Richmond – When the Washington Redskins and the Houston Texans executed a joint practice-ending brawl this past weekend, it could have been perceived as just another training camp dust-off.
Surely these type of things happen all of the time. Football players, tired of beating on the same guy day-in and day-out in the intense heat of the summer, let off steam resulting in brief scuffles.
The aforementioned event however was in no way a “brief scuffle.” After the all-out fights were over, fans and media alike were left with a feeling of never having seen something of this magnitude.
Some will downplay it and some will take it for what it was worth… two teams that had some feisty moments over the three-day joint practice.
I mentioned to a few colleagues that the practices had become a little chippy. Players were giving top effort at times and, although nothing appeared dirty, it was obvious that things were brewing underneath the surface.
Some players mentioned that they had been forewarned by coaches that the third day’s practices would be intense. But no one envisioned a brawl coming. Head Coach Jay Gruden was one who did not see the day turning out the way it did.
“No, not at all,” he said when asked whether or not he saw the fight coming. “I thought the first two days were outstanding. It was good work, really. Going in full pads this day, the last day. The rain, the weather, the crowd… you could see everybody was a little anxious to get the practice in and put in a little bit extra in finishing runs and all that stuff. You could sense a little bit but what happened there you can’t really control. You try to control, but unfortunately it happened.”
Regardless of who or what sparked the final flame, one thing was clear… the 2015 Washington Redskins — regardless the number of final wins and losses — will be a tough-minded football team. One could possibly trace the team’s eventual identity to Saturday, August 8. On that day, the entire team put aside any locker room differences and/or egos and fought (no pun intended) for a common goal.
Some will say, “Don’t look too much into this… it’s a training camp formality.” But having been on that field Saturday in the driving rain and looking into the eyes of some of those players, this was a different look for the burgundy and gold.
When new General Manager Scott McCloughan was brought in to lead the organization and find talented players, he specifically said he wanted tough, physical guys who thought about football all of the time. Perhaps those comments alone galvanized some of the players to re-evaluate their place because Saturday, everyone was involved in the fracas.
For the first time in a long time, this group of men showed backbone. They were not going to be intimidated or pushed around and actually took the fight to Houston. If HBO, who was on hand filming for Hard Knocks, shows what truly happened in their production, they will show a Texans team that started out getting the best of the Redskins early but later was seriously having their lunch handed to them by — as McCloughan stated in his press conference — “a physical and tough group of guys.”
How all of this translates into the season is anyone’s guess. It could be a sign of good things to come or it could show an undisciplined team that will have results similar to those of seasons past.
My money is on the first equation.
Great dead my brother. #HTTR