Ask Amile : Redskins & Raider Fan Talk PLUS...The Art of Tackling

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From the inbox

Q. Why are so many people writing off the Redskins so quickly? In my opinion their season is very unpredictable. Their defense looks very good on paper and has the potential to be great. Their offense has had reasonable upgrades at key positions, and they have great depth at tight end. As for the quarterback issue, I don't see a huge issue. Rex Grossman did lead a team to the Super Bowl and John Beck hasn't had a chance to prove anyone wrong or right, so it's wrong to write him off. Do you think that the Redskins have the potential to go .500 or have a wild card spot this year?

Robert from Leesburg, Va.

A. "Potential" is a dirty word in the NFL, and I think most of the doubt relating to the Redskins revolves around their QB situation because their run game has looked stellar thus far in the preseason. No matter who starts for the Skins, he clearly will be the least accomplished passer in a very tough division, and therein lies the problem. Although I think we know what Grossman is as a quarterback, I believe the jury is still out on Beck. I don't know how people can have such definitive opinions after four starts as a rookie for a horrendous Dolphins team. He might be terrible, or he could end up being great or something in between, but how does anyone know at this point? They don't. The Shanahans are staking their reputation on him, which means either way it will be very interesting.

Q. Do you think that tackling is a lost art in the NFL? It seems that so many players go for that "Big Hit" that there are far too many missed tackles. I'm not trying to take anything away from the RBs, WRs etc., breaking tackles, but defenders seem to look for the highlight reel hit or the "Ole!" arm-tackle."Your thoughts?

Pat from Indianapolis

A. I'm not surprised to get this email from Indy, given how poorly the Colts' defense has tackled thus far this preseason. As far as overall tackling, this is something that I hear all the time. Most people just accept it as fact, but I am not convinced. I'd love to see some sort of metrics that support the thesis that tackling is a lot worse now than it used to be. Sometimes I think it is kind of like the "when I was your age, I used to walk five miles to school uphill barefoot in the snow" thought process. There are plenty of players who are very sure tacklers. Maybe those who aren't shouldn't be on the field.

Q. As a Raider fan it is hard to become excited about this upcoming season, so is there anything that the Raider Nation and I should pay attention to in order to stay interested in our team?

Brian from Rubidoux, Calif.

A. I share your concern about the Raiders this year and am very disappointed by their offseason. The Raiders have an awesome fan base, and the league is more interesting when they are good. I fear they are going in the wrong direction this year. They won more than five games for the first time since 2002, going a respectable 8-8 last season, yet they fired their head coach and lost their best offensive player (Zach Miller), defensive player (Nnamdi Asomugha) and offensive lineman (Robert Gallery) in free agency. That's not good. Seems to me that with the exorbitant contracts that they gave to Michael Huff, Kamerion Wimbley and Stanford Routt, the Raiders paid the wrong guys. When you talk with other executives around the league, it always seems as though the Raiders are negotiating with themselves. No other team would have given contracts even close to the amount that the Raiders gave those three good but not elite players.

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NFL UPDATE: Washington Redskins release Clinton Portis, whats next?!

WASHINGTON -- "Southeast Jerome" is officially gone for good. As well as "Dolla Bill" and "Sheriff Gonna Getcha."

Clinton Portis was released by the Washington Redskins on Monday, ending a charismatic and sometimes contentious seven-year stay that, for a while at least, made him the face of the franchise.

“

I always spoke the truth and I think that's bigger to me than the rushing record or the touchdowns or anything else.

”-- Clinton Portis

Injuries and money led to coach Mike Shanahan's decision. Portis had played in only 13 games over the past two seasons because of a severe concussion in 2009 and a torn groin muscle in 2010.

Portis was scheduled to make $8.3 million next season, and Shanahan made it clear at the NFL combine that the Redskins wouldn't keep the 29-year-old running back at that price.

"We're going to let him test the market," Shanahan said, "and see what's out there for him."

Portis told 106.7 The Fan that he was given a chance to restructure his contract, but he said it would be "hard to accept not being the go-guy."

"It was kind of a mutual decision," Portis said. "They could have sat and held on and played around. They gave me an opportunity to further my career and go somewhere where I can help."

"We have been through a lot both on and off of the field and we would like to wish him and his family the very best," Redskins owner Dan Snyder said in a statement announcing Portis' release. "He will always be a Redskin and go down as one of the franchise's all-time greats."

