Linebacker Matt Sinclair, six-foot-two, 245 pounds. Two-year veteran of NFL Europa, from the University of Illinois. A free agent who’d been cut by Baltimore and Miami, Sinclair made the Redskins practice squad.

Cornerback Carlos Rogers, six feet, 195 pounds. Third year out of Auburn University. To his friends he’s Carlos. But to the kids in the Augusta, Georgia, neighborhood where he grew up, he’s Mr. Rogers. “It’s a respect thing,” he says of his tattoo.

Cornerback Fred Smoot, five-foot-eleven, 190 pounds. Seventh year out of Mississippi State. “I don’t need the tats or gold teeth, no braids or dreads, to show where I’m from,” says Smoot, back with the Redskins after two seasons in Minnesota. “I could be the prettiest guy in the NFL.”