Redskins: Return of Kirk Cousins elicits mixed emotions

Kirk Cousins is back on the field with the Washington Redskins. Only this time, he’s on the other side of the field.

The return of Kirk Cousins has elicited mixed emotions from a Washington Redskins fan base which painstakingly trudged through his long, arduous contract saga.

Some wish the signal caller well. Some even wish for him to humiliate the Redskins on Thursday Night Football, in order to bring Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder down just a little bit further after their 1-6 start to 2019. Others aren’t so rebellious. Some hold Cousins in contempt for his role in the contract saga, making character judgements in a sport ruled by cash.

My case is unique. Those of you who read my work back when Cousins was here know my stance on the former Michigan State quarterback (hint). But for those of you who weren’t here yet (My writing was bad back then, so you lucked out), here’s the story.

Winter semester. Freshman year of college. I needed a job, and I wanted to write for Kirk Cousins’ team. So I applied to write at Riggo’s Rag.

We all have our favorite players. It just so happens that Cousins has been mine since his time with the Michigan State Spartans. He never lost to the dreaded Michigan Wolverines. He closed out his career with a long-sought after bowl victory. I remember the 2012 Outback Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs vividly. Three overtimes. Nail-biting football. Cousins helped them come out on top.

The Outback Bowl was the perfect storybook ending to Cousins’ college career, but for all of us in Michigan, it was only the beginning. Cousins was going to be our next NFL quarterback, after Brian Hoyer and Drew Stanton. I was one of many in mid-Michigan who, in my unapologetic bias, expected Cousins to go in Round 2 of the 2012 NFL Draft, at the latest. Three-time captain. Three-year starter. He nailed all of Bill Parcells’ QB checklist items. Seven for seven.

You could say I was disappointed when Cousins fell to Round 4, and was drafted by the team that had already picked its franchise quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick. But despite the sudden deterioration of Cousins’ NFL future, I stayed tuned in. As a freshman in high school at the time, Cousins was a player I idolized. The consummate professional, and just a little bit faster, with a little bit better arm, than you think when you first watch him play. It wasn’t necessarily a premonition, but instead a stubborn, coincidental trust that he would one day be an NFL starter.

We all know what happens next, so I won’t bore you with the redundant details. Cousins became an NFL starter, and he ran with the role. He kept it for two more full seasons after 2015. Then, after failing to come to a financial agreement with Bruce Allen and Company, he left, signing with the Minnesota Vikings on a three-year deal that offered over $90 million in guarantees.

Some viewed it as greed. Others view it as common and understandable opportunism in a sport where one puts their physical livelihood at stake. The market is always being reset, and quarterbacks are routinely rewarded if they can reach peak performance at the right times. But the Cousins debate was unlike others. Three years into his starting career, no one knew who he was yet. Even now, we’re still trying to figure that out.

Onlookers will view the situation differently, just as they’ll gravitate to different memories. The 31-30 comeback against the Buccaneers is, to this day, my greatest football memory. Some people might call it an anticlimactic highlight, but for the kid who’d spent his entire childhood believing this quarterback was good enough, when no one else seemed to, it was a fulfilling moment. I was glued to the television on the final touchdown toss to Jordan Reed. Glued to the articles that flowed in the following hours. Glued to the 10-game stretch sparked by Cousins’ declaration: “You like that!”

Whether Cousins is truly as good as his best moments define him, is a topic that’s up for debate. I won’t engage in that discussion, because you know what I’ll say. But as contentious as the discussion around his quality of play might be, Cousins is a quality person, and like so many other NFL players, he’s simply finding out how far he can go.

His quest continues tonight, against his former team, the Washington Redskins. And at this precipice, Redskins fans may be varied in how they respond to his return. His complex history with the team demands at least that much.