Former Redskins linebacker, hero and all around good guy shocked us a few months ago when he slammed former defensive coordinator Jim Haslett’s chops as a coach.
“Why does Jim Haslett still have his job as a defensive coordinator after five years now of just ineptitude at the defensive coordinator position? He’s clueless as a defensive coordinator. He lacks attention to detail. He lacks feel on how to call a game. Some of the calls he used to call when I was playing were head-scratching. They were so bad, I used to change them, like, ‘We’re not running that.’ And we’d get off the field and he would ask, ‘Why did you change the call.’ (I would say), ‘Because that’s just a dumb call. That’s why I changed it.’”
~ Fletcher on the CBS Sports Network’s That Other Pregame Show, December 2014.
Fletch thought better if it and apologized to Haslett and his family via Twitter.
I just reached out to Jim Haslett and apologized for the harm I caused him and his family. He didn't deserve to be treated like that.
— TheIronman (@LFletcher59) March 25, 2015
I let my personal frustrations get to me. Haz treated me great while we were together. We all played a part in our success & failure. #HTTR
— TheIronman (@LFletcher59) March 25, 2015
Yeah, I get that “personal frustrations” part. The Redskins frustrate their fans in ways that only Cleveland and Oakland fans can relate to.
Haslett supported Fletcher’s return with a lucrative new contract in 2012 after aging Fletch found a thin market for his services as a 2012 free agent. Washington signed him on the verge of the NFL Draft when they selected Robert Griffin III. The team parked RG’s locker next to Fletcher’s to soak up all that leadership.
That’s why Fletcher’s blast of Haslett seemed so surprising. Team beat writers never wrote of dissension between the two.
Sports talk shows want players, perhaps even bait players into controversial statements about the game. The more sensational, the better the ratings. Just sayin’.
And poor Jim Haslett. (Yeah, I went there.) First his head coach changed his plays, then his field leader admits to doing the same.
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