Albert Haynesworth says he’s a sleeping giant. Funny, in Washington he was a giant nightmare. The former Washington Redskins defensive tackle — not nose tackle — is rewriting history now that he’s with the New England Patriots. He loves it there, loves playing for coach Bill Belichick. He hated Washington, which was filled with bad people.
Gee, what a great guy.
Essentially, Haynesworth got a fresh start. Too bad he couldn’t leave his troubles behind given he’s the source of all of them.
“Just to be able to have the chance again to play and show what I can do is awesome,” Haynesworth told the Boston Globe. “I didn’t do much in D.C., and the scheme didn’t fit me and stuff, so now I can go out there and play, and I can get back to what I used to do.”
Of course, what he’s used to doing is playing 12 games a year, taking plays off regularly and getting into trouble on and off the field. Haynesworth spoke of wanting to become a Hall of Famer when he arrived in Washington in 2009 with a blockbuster deal. Instead, he was the biggest bust in team history, and he was traded away essentially for a bag of balls.
Haynesworth never mentioned why Tennessee didn’t want to keep him in 2009. The Titans knew he wasn’t worth the grief. Perhaps Vinny Cerrato’s greatest insult to the Redskins as their general manager — he was fired months after the signing — was the arrival of Haynesworth. The tackle was hailed as a new man.
Haynesworth was occasionally good in his first season in Washington. He liked the loose atmosphere in which coach Jim Zorn had no juice. He could run to the owner’s office to avoid sanctions for violations such as arriving late for meetings or reading the paper instead of listening to defensive coordinator Jim Haslett.
But then Mike Shanahan arrived and asked Haynesworth to come to offseason camps, pretty please with sugar on top. Here’s a $21 million check if you’re willing to play nose tackle. You are? Well, see you at offseason camps, partner.
And then it all fell apart. Haynesworth didn’t want to earn the money. He didn’t want to play the position, didn’t want to talk to anybody, didn’t want to be anything but a jerk.
Yet Haynesworth has the gall to blame the Redskins for his downfall, which was capped by a season-ending four-game suspension. This from the guy who stayed on the ground rather than chase Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick. You could have reached “10 Mississippi” before Haynesworth moved off the dirt while Vick danced nearby.
Somehow, Haynesworth likes working for the NFL’s most demanding coach but not Shanahan. Go figure.
“It makes a huge difference when you feel good about coming into the door,” Haynesworth said. “If you go to work hating your job, you’re not going to perform at your best, but if you come to work and you enjoy being around the people that you work with, you’ll give it your all.”
All or nothing — somehow both are the same for Haynesworth.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
