The Furies of Albert Haynesworth

Dan Brooks, Haynesworth’s defensive line coach at the University of Tennessee, watched in amazement last season as three Cleveland Browns tried to block Haynesworth on numerous plays.

“It’s hard to commit two to a guy,” said Brooks, now coaching at Clemson, “but they started committing a third. That kind of becomes, ‘Wow.’ ”

“That’s rare,” agreed CBS analyst and former NFL general manager Charley Casserly.

But Haynesworth is a rare player, the big catch of the offseason, wooed to the Redskins with a seven-year, $100 million contract (with $41 million guaranteed).

Ah, yes, but then there’s this …

Haynesworth is a risk. His NFL career has been marred by run-ins with the police, ugly on-field incidents and lackadaisical play when he’s not strutting his stuff in hopes of winning a big free-agent contract. Will he be satisfied now that he’s hit the jackpot with the Skins? Will he sit out the same number of games he has in the past when not playing for a contract? Will off-field issues continue to plague him?

As one NFL general manager said, there’s a reason the Tennessee Titans made little effort to keep him, not even phoning him on the day before free agency. The Titans’ final offer guaranteed only $20 million. The GM said the Titans were split on whether they even wanted to keep a player who was named All-Pro in 2007 and 2008.

“That tells you everything you need to know,” the GM said. “They were the people who knew him best and liked him. Durability will be the biggest question mark.

“He’s a dominant player, the best defensive lineman in football, and he got paid accordingly. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about his talent, and when his motor is running he can dominate. It has nothing to do with anything outside of his durability and maintenance when he gets into his little funks. They’re always there.”

All of which leads to this question: What did the Redskins get in Haynesworth? He’s a 6-foot-6, 317-pound terror on the field who consistently draws extra attention, freeing up others to make plays.

But he also draws attention in disturbing ways. On Oct. 2, 2006, Haynesworth stomped on Dallas lineman Andre Gurode’s head. Gurode’s helmet was off, and he suffered a severe wound that needed 30 stitches. (The stomach-turning incident has been widely viewed on YouTube. Haynesworth first kicked Gurode, then appeared to scrape his cleats across his face.)

The league suspended Haynesworth for five games, the longest suspension for an on-field incident in the modern-day NFL. He was forced to forfeit $190,000 of his $646,000 salary.

In 2003, he kicked a teammate, center Justin Hartwig, in the chest during practice and had to be restrained by teammates.

Off the field, he had arrest warrants issued in 2006 because of a highway traffic incident. The charges later were dropped. Now Haynesworth is on probation for three months stemming from a December 2008 car accident in Tennessee, which occurred four days after he was sentenced to 30 days of probation from a traffic offense the previous March. Redskins coach Jim Zorn specifically mentioned concern over the driving incidents because of the harm they could cause to others.

“There’s a mixed bag because he comes with some reputation,” Zorn said. “But I think he’s determined to do things right. One thing I’ve appreciated about him is that he’s communicated honestly and up front about any situation that has come up.”

Tampa Bay and the New York Giants also felt he was worth the risk; both offered him substantial contracts. But Washington had the inside track because of Sherman Smith. The Redskins’ offensive coordinator was on the Titans’ staff from 1995 to 2007. Redskins executive vice president Vinny Cerrato said their best free-agent signings have come when someone in their organization had a link to a player.

Smith gave Haynesworth high marks. And, he said, after the suspension Haynesworth’s demeanor changed.

“A lot of times stuff would happen in practice, and Albert may get in a tussle with a guy or they may be mouthy with each other,” Smith said. “But Albert just stopped doing a lot of that stuff. He just practiced hard.

“There were no reservations in my mind. I had seen the change before he got the big contract.”

All the Redskins can do is judge Haynesworth by what they’ve heard and seen. He missed few days of the voluntary team workouts. This month he hired a trainer to work with him while in Knoxville. He’s talked often about wanting to be the game’s best player.

“He’s got a chip on his shoulder because there’s been so much stuff about his contract,” Cerrato said.

Like Smith, Brooks said he noticed a more mature Haynesworth after the Gurode incident, displaying a less violent temper and addressing problems head-on — even in private. The Titans put him in anger management meetings, but Haynesworth said natural maturation was what helped him on the field.

“It was just showing what I was gonna do,” Haynesworth said, “as far as to stop kidding around or whatever, and show these people that I’m very talented and can be the best … to ever play the position.

“You come to a crossroads in your life. I’m a prideful guy and I hate to lose, and I thought I was losing or at the point where it was make it or break it. I wanted to make it.”

His past suggests a high level of performance when he’s motivated. Haynesworth’s two Pro Bowls, for instance, came in the seasons following the stomping incident.

Brooks said Haynesworth was the most impressive high school junior he’d ever seen. But after Haynesworth signed with the University of Tennessee before his senior year, his play slipped. Early in his college career, Haynesworth was nearly booted from the team for, as The Sporting News put it back then, “maturity and motivation.” As a college junior, thanks to improved work habits, Haynesworth was once again dominant, Brooks said.

The Titans selected him in the first round after that season.

Playing for a new contract in 2007 (he eventually was designated a “franchise player,” which kept him around another year), Haynesworth recorded his first true standout season with a then-career-best six sacks.

But he’s played in all 16 of his team’s games only once, as a rookie. Since then he’s missed an average of 3.7 games. He sat out two games last year, though he has said he would have played had the Titans been in position to make the playoffs. Cerrato said he’s not concerned about Haynesworth’s durability.

Now Haynesworth faces the difficult task of living up to a contract that makes him a target of fans and opponents alike.

“We have talked about it,” Brooks said. “He very much understands. I would text him and he’d say, ‘I’m still in D.C.’ He spent more time there in the offseason than probably any offseason I remember since he’s been in the league.”

“A contract has nothing to do with what I do on the field,” Haynesworth said. “A contract doesn’t put any extra pressure on me. I put all the pressure on myself.”

The GM for the other NFL team doesn’t think things will change much, saying a “leopard doesn’t change his spots.”

The Redskins soon will see whether that’s accurate. Did they get someone who will be motivated by the faith the Redskins showed in him? Did they get a player eager to put his past behind him and determined to earn a place in the pro football pantheon? Or did they get a player with a bad attitude, lackadaisical work habits and behavior problems off the field?

“I started at a very young age, but you live and learn,” Haynesworth said. “I’ve definitely gotten stronger and smarter and, I guess, a better professional. I’m still not finished growing in that respect. But right now what you see is the finished product from the last seven years.”

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