Now that Albert Haynesworth and Donovan McNabb are gone, we might get a more accurate picture of Redskins coach Mike Shanahan.
Those two players defined Shanahan’s first season in Washington, and it wasn’t pretty. He was portrayed as tyrannical and arrogant for his hard-line stance that Haynesworth had be in shape to play on a regular basis. And he was portrayed as confused and conniving in the benching of McNabb.
But the perception of Shanahan among NFL players may be quite different.
This might come as a shock to some fans and disappointing to others who worked themselves into a lather defending Haynesworth and McNabb, but players actually seem to like playing for Shanahan.
Center Casey Rabach, on his way out the door after being cut, didn’t react like Shanahan had just fired him.
“Anytime that you’re not winning consistently, it makes for a tough time, no doubt,” Rabach told Comcast SportsNet. “Since Coach [Joe] Gibbs left, it’s been a few trying seasons. I think they got it right with Coach Shanahan — a tremendous guy and true professional coach. I’m really excited for the guys still on the team and who they have leading the ship.”
That’s a strong endorsement from a guy who won’t be around anymore.
Then there is one of the newest Redskins, defensive end Stephen Bowen. Of course, he was wooed by Shanahan and signed to a five-year, $27.5 million contract, so he is going to have good things to say about his new coach.
But he volunteered this story last week on “The Sports Reporters” on ESPN 980 about seeing Shanahan’s coaching style while still in Denver.
“We scrimmaged Denver for a week when Coach Shanahan was still there,” Bowen said. “So we got a chance to observe him, and everyone said, ‘This guy seems like a cool coach.’?”
Before last season, an anonymous NFL player who contributed to the “Player X” column in ESPN the Magazine wrote this about Shanahan’s reputation among players:
“He isn’t insecure. He just wants to win, and he always takes care of his guys. He’ll give veterans days off. It’s no coincidence while he was in Denver, he always got some of the hardest-working vets to play for him, big-time leaders like John Lynch. I think he’ll get the same kind of guys in Washington.”
Albert Haynesworth and Donovan McNabb were not those kind of guys. Now perhaps we will get a better idea of Mike Shanahan — the man and the coach.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
