America waited years to learn the identity of Deep Throat, the insider who spilled the dirt on the inner workings of the Nixon White House in the Watergate scandal. We only had to wait a few weeks to learn the ID of (one of) the yappers in RG3gate.
Washington Post sports columnist Jason Reid shared the nugget in a series of tweets.
Reed confirmed what we already knew. The voices that seemingly undermined the Shanahans are the Shanahans themselves.
I'm totally cool with the amount of stuff Shanny has leaked to me. And it's not about the kid's relationship with the owner. It's about
— Jason Reid (@JReidPost) December 17, 2013
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Trying to get the maximum return on a record investment. Someday, Snyder may have to write off Griffin as a huge loss. Doing it now would
— Jason Reid (@JReidPost) December 17, 2013
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Be crazy.
— Jason Reid (@JReidPost) December 17, 2013
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Voice of fans: LIES! Griffin will NEVER be a huge loss.
Now see? that right there may be a problem.
Mike Shanahan is a calculating man. That's not a negative. Whatever his purpose, it was more than to vent rage. His true purpose still escapes me, though.
Maybe it's to fight through fog from the owner to fans to the player himself that RG is untouchable. Even with two surgically reconstructed knees, Griffin never had to compete for the starting job. Even now, the shut down is justified as a safety issue and not for performance.
Sharp-eyed Hog Heaven contributor Scott Hirsch points us to KC Clyburn's post How not to build a competent NFL coaching staff, the Mike Shanahan way on the HTTR24-7 blog.
Clyburn has keyed some insightful looks at RG3gate. This time he takes an in depth look at the Redskins coaching staff and finds most lacking. Hog Heaven is particularly unimpressed with special teams coordinator Keith Burns. Clyburn is scathing of him and of Jim Haslett. He is less scathing of Kyle Shanahan but critical none-the-less.
They all have to go, he says. Um, with that record, yeah.
It's one of the oldest clichés in sports. Those that can, do. Those that can't, coach. In a bad year, everything you do is examined, every flaw magnified and anything you failed to do is the mother of all blunders.
Jason LaCanfora has a take similar to Clyburn's up on cbssports.com, Kyle Shanahan, staff inexperience at core of Redskins dysfunction.
LaCanfora was once the Redskins beat writer for The Post when the Redskins thought the local press were official sponsors of the team. Jason LaCa wrote that the emperor had no clothes often in the early Snyder years. The Redskins and a large segment of readers felt that candor made the team worse even though roster construction was flawed and games were lost stupidly.
I never had a problem with LaCanfora's reporting. In my search for the truth of why the Redskins didn't (and don't) win more games, LaCanfora spoke what the team did not want you to know. Larry Michael's anti-Jason segments on Redskins Nation made the team look like thin-skinned middle schoolers.
LaCanfora's was banned from Redskins Park, more or less, and he went on to other things at the NFL Network and now CBS Sports. He left bitter. Factor that in any comment he has about the 'Skins now. His work is still first-rate, but he will put the more negative spin on whatever he is reporting.
That's very much the same reason why fans do not want Donovan McNabb to mentor Robert Griffin III and his dad. McNabb has a long, distinguished career. His animus towards Mike the Knife and the Redskins would poison any advice he offers RG.
That doesn't seem so important now. Meh.
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