Mike Shanahan Needs to Be Bigger Than Fat Albert

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In every battle of wills leading to anything but disaster, someone must step up and be the bigger person for the sake of everyone involved. This is leadership. In the National Football League, the Head Coach is the ultimately leader of anyone on the team having any direct impact on what happens on the field.

Albert Haynesworth's displeasure with the Washington Redskins' coaching staff (and vice versa) has been well chronicled in the sports media over the summer. Haynesworth is still on the team. He is still collecting his salary on a $100 million contract. He has yet to violate any of the terms of his contract, to my knowledge.



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He's in better shape than this guy!

I personally do not believe that Haynesworth cares, one way or the other, about the Redskins. I also do no believe that he cares that he is in the doghouse of the leadership of the organization. I doubt that he is overly concerned with the opinion of his teammates. I think that Haynesworth will do no more than show up and do what his contract dictates he is supposed to do. Given his super-freakish size, strength, and (almost unbelievable for his size) foot speed and quickness, and in spite of his attitude, that is an asset more than it is a liability on most NFL teams.

It is everyone else who seems to have the REAL problems. Daniel Snyder, yet again, is in danger of having wasted tens of millions on a free agent prospect whose motivation suddenly declines after arriving in our nation's capital. Mike Shanahan may be showing Haynesworth who is in charge, but he appears to be cutting his nose to spite his face in the process. Coach Shanahan needs to swallow his pride and play the man. I rarely question the wisdom of a two time Super Bowl winning coach, but sometimes a layman on the outside can see what even the wisest insider is overlooking. Shanahan's stubbornness in this situation is hurting the team more than Haynesworth is. By not playing Haynesworth (even if the team will eventually trade him), the coach is diminishing Fat Albert's trade value. If Albert is in the game, blowing up suckers and lighting up chumps, they can trade him more quickly for more value. Otherwise, they are letting the defensive equivalent of a top of the line Hummer sit in the garage while it depreciates, costing all parties involved in the long run. 


1) Image from http://www3.whig.com/whig/blogs/dobservations/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Redskins-Camp-Footbal_OBr.jpg
2) Image from http://atozsportsblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/huge-huge-huge.jpg