Why chemistry, fit are biggest keys to building the Redskins

Guys like Bobby Beathard and Bill Belichick think chemistry matters for football teams. That’s what the Washington Redskins need to focus on this as they build their team.

It’s now time to turn our attention to free agency and the NFL Draft. We all look at the list of names and all the cap numbers, but take it from someone who attracted the attention of Joe Gibbs as a kid and someone who learned from the best general manager in NFL history — our very own Bobby Beathard — there’s a lot more to building a team than height, weight and speed.

There’s a lot more to it than the Wonderlic scores and how many reps a guy can put up at 225. There’s just a lot more to all of it than meets the eye.

My favorite saying in life and it’s the opening quote in my book, “Vision is the art of seeing what’s invisible to others” – Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745.

Nobody in my life has embraced this more than the legendary Bobby Beathard. He is the true mastermind behind the greatest of our years. Nobody has done more to shape my philosophies and a vision for how I would build a team, if ever given the chance.

I’ll never forget hearing the story of when Bobby Beathard suggested the name of Joe Gibbs to the immortal Jack Kent Cooke. Mr. Cooke responded initially by saying, “Joe who?” Make no mistake, Bobby Beathard was the architect of those trophies that now sit in that trophy case just down the road. Nobody really even knew who Joe Gibbs was at that time. He’s now in not one, but two Halls of Fame. That’s vision.

With so many teams clamoring to drop a couple of Brink’s trucks worth of Benji’s on some big-name free agent or mortgage the future to move into the No. 1 pick, Beathard had other ideas. He saw things differently and it is because of that he knew how to successfully build the Redskins.