Saturday, March 10, 2012

Are the Redskins the NFL"s Version of the Portland Trailblazers or the (old ) Los Angeles Clippers?

So, Dan Snyder tried something different, giving up a bunch of picks for the opportunity to draft Robert Griffin III.

This compels analogies to the Blazers (who ended up picking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan and Greg Oden over Kevin Durrant) and the Clippers, where high-round draft picks went to perish. You can't say that Snyder hasn't tried things -- he has -- but he also has tried so many things and failed that it makes you wonder why anyone should think that this move should work, as positive as people are on Robert Griffin III (hint: they were positive about Akili Smith, Tim Couch, JeMarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf, among others, too).

I recall reading a story once about Art Schlichter, the ill-fated former Ohio State QB whose gambling addiction has ruined a once-promising life. The story was that Schlichter kept on better on football and losing, prompting his bookie to suggest the following:

Bookie: "Listen, you've lost 20 bets on football games in a row. Why don't you try something else, like basketball?"

Art (somewhat protesting): "But I don't know anything about basketball."

Look, few would argue that you do not need a good signal caller to win. And Griffin is a very impressive quarterback and person. I wish him all the success in the world, even if his likely new team plays in the same division as my hometown team. That said, the Redskins have been to their free agents what the Sports Illustrated jinx has been to teams who are going well.

Something just tells me that under Dan Snyder, things won't go well in the nation's capital. Perhaps he should try buying the Wizards, even if he doesn't know anything about basketball.

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