Monday, July 19, 2004
Joe Gibbs: Not Evil
I’ve been watching some of the coverage of the start of the 2004 season and I’m reminded of why the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys are the personification of evil (at least evil in the NFL): all of the media attention both teams generate (far in excess of their talent), the irritatingly arrogant players (MeShawn in big D, Shlockey in the Big Apple), etc. (For being such big, wealthy franchises, you’d think that the Giants and Cowboys could afford decent stadiums.) I already dislike John Coughlin, and the poor guy has done nothing to offend me … yet. I’m not a big fan of the Redskins either, but I don’t dislike Joe Gibbs. I should, because now that the Redskins have a competent coach they are a real threat to the Birds. So I should dislike him, and yet I cannot. And here is why:
When I was 12 I bought an NFL Draft preview magazine and I spent the better part of three weeks that summer dissecting it, reading all of the information, etc. When I was done I sat down and I mailed out a letter to several NFL teams in which I ranked whom I felt were the top three NFL quarterback prospects in the 1990 draft. I got two responses.
One was from Buddy Ryan, who very politely speculated that I could be a scout for the Eagles one day. (Sitting through law school some days I wonder why I didn’t do that.)
The other was from Joe Gibbs, who very politely told me that he read my letter with great interest and noted that they had high hopes for a new quarterback on their team named Cary Conklin. (Who, at the time, was laboring in the depth chart behind Mark Rypien and Stan Humphries.)
I was really touched by the letter. I’m not so much of a fool to think that Gibbs actually labored over it much. (I worked as an intern on Capitol Hill years ago. You think that those letters you get from your elected representative are actually signed by them?) But it was the fact that the organization took me so seriously and was so polite about it that really convinced me that Gibbs was a class act all the way.
So I don’t like the Redskins. Daniel Snyder is a micro-manager who will always be meddling in things he doesn’t quite grasp, but Joe Gibbs is a stand-up guy, and there are too few in the NFL today ...
Oh, and who were the three QBs I liked? The first guy I thought was going to be really great was San Diego State QB Dan McGwire, Mark McGwire's brother: he had a great arm, real presence in the pocket, etc. (He was taken by the Seahawks and proved to be too vulnerable to a pass-rush because he wasn't mobile in the pocket.) The second was Louisville QB Browning Nagle. (He went to the Jets and washed out after a while due to injuries.)
The third? This guy from Southern Mississippi. By the name of Brett Favre.
Maybe I should be an NFL scout!
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When I was 12 I bought an NFL Draft preview magazine and I spent the better part of three weeks that summer dissecting it, reading all of the information, etc. When I was done I sat down and I mailed out a letter to several NFL teams in which I ranked whom I felt were the top three NFL quarterback prospects in the 1990 draft. I got two responses.
One was from Buddy Ryan, who very politely speculated that I could be a scout for the Eagles one day. (Sitting through law school some days I wonder why I didn’t do that.)
The other was from Joe Gibbs, who very politely told me that he read my letter with great interest and noted that they had high hopes for a new quarterback on their team named Cary Conklin. (Who, at the time, was laboring in the depth chart behind Mark Rypien and Stan Humphries.)
I was really touched by the letter. I’m not so much of a fool to think that Gibbs actually labored over it much. (I worked as an intern on Capitol Hill years ago. You think that those letters you get from your elected representative are actually signed by them?) But it was the fact that the organization took me so seriously and was so polite about it that really convinced me that Gibbs was a class act all the way.
So I don’t like the Redskins. Daniel Snyder is a micro-manager who will always be meddling in things he doesn’t quite grasp, but Joe Gibbs is a stand-up guy, and there are too few in the NFL today ...
Oh, and who were the three QBs I liked? The first guy I thought was going to be really great was San Diego State QB Dan McGwire, Mark McGwire's brother: he had a great arm, real presence in the pocket, etc. (He was taken by the Seahawks and proved to be too vulnerable to a pass-rush because he wasn't mobile in the pocket.) The second was Louisville QB Browning Nagle. (He went to the Jets and washed out after a while due to injuries.)
The third? This guy from Southern Mississippi. By the name of Brett Favre.
Maybe I should be an NFL scout!
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