Albert Haynesworth, the bane of our existence

It was the mid-season 2008.  The Redskins jumped out of the gate with a 6-2 record.  Jason Campbell finally appeared to be getting some grasp of what it took to be an NFL quarterback and the defense was top ten in the league.  They skyrocketed to as high as #5 in ESPN’s weekly power rankings and then….the wheels came off.  The Skins offense (Jim Zorn’s supposed specialty) unraveled down the stretch, scoring over 14 points just once in their last 8 games on their way to a 2-6 finish and last place in the NFC East.  The bright spot in the usual Redskins failure, the defense was ranked 4^th in the league and added Deangelo Hall in the waning weeks.

Enter Albert, the 6’6” 300+ pound manimal was granted his wish to get into the open market entering the 2009 offseason.   He was only 27 and widely considered to be the most disruptive force in the NFL.  Sure he had his issues, but stomping on a Cowboy’s face was a bonus is the eyes of the Redskins!  In a defense whose only/primary flaw was an inability to create turnovers and quarterback pressure, adding a playmaker along the d-line like Haynesworth would surely propel them to being a top flight defense for years to come.  He made all the right impressions, saying how excited he was to be a Redskin long-term and how he wasn’t going to let the fans down.

"You’re not going to remember Albert Haynesworth as a bust or the guy who had the Dallas incident or anything. You will remember him as a great player and that’s what I live for. You know, the money’s awesome. It’s great. But I’m out here, when I line up in front of somebody, when I put the helmet on, it’s to kick butt and it’s to make sure that guy knows that I’m the best player to play against. After the game or something you can think about the money, but during that game. I’m going to make sure he knows that I’m the best player. Any team that faces me, they’re going to have to worry about me."

The rest of the interview included how he was not being pressured by the money.  He wanted to put pressure on himself to be the best and help out his teammates, to take this team from 8-8 to the next level, and start a new chapter in his life (putting his past issues behind him).  Unfortunately for us, Albert was found guilty of awful inaccurate predictions on all counts.

• He is a bust, the biggest in Redskins free agent signing history (that’s saying a lot).  I can safely say that I, along with the rest of Redskins nation, the media, and possibly the entire NFL are in agreement that Albert Haynesworth is a BUST.
• He is not a great player and will never be mentioned with the greats.  Wave aspirations of being compared to Reggie White goodbye Albert, you screwed that one up pretty bad with your shockingly childish behavior.
• He did kick butt, unfortunately it was never on the field, it was when he decided to punch a local driver in the face.
• Teams don’t have to, and never had to worry about him because he was inevitably on the sideline the majority of the time.
• The money is awesome, until he eventually loses it all by being thoughtless and having to settle lawsuits all over the place.  Hey Al…people know that you are a millionaire 40 plus times over, how irresponsible must you be to continually put yourself in situations where you give waitresses and drivers grounds to sue you.  Who goes into a place as ritzy as the W hotel and feels up a waitress in broad daylight in front of an entire dining room?  It’s gross enough when you’re in a dark night club but it’s something so idiotic that it should never cross your mind when you’re in public, especially when you’re a professional football player who just made 40 million dollars.  Ever think about maybe starting up a conversation, or does the Black AMEX blouse tuck/massage technique generally work for you?

I’m surprised he is still here.  Innocent or guilty, the ability to continue to put himself in these situations time after time shows a lack of character and extreme lack of judgment that I don’t want on my team.  The constant sulking and complaining about being mistreated continue to be ridiculous.  We gave him 40 million dollars and I struggle to find a moment over the past two years in which I thought that he deserved it.  Brought in to take this team to the next level, he did the opposite by bringing the team to new lows both record wise and perception wise in his two years.  He might have negative trade value at this point; it’s time to amputate before the infection spreads even more.

Take your hall of fame aspirations and go dominate somewhere else, your legacy will still forever be tarnished by what you did here and you deserve it.  Good riddance.