll say, I got some pieces of Tupperware in my home that I can put in the microwave and they come out and they’re just fine. But not everything is microwavable so you gotta know what you’ve got and know how to use it and how to treat it.”

Lewis then added in agreement: “You can’t put a Styrofoam plate in the microwave.”

Wilson is constructive and upbeat in his philosophies. He feels like forward is the best direction.

The two men discussed the benching of quarterback Donovan McNabb and Wilson was very candid.

“The situation was embarrassing more than anything,” he said.  “I’ve had time to reflect and it’s embarrassing. I’m like, ‘Man… that’s Donovan McNabb!’ I thought he was hurt. I found out everything on SportsCenter and so it’s even more so.

“I believe Mike Shanahan and Donovan can put everything behind them and move forward,” Wilson continued. “What you don’t want is a player coming in with a grudge. All that’s going to do is create distractions. We can’t have distractions.”

The thing that makes Wilson-the-Philosopher so interesting is the originality of his wisdom.

About safety Kevin Barnes’ play last year, he said: “Great attitude… great type of personality for the sport of football.”

Wilson brings the concept of personality-type being important to light and the notion of who fits into the NFL is complex according to #95.

“The NFL and all professional sports aren’t looking for a type of talent,” he explained. “They’re looking for a certain type of person. That’s how you sustain your career… because you have a mentality that won’t allow you to let all of this roller coaster of media and everything that’s going on affect you. You just refuse to believe [the negative press]. You’re always going to believe in yourself as well as put in the work, the effort, to make yourself better.”

At one point, Wilson remarked, “People think, ‘I gotta be Michael Jordon to make it to the league.’ No. You can work your way into a position. Even Michael Jordon wasn’t ‘Michael Jordon’ when he came into the league. He had to become ‘Air Jordan’.

“Motive dictates how you go about [yourself/your business],” he said. “If your motive is to be the richest, that’s not necessarily a bad thing but you can be rich and be nice. When your motive is to build something and go about doing things to achieve a certain goal, you go about it in a more genuine, a more sincere way.”

He then complimented Lewis and allowed as how he was “doing it” that way with Sportsjourney.

“If you’re going to burn bridges, you’d better be a good boat-builder,” was one of my favorite quips from the linebacker.

“It doesn’t matter that I’m not the coach’s favorite,” Wilson says to kids involved in sports. “It doesn’t matter that nobody else believes in me. If I can condition myself to win and impress somebody, I’ll have that opportunity.”

By the way, how many people know that Mr. Wilson also dabbles in film editing? How many know that he revamped teammate London Fletcher’s YouTube highlights?  Lake Lewis played basketball at Penn State so he may be seeing his highlights up on YouTube one day soon if the multi-talented, multi-faceted Chris Wilson gets hold of them.

It was just the kind of night where philosophy reigned.  Lewis, who has his own admirable words-of-wisdom, closed out the show the way he always does.

“Spend time with family and friends,” he said. “Leave everyone else alone.”

Hail.

Beck’s Foundation Emphasizes the Best of the Game (and the Men Who Play It)

John Beck

OK. I’m not going to get sappy here. But after talking to Washington Redskins quarterback John Beck and then thinking back on my own personal experience with the ones that I know, I have decided that most professional football players are extraordinary people.

I interviewed Beck to talk about his foundation, Friends for Football, www.friendsforfootball.org. He is the second Redskin with whom I have had an in depth conversation about their personal charities (Lorenzo Alexander was the first) and it wasn’t just the fact that so many professional players invest a lot of time and effort into giving to others that makes them so special. There is evidence that to even play the game, one has to be pretty amazing.

Beck and I sat outside behind the training facility in Ashburn to talk. Northern Virginia was enjoying one of those rare, beautiful days late in the season and it had to have been 70 degrees outside. Warm weather, bright skies, no humidity... it was nice outside in the sun. The green, empty practice fields were down below us and, in front of us, players came and went because practice was over. Some of the guys were working out in the equipment room with the door propped open, some were talking to each other or on their cell phones. All appeared relaxed.

The quarterback was, of course, happy to talk about his foundation. Friends For Football has existed for a couple of years and was started in Arizona where John grew up. While many of the beneficiaries are from Utah where he went to Brigham Young University (BYU), Beck’s foundation has helped kids from as far away as Hawaii. His organization helps kids aged seven to 14 play football for their local or school leagues by helping them buy things like cleats, pads, membership registrations, uniforms and the like when their parent(s) can’t otherwise afford them. For a family with a couple of boys, those types of things can run into hundreds of dollars for a single season and the funding makes it possible for them to join a football team.

