When Kyle Shanahan, the Cleveland Browns’ new offensive coordinator, returns to Washington Monday night for a pre-season game, his star quarterback will be a rookie sensation who won the Heisman with a major Texas college program, who’s been anointed to lead his team out of a playoff drought. Washington fans have seen this movie before. And it’s one that should scare Johnny Football half to death.
Robert Griffin III, Kyle’s last quarterback of this description, is still speaking to Kyle—according to the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg (“It’s not that type of relationship where we wouldn’t talk,” the quarterback assured Steinberg.) But that’s as warm as RGIII could get about the man who got kicked to the curb with his head-coach dad, Mike, after a dreadful 3-13 season, and a QB/O coordinator partnership that had deteriorated past petulant to nonexistent.
(It’s another question whether the FedEx faithful will be even that generous. “I think he won’t get booed,” former Washington defensive back Fred Smoot told Washingtonian. “The Redskins are a classy organization; we have an educated and passionate fan base. It’s not like Philadelphia, where they don’t like anybody, not even their own players most of the time.” One man’s opinion.)
More worrying than last year’s record for Manziel may be the how Griffin’s rookie year wound up, in a calamitous playoff game against Seattle, when Griffin almost crawled off the field with a knee injury that required surgery and rehabilitation.
The two Texans’ similarities, after