Portis is 77 yards short of 10,000 career rushing yards and leaves Washington 648 yards shy of one of his oft-stated goals -- Hall of Famer John Riggins' franchise record.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Caleb Jones"Coach Janky Spanky" was just one of the many colorful characters Clinton Portis trotted out for the media during his breakout 2005 season.

"If the record meant that much, I think I could stay in D.C. to get it," Portis said. "Although I wanted it, I don't think I wanted it bad enough to ... continue to endure the area to get it. If John Riggins is the only name you can say did more than me as a Redskins running back, that's great company to be in. And I'm OK with that."

Portis will be most remembered for his colorfully productive 2005 season, when he set a franchise single-season rushing record (1,516 yards) and led the team to its first playoff berth in six years while playing dress-up along the way. Every Thursday during the season's homestretch he would appear in costume, playing a wide range of characters that also included "Bro Sweets" and "Inspector Two-Two."

Portis is also one who freely speaks his mind, and that frequently got him into trouble over the years. He picked on his offensive line. He derisively called coach Jim Zorn a "genius." He said female reporters are naturally "going to want somebody" when they see undressed players in the locker room.

He even belittled Riggins, saying the local legend had it easier in the 1980s because it was "really not hard to be a great running back when you've got that talent all around you."

"I always spoke the truth," Portis said Monday, "and I think that's bigger to me than the rushing record or the touchdowns or anything else."

Portis was also profoundly affected by the death of Redskins safety and good friend Sean Taylor in 2007. Both played for the University of Miami.

"Being a Redskin was a special part of my life," Portis said. "Coming and being in that organization, I turned from a kid having fun to a man carrying responsibilities. I tried to put the world on my shoulders for coach [Joe] Gibbs and the Redskins fans."

Portis played in only five games in 2010 before the groin injury ended his season. He rushed for a career-low 227 yards on 54 carries with two touchdowns.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

WTF of the Day: Redskins benched McNabb...... for Rex Grossman??

ASHBURN, Va. -- It's Rex Grossman over Donovan McNabb. Again. And this time, it's from the opening kickoff.

The Washington Redskins plan to start Grossman on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, coach Mike Shanahan said Friday.

Shanahan is benching a six-time Pro Bowl quarterback billed as the next John Elway when he came to the franchise in April.

McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith, told ESPN that the Redskins' decision is "disrespectful to Donovan. He has not been more disrespected his whole career than he has this season. It's absolutely ridiculous."

The 34-year-old McNabb is struggling through his worst season since he was a rookie in 1999. He's thrown a career-high 15 interceptions and ranks 25th in the NFL with a 77.1 rating for the Redskins (5-8), who have been eliminated from the playoff race.

He was infamously benched for Grossman in the final two minutes with the game on the line against Detroit in October, a stunning decision made even more bizarre by Shanahan's mangled explanations that followed.

The coach first said he felt Grossman had a better grasp of the team's two-minute offense, then said McNabb lacked the "cardiovascular endurance" to run a fast-paced drill because of nagging hamstring injuries. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said McNabb had been tipped in advance that the team might go with Grossman; McNabb said he hadn't.

Before the next game, the Redskins gave a McNabb a five-year contract extension nominally worth $78 million -- but the only thing it guaranteed was that McNabb would receive an extra $3.5 million this season. The deal contains a clause that allows the Redskins to cut McNabb before next season with no further financial obligation.

This week, the situation began again to take more strange turns.

McNabb said his communication the coaching staff had improved since the benching; neither of the Shanahans would agree with that. McNabb said he would expect to know by Wednesday if he weren't starting, calling it a matter of "professionalism."

On Thursday, Kyle Shanahan seemed to go out of his way to avoid praising McNabb while meeting with reporters, but he implied McNabb was still starter when he said the preparation for this week was "no different" from last week as far as the quarterbacks were concerned.

This certainly wasn't the vision the Redskins presented when they traded two draft picks -- a second-round choice this year and a third- or fourth-rounder next year -- to Philadelphia for McNabb. It seemed curious the Eagles would trade a quarterback to a division rival unless they felt his best days were behind him, but the Redskins couldn't stop gushing at a news conference two days later, noting that Elway was roughly the same age as McNabb when he led Mike Shanahan's teams to two Super Bowl titles with Denver in the 1990s.

"People were saying John Elway should retire," Mike Shanahan said at the time, "until he won the Super Bowl."