“We have it set up where the first year we did it, we helped out 67 or 68 kids from disadvantaged homes where, like I said, a single mother may be raising two or three boys,” John said. “Sign up fees [for football in schools or leagues] might be $225 and that’s not including anything else that goes along with it like a pad rental fee. They have to buy cleats. The first year we did it, we helped out 67 kids buy cleats as well.

“We have helped out families that had three boys. That’s almost $1,000 and a lot of families just don’t have $1,000 to put towards their kids for football.”

Beck holds an annual golf tournament at Red Ledges Golf Course in Heber, UT as well as a couple of football camps and dinners to raise funds for his foundation. He invites other players to participate and has had players such as former BYU teammates Nate Meikle, Johnny Harline and Cameron Jensen according to The Bleacher Report. Some of his former college teammates now also play for NFL teams and a few who have participated in his tournament or football camps are Brian Kehl and David Nixon (St. Louis Rams), Max Hall (Arizona Cardinals), Austin Collie (Indianapolis Colts), Dennis Pitta (Baltimore Ravens), Naufahu Tahi (Minnesota Vikings), Ty Detmer (former Heisman Trophy winner, last played for the Atlanta Falcons), and Harvey Unga (Chicago Bears). His 503.C organization was blessed enough to have received a grant from the Baltimore Ravens when he played for them and every year he has been able to increase the number of kids to help.

There is a lot to consider when Beck decides to whom help will be given. There have been families that needed something besides money. They might be in a situation where a couple of boys could use a good role model in their lives.

“A lot of the kids we help out come from single parent homes... especially just a single mother raising two or three boys without a father figure,” Beck said. “We believe that that’s important in their lives. Where can they find that father figure? Well, one way is through a coach.”

As John’s foundation has become more well-known, he has had to become more discretionary about whom to give funding.

“The first year it was open on a kind of first-come-first-served basis,” Beck admitted, “but there were so many people. We helped out 70 [families] and we still had to tell 20-30+ people that we were out of funds for the year. So we felt bad because we felt like some of those people that we’d already helped were just in a way like, 'Hey... times are tough. Can you help me out?'"

The QB described how he makes the hard decisions now.

“They submit a paragraph or two about their situation,” he explained. “Either the kid or the parent can contact us.

“We’ve had some fathers [that have written], ‘Hey, I’m a single parent. I have two boys [and] I got into this car accident [that required] leg surgery. I was out of work for so long that when I came back from the injury I was released from work. I've been out of a job rehabbing and I have no way to pay for my kids.’

“So they contact us and what we do is we go directly through their league. They say, ‘I play in this league in this area,’ and we send a check directly to the league for them for their pads and everything. Then they go and weigh in and the only thing we ask is that they send us back a picture with a note about what they’ve learned during the season.”

Beck loves hearing back from the kids and families that Friends For Football has helped.

“It’s been great,” he said. “We’ve had so many kids that write back. One of the best stories we’ve had is a kid that wrote and said, ‘I always wanted to play football but I never knew if I could do it and I never had the chance to because my parents didn’t have the money. I played football this year and I scored my first touchdown. I learned how to tackle.’”

As I spoke with Beck, it was increasingly clear to me that there was something about the game of football that made it more than just a job to him. He played different sports as a youngster and I wondered why he focused solely on the pigskin with his charity. In answering, the BYU grad showed a surprising amount of passion about the game he plays and I began to understand why football was the chosen activity for his foundation. He spoke of the hard work that it takes to be fit enough to play a very tough game. He spoke of the trust players are required to have in each other, the self-esteem that a kid could develop by being trusted by his teammates and the value of every single player on the field doing his job the way it’s supposed to be done.

“When I first learned how to play quarterback,” Beck described enthusiastically, “one of the things I loved most was throwing a pass and getting wacked as I threw it.”

I just about fell off the bench!

‘Huh...?!? This guy loves getting hit???’

I understood however, as he pushed on: “And I just trusted that, where I threw that ball, even though I’m not going to see it because I’ve gotten hit, it’s going to go and the receiver’s going to catch it, I’m going to get up and shake off the hit and go on to the next play. I loved that about the game… I still do.

"A quarterback throws the ball before the receiver gets to the spot… I’m trusting [the receiver] to be where he’s supposed to be to make the play. Now, take a kid from a disadvantaged background. How many people is he going to trust? If he’s gotten into a little bit of trouble, how many people are going to trust him? You’ve got to learn trust in football. You’ve got to learn that when you line up, you’ve got to trust this guy, you’ve got to trust that guy. And he learns that people can trust him and it does great things for his self esteem.

