The Washington Redskins players are not alone in their attempt to stay in shape and be ready for football when this work stoppage is finally over. While the player-only workouts during the lockout have been attempted in secret, they have ended up being regularly attended by the media and so have gotten attention. There have been many tweets about it, YouTube videos of players working out, and articles about teams working out together during this strange off-season. The theme of staying in shape is a common one around the league these days.
There was a time, however, when that wasn’t necessarily the case.
Once this lockout is over, there is going to be a huge push by coaches to get teams ready for a football season. There will have been no mini-camps, no strength/conditioning programs and no official organized team activities (OTAs) when the players finally get into their facilities. Depending on the date an agreement is finally reached, it’s likely that training camps will follow shortly and hopefully, on time. There is hope that no games will be missed – preseason or otherwise – but there is no guarantee of that. With the lack of OTAs, injuries to players are a concern in the coming season.
Long-time or knowledgeable Redskins fans know that two Superbowls won by their team came in seasons immediately following work stoppages. In 1982, the season was shortened from 16 games per team to nine because of a players’ strike and Washington beat the Miami Dolphins 27-17 to win Super Bowl XVII. That season, the strike began on September 21, 1982 and lasted 57 days until November 16th. No games were played during that time, unlike the later strike, in 1987, where replacement players were employed and games were played.
In 1987, The NFLPA struck for 24 days and the regular season was reduced from 16 games to 15. The only games missed were in the third week of the season and the Washington Redskins, as in 1982, won Super Bowl XXII that year.
It would be awesome – however naïve – to fantasize that Washington could go on to win a Superbowl in 2011 after another player work stoppage. However, this team is in no way similar to the teams that made up the Redskins back in 1982 and 1987. In those two years, the previous seasons’ teams were already very good.
In 1981, the Redskins’ record was 8-8 and it was then head coach Joe Gibbs’ first season. He had the likes of Joe Theisman on his roster at quarterback, Joe Washington and John Riggins at running back, Art Monk receiving, Don Warren and Rick “Doc” Walker at tight end. There was Jeff Bostic, Joe Jacoby and Russ Grim on the offensive line and Mike Nelms returning balls.
Gibbs had a defense that consisted of Dave Butz at defensive tackle and linebacker Monte Coleman scoring six touchdowns. It was a team of veterans who were with the team the following season and were ready to take the next step.
By 1987, the Redskins had won 10 or more games per season for the last four years. In 1983, they were 14 and 2; in 1984 they were 11 and 5, in 1985 they were 10 and 6 and in 1986 they were 12 and 4. All but one of those years, they made playoff appearances. In 1987, the Washington Redskins were a team that could withstand a strike and still have a chance to win. They had players like pro bowlers Charles Mann and Darrell Green, Gary Clark and an amazing amount of players who had been on the 1982 Superbowl team.
It is admirable that the Redskins, as a team, have been so involved with the player practices and with individually working hard to stay in shape. They will need to be both unified and physically fit this year to have a chance with so many other things working against them in this lockout year. In going back and looking at that 1987 strike year, I found contrasts in how the players conducted themselves then compared to how the 2011 Redskins have during this lockout.
Most Redskins in 1987 were heavily involved in picketing during the strike in an attempt to keep the replacement players from getting into the Redskins’ training facility. Middle linebacker Neal Olkewicz was the NFLPA player representative and he would organize the rotation of players, making sure someone was always on hand to hold up a sign and represent the striking players.
However, although they were involved with that activity some of the time, the rest of the time there was not a lot of emphasis put on staying in shape physically – at least not publicly. According to an article dated September 28, 1987 in The Washington Post, striking Redskins were “running errands, mowing the lawn or sunbathing by the pool at the Dulles Marriott Hotel.” Even Joe Gibbs took rare time off the day the article was written.
“I’ll probably have a fight or two around the house,” he said to the reporter with a chuckle according to the reporter.
Dave Butz spent time during the strike trying to fix his home computer – with caulking, no less, according to another Washington Post article written on September 19, 1987. This was, of course, early in the strike, before he knew it was going to last for 57 days. Butz had been through the previous strike and knew that down time was not good for professional football players. He said that there had been too much “leisure time” from September 20 until November 17 in 1982. And so, he decided that during that 1987 strike, he would go hunting.
Other players were happy to tell reporters what they would be doing and much of the time, it wasn’t working out.
“I played lots of golf,” said center Russ Grimm. “Got my handicap dropped seven notches, from 30 to 23.”
“I mowed lots of grass,” said Pro Bowl guard R.C. Theilemann.
In the articles I was able to find, only one player openly admitted he was trying to stay in shape.
“I hung out, worked out quite a bit,” said linebacker Rich Milot. “But I don’t remember doing anything special.”
I did find out that the 1982 and 1987 Redskins worked out and/or practiced together a few times… just not as much or as publicly as the 2011 players. In fact, according to Washington Post reporter, Ken Denlinger, that is one of the reasons the 1982 team recovered so well from the strike.
After the 1987 strike, Joe Gibbs knew he was going to have his work cut out for him getting his players back to shape.
“It’s my job to work with them and make the most out of this break,” he said. And his players seemed to agree. They were much more successful than the current team at keeping their practices secret.
“We’ve gotten together and gone over stuff,” linebacker Mel Kaufman said, “but we don’t want to be disturbed or to have any distractions.”
The willingness and enthusiasm to work out together that the current Washington Redskins players have displayed is such a great thing. We don’t know that this is hugely different from the 1982 and 1987 teams. They might have felt the same way. Because any practices they had were not made public, there is no way to truly know without talking to all of them.
The lack of team OTAs is likely going to be a problem for every team in 2011 but some have bigger problems than just that. There are teams with brand new coaching staffs (Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, and Carolina Panthers) and teams with new quarterbacks (Cam Newton/Panthers, Blaine Gabbert/Jacksonville Jaguars, Christian Ponder/Minnesota Vikings, Andy Dalton/Cincinnati Bengals, Colin Kaepernick/San Francisco 49ers).
The Redskins have their own set of problems. The lack of a prototypical nose tackle is a dilemma. There are questions at so many positions: quarterback, cornerback, running back, wide receiver and all along the offensive line. Those questions may be answered as soon as the lockout ends and Free Agency opens up. General Manager Bruce Allen has said that the team will be aggressive during this period. And once training camp begins and guys can begin competing for positions, coaches and fans alike will have a more clear idea of who will actually be filling the aforementioned positions. Going into the second year of head coach Mike Shanahan’s system will help.
But what will also help is the fact that the players for Washington have been working together once a month during a time when there is no other way for them to build any sort of game timing or cohesiveness. That is not to say they should not do things together like fishing or playing golf but these activities would not really help them get ready for a fiercely violent game that is going to come very quickly once this lockout is over.
I don’t know if the current players have much knowledge of how their predecessors spent their work stoppages. I do know that the current players have shown a real dedication to their craft during this lockout. If history can ever repeat itself in the NFL, let’s hope that this is the year and the Washington Redskins are the team.
Hail.