Left guard’s best work often goes unnoticed
Pete Kendall didn’t need a reminder, but he got one Sunday. Anonymity has its benefits. For an offensive lineman, especially one like Kendall, it means this: he’s doing his job.
At 285 pounds — soaking wet, as teammate Casey Rabach said — Kendall is not an imposing left guard. He doesn’t survive by pancaking defensive linemen; he gets by solely by doing what’s asked. And doing it well.
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“I’ll never do something on a positive note that’s gonna make the guy calling the game get the telestrator out and talk about what a physical imposing job that was,” Kendall said. “I just hope I don’t have too many more Sundays where they get the telestrator out.”
Which leads us to this past Sunday vs. St. Louis. For 60 plays Kendall was as he hoped, an anonymous effective performer. Time and again he opened holes, driving out his man, then obstructing a linebacker. But then came the infamous folly, when he caught a tipped pass, tried to run, fumbled and had it returned 75 yards for a touchdown in the loss to St. Louis.
The play did not define Kendall, well-regarded in the locker room.
“Reliability, availability,” line coach Joe Bugel said when describing Kendall. “He’s easy to coach. He understands the game and for [his size] he’s very explosive. He never loses a battle. Either he wins it or comes out in a tie. He won’t get knocked on his rear end.”
Said quarterback Jason Campbell, “He’s a really smart guy. He’s aware of every situation in the game; he’s always communicating.”
Kendall plays with knees that bother him more as the season unfolds. It’s why the Redskins gave him a day off last week — his first since camp opened — and another one this week. Those won’t be the last.
“I feel better than I did four years ago,” said Kendall, in his second season in Washington and 13th overall. “[But] they still need some managing.”
Washington’s interior has a challenge Sunday against massive nose guard Shaun Rogers. He’s big, but very nimble and often will be double-teamed.
And if the Redskins win, it’s likely that Kendall will have played a vital, yet unnoticed, role.
“From a selfish standpoint, everybody would like to be appreciated publicly for the things they do,” he said. “But as long as the guys in the locker room understand … I’m giving everything I have, then that’s OK.
“Not everyone can be a Pro Bowler and Hall of Famer. Like Judge Smails told Danny in Caddyshack, ‘The world needs ditch-diggers too.’”