"People have said for years that ‘football is the ultimate team sport’. A basketball player… he can grab a rebound, go down the court, shoot the ball, make it and he can do that by himself. A baseball player? It’s him and the pitcher until the ball is hit... the fielders don’t get involved. It’s a one-on-one duel. You can go through so many sports like that, where it’s all about the one guy. But in football, you cannot - as a quarterback - take the snap and run for a touchdown. There's no way (unless you’re a kid doing a trick play in a Youtube video). And on every play, all 11 people on offense are involved. Ten people can do the thing right but if that one person messes up, that hinders whether for instance, the running back succeeds at his job. If he can’t get that block from that 11th guy, he’s not going to get the most yards that he can. In football, on every play, 11 people have to be involved and do their jobs.”

On the Friends For Football website, it states that the organization was created to give youth from underprivileged circumstances the opportunity to gain valuable lessons that are taught from participating in organized football leagues. It goes on to assert that when a person is committed to a team environment it teaches them about discipline, accountability, and how to strive after your goals.

After speaking with Beck, I have a new and different perspective on the activity he loves so much and the players who are involved with it professionally. The mission of his foundation includes a short narrative on some of what makes football different from any other sport and it touches on why I take my hat off to the professionals in the NFL.

Unlike any other sport, football is the ultimate team sport. Not every player on the field touches the ball. On each play you are dependent on your teammates as they are dependent on you. No sport has more people on the field at once all executing their role for a single play and one purpose. 

Beck was as inspired as anyone I’ve ever spoken to about his profession and it made me want to run and put on some pads and a helmet myself. His enthusiasm was contagious. Not only does he love the game itself, he loves the lessons it can teach kids and the character that is required to play the game well.

Here are some of the other things that he said about both his sport and what it can do for the kids he helps.

• “During the week, their buddies may be going to go ride bikes or whatever… well, two or three times a week they’ve got to sacrifice that time to put it into football and try to get better.” 

• “Another thing about the game of football is you’re going to get knocked down and you’ve got to learn to get back up.” 

• “Another cool thing is that many kids get to see encouragement from their parents. I mean, kids are smart. They know, ‘my family doesn’t have a lot’. They see the situations around them. Maybe they see Billy’s parents giving him everything that his parents can’t. Well, the great thing is that when they’re out there playing football, their parents are on the sideline supporting him.” 

• “It’s not about, ‘Hey, this kid is missing out on football and he might be a football star someday down the road’. No… that is not it. The majority of the kids that we help play football are not going to play football past junior high – high school maybe. But the thing is what it’s going to teach them. It’s going to teach them principles; it’s going to teach them to have that character that they need to be successful in whatever field they choose.” 

• “I also want to teach them what to do so they can accomplish their goals even if the road becomes bumpy so they can succeed. Instead, of saying ‘I don’t know what to do. I’ve never been knocked down before,’ - and turning to drugs, crime, stuff like that - they think, ‘I’m trying to make this path happen. This is how I’ve got to do it.’” 

• “In order for a majority of us to get here, we have to take a path of a lot of determination and no path is ever that easy. So all of us have had to go through things to get here and you want to do something for the kids – you want to alleviate [some of the obstacles they might encounter on] their path.” 

Football is a tough game. As John says, on any given play, it requires 11 individuals to focus on one goal. Not only must these individuals do their jobs, the game is so violent that, in doing their jobs, at least some of the time, they will be hit and hit hard - especially when the opposition is focusing hard on their goal.

Some would say, “Yea, well… for that kind of money, I will let someone get violent with me, too.” But one cannot ignore what these professional football players went through to get to the National Football League. They did not just wake up one day and say to themselves, “Hmmm… I don’t mind getting hit… I think I’ll be a professional football player!”

They, for the most part, spent years and years honing their skills. Many began playing in a Pop Warner “TINY-MITE” league at five-years-old. Think about it: a 25-year-old running back – one of the most battered players in the game – might have been playing football for twenty years by the time he is in his prime in the NFL. It’s no wonder that running backs have a 4.5-year productive life span in the league.

Beck went on an overseas mission to Lisbon, Portugal just after high school. He spent two years in abject poverty, giving to others without the basic comforts that most of us here in the United States enjoy. Things like restrooms, actual flooring (most structures had dirt floors), clean water and medicine were either hard to find or non-existent. During those two years, he had one day per week to do things for himself like laundry, exercise, housecleaning, shopping, etc. When he returned to the States, not only did he have a new-found appreciation for carpet, he realized how difficult it was going to be to get back into the physical shape required to play football again. Getting back into football shape after those two years was one of the most difficult things he has ever done.

We know that these days there is not much of an off-season for many athletes, both at the college and the professional level. Constant physical fitness training is necessary in order to stay strong and be competitive. Many NFL players have been working out hard year-round since high school. 

Additionally, most schools require a minimum GPA in order for the players to remain on the active roster. While there is evidence that exceptions have (perhaps underhandedly) been made for a select few over the years, the majority must study in the little free time they have at the higher college levels to maintain that GPA. This continues on the professional level as they learn and evolve with their NFL play books.

