Ashburn, Va. – The Washington Redskins announced today that they have begun the 2015 Free Agency period by signing offensive linemen Tyler Larsen and Ty Nsekhe (pronounced en-SECK-he).
Larsen, 6’4″, 315 lbs., formerly out of Utah State, was originally signed as a 2014 undrafted free agent by the Miami Dolphins but he never made it past the final roster cuts.
While at Utah, the center was considered one of the best and initially many thought he would be a late round selection. During his college career, he earned first-team all-conference honors his final three seasons; twice in the Western Athletic Conference and once in the Mountain West after the school switched from one conference to the other.
As well, Larsen earned USA Today second-team All-American honors and was one of six finalists for the Rimington Trophy, given to the top center in college football. He played in the Senior Bowl, where he was one of the few interior offensive linemen who wasn’t run over in practice by now St. Louis Rams’ defensive tackle Aaron Donald, eventually the 13th overall selection in last year’s draft.
While Nsekhe, 6’8″ and 325 lbs., has only one year experience in the NFL, he has been around the league since 2012 and was in the Arena Football League just before that. Originally an undrafted free agent, he spent time that year on the St. Louis Rams’ practice squad as well as with the Indianapolis Colts. This past season, he was with the New Orleans Saints but was let go before the regular season began.
Formerly out of Texas State, Nsekhe might be better known because of a social media faux pas he made in 2013 when he responded to a tweet involving the military. A Twitter-user named Morgan Reed tweeted that it’s: “Hard to believe that a player in a helmet defendin’ a football makes more money than a soldier in a helmet defendin’ his country.”
“It doesn’t take much skill to kill someone” the former Bobcat tweeted in response. Needless to say, there were ramifications of the post — all harsh — by several people as well the Rams’ organization itself.
“The opinions Nsekhe shared via social media are his own and are completely contradictory to the values of our organization and the priority we place on military and veteran appreciation,” the statement by the franchise read. “The St. Louis Rams are grateful for the sacrifices our military and their families make in order to defend our freedom and protect our great nation. The Rams have a longstanding commitment to our military and veterans and that commitment has only been strengthened under Head Coach Jeff Fisher, a passionate supporter of the military and everything that they represent. We find it deplorable that anyone would express any feelings other than extreme gratitude for the service that our country’s military provides.”
Nsekhe later apologized publicly, writing that he understood “the sacrifices these members make so that all American’s can enjoy the freedoms our soldiers have afforded us. In no way were my comments meant to demean the members of our armed forces.”
These two linemen are the first free agent signings of the Redskins in 2015 and they are certainly NOT big splash signings. It will be interesting to watch the team during this year’s free agency period. New General Manager Scot McGloughan has indicated that he believes strongly in building a team through the draft so expect that the franchise will not “win the offseason” as much as they have in years past.
Hail.