Grossman was signed by the Redskins in the offseason because he was familiar with the team's new offense and would be able to help teach it to McNabb. Grossman was a backup last year in Houston, where Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator.

In his only appearance this year -- relieving McNabb in the loss to Detroit -- Grossman fumbled while being sacked on his first play, and the ball was returned for a touchdown. He finished the game, going 4 for 7 for 44 yards.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report

Haynesworth is AT IT AGAIN .....speaks on 'Haters'

ASHBURN, Va. -- Even by Albert Haynesworth standards, it was quite a day. A teammate called him out, essentially for being selfish. He got publicly summoned to the coach's office. A television report suggested he appeared "hung over" at practice last week.

Then, late in the day, the Washington Redskins defensive lineman had his own say. Appearing on a radio station, Haynesworth blamed the report on "haters" that don't like him, said he's too upset to meet with coach Mike Shanahan on Tuesday, and again proclaimed he could be the greatest ever if he could play the way he wants to play.

“

All you've got to do is take off the dadgum leash and let me loose and you will see how great I am. ... I want to play football; that's what I want to do. Let me be great at it. Let me accomplish my goals. I want to be the best defense tackle to ever play this game.

”-- Albert Haynesworth

"I believe there's some kind of haters in the organization, that they don't like me," Haynesworth said on 106.7 The Fan. "I don't know if it's players, I don't know if it's coaches, I don't know who it is. Obviously somebody who doesn't like me, which is fine. But when you go out there and start making up lies, then, yeah, I've got something to say."

Haynesworth was inactive for Sunday's game against the New York Giants. He said coaches told him it was because he didn't have a good practice on Thursday and was limited at Friday's practice because of an illness, and was late for a meeting. Comcast SportsNet reported that unnamed sources said Haynesworth appeared hung over on Friday after being out late Thursday.

"Yeah, I went out on Thursday but left early because I wasn't feeling good and went home," Haynesworth said. "And then they want to sit here and say I was hung over and drunk and something like that? ... For these people to make up lies to try to make me look bad, it's ridiculous."

No matter how it's labeled, the Redskins have a Haynesworth headache that won't go away, even in December with Washington (5-7) essentially out of the playoff picture and morphing into wait'll-next-year mode.

Defensive end Phillip Daniels become emotional when speaking about Haynesworth earlier in the day.

"I've been through 15 seasons and I ain't won (anything). So what I'm saying is if I can come out here and do this, don't tell me that you can't do it," Daniels said. "I want every guy on this team to do well. I want you to realize that if you ain't all in, you don't need to be here."

Daniels said the distractions involving Haynesworth are "not healthy" for the team and that it "drags you down." He called Haynesworth a "great person" who "tries for the most part to fit in," but Daniels also cited a slogan from college -- "Big team, little me" -- and said that's the part Haynesworth doesn't get.

"That's what I go out there and play for every day -- my teammates," Daniels said. "And I think that's the part of the game that really skipped by him.

In defending himself, Haynesworth seemed to actually confirm what Daniels was saying, speaking disproportionately about personal goals rather than team goals. He also referenced how he was used in Tennessee before signing with the Redskins last year.

"Everybody's saying I'm not committed. I'm committed. I'm out here to play. I always play hard. I play hurt. I mean I'll blow out something before I quit playing," Haynesworth said.

"They pay me this money: Let me play like I played in Tennessee. I will show you. I made a lot of plays in Tennessee; I can do the same thing here. All you've got to do is take off the dadgum leash and let me loose and you will see how great I am. ... I want to play football; that's what I want to do. Let me be great at it. Let me accomplish my goals. I want to be the best defense tackle to ever play this game."

Haynesworth conceded he was "a minute late" for an 8 a.m. meeting Friday and perhaps didn't have the best of practices the day before.

"If I didn't have a good practice, sue me," he said. "Everybody doesn't go out and have a great practice every day. But that doesn't mean I can't play on Sunday."

Shanahan said he plans to meet with Haynesworth and won't discuss anything about the matter until the meeting has taken place. The coach declined to say whether Haynesworth will remain on the roster for the rest of the season.

"I think it's fair for me to talk to him before I talk to you," Shanahan told reporters.

Haynesworth said the meeting will have to wait until Wednesday.

"I'm not going into the office tomorrow," he said Monday. "I'm still heated over this. I just got sick of it."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press