Football players' injuries must be rehabbed at an extraordinary pace – much more quickly than a typical person's and there is some pressure to 'play hurt.' The sacrifice they make with their bodies is extraordinary, hence the pressure for strength and being in “football shape.” I have always respected players who have won the Ed Block Courage Award for whatever reason. Some of the physical rehabilitation that they have accomplished after serious injuries to then come back and play the game is amazing. Redskins nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu was the most recent Washington winner.

Considering how hard Beck had to work to get back into shape after his mission makes his accomplishments in college even more amazing. He attended BYU from 2003 through 2006 and in his first year, he played in eight games with four starts, becoming only the second true freshman to start a game at quarterback (Factoid: Marc Wilson was the first in 1977 – he later led the Oakland Raiders to victory in Superbowl XVIII in 1984).

While at BYU, Beck was a four-year letterman and started at quarterback his final three seasons. During his senior year he was All-American (2nd team) for Sporting News, All-American for Sports Illustrated and Mountain West Conference (MWC) Offensive Player of the Year after putting together six 300-yard passing games. Beck was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, a Davey O’Brien Award semi-finalist, a Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and 2nd in NCAA passing efficiency (169.05).

The former Cougar started 12 games as a senior, leading BYU to a record of 11-2 and the MWC crown. He completed 289 passes out of of 417 pass attempts  (69.3%) for 3,885 yards with 32 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions. 

On the BYU website, a short narrative about the 2006 BYU vs. University of Utah football game (this is a huge rivalry and is dubbed “The Holy War”) states:

2006 may have been one of the greatest games in the history of the rivalry. With the lead switching hands several times in the final minutes, BYU drove 75 yards in 10 plays in the last 1:19 to win the game, responding to a nine-play, 83-yard Utah drive. All-American John Beck connected with wide open tight end Jonny Harline in the end zone on the game’s final play in what has been deemed "the 13-second miracle” for Cougar fans. The 33-31 victory sealed a perfect league record for BYU and their first victory over Utah since 2001.

Even though I’ve decided football players are extraordinary and deserve more respect than they get from people who don’t understand or love the game, they do have their “moments.” I came across this video on YouTube of Beck at one of his football camps. He is, of course, great with the kids and is shown teaching them different fundamentals of quarterbacking. However, watch and see if he is really doing all of the right things all of the time! (It starts with a short clip of Beck quarterbacking a game... keep watching...)

John Beck came to the Washington Redskins from the Baltimore Ravens in a trade for cornerback Doug Dutch on Aug. 2, 2010. He was a second-round draft pick (40th overall) to the Miami Dolphins in the 2007 NFL Draft and stayed in Miami until he went the Ravens in 2009.

Beck played in three pre-season games against the Buffalo Bills, the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals last season for the Redskins. He completed 20 of 39 passes for 235 yards (51.3%) and one interception.. 

I don’t mean to paint a picture of professional football players as of a bunch of saints playing on any given football team. There are certainly many other highly regarded professions which require greater sacrifice. The point is that because of the huge amounts of money, celebrity status and entitlement that come with the profession, many people forget about the sacrifices that these men made and continue to make to get to and remain in the National Football League. 

A large majority of NFL players use the fruits of their labors to help other people. Many of these guys have families, go to church, have their own charities and spend money and time giving to their teammate’s or team’s charities. Their hard work over the years and the giving back that they do cannot and should not be ignored. In fact, it should be celebrated.

DeAngelo Hall to the Pro Bowl. Orakpo, Sellers, Cooley, Fletcher and Alexander as Alternates

Alright!  The NFL has announced that Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall has been voted to the 2010 Pro Bowl. Also, linebacker Brian Orakpo and fullback Mike Sellers have been voted as first alternates. Not to be denied, special teams standout and linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, tight end Chris Cooley and linebacker London Fletcher have all been chosen as second alternates.

Hall’s vote is no surprise with the year he’s had. Even though he’d been through somewhat of a highlight reel drought the last few games, Hall has made enough of an impact with the impressive coverage he has provided to get himself invited to the big party.

The former VA Tech Hokie’s biggest game in 2010 has to be the four interception game he played against the Chicago Bears in Week 7 – a game after which Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said he would not stop throwing in Hall’s direction despite the interceptions – where Hall was “in the zone.”

The cornerback, typically humble, was all about how well the defense played as a whole that day. Even more reason to send him on to Hawaii.

"It's not necessarily big for me, man, but it's big for this defense," said Hall, after the Chicago win. "You go out and look at the stats, man, we don't look too good on paper. But you watch us play live, man, we come out there and we're flying around. We're trying to hit guys. . . . I guarantee everybody that comes against our defense is definitely thinking twice about catching any balls, running any balls, running any routes, because we're going to try to bring it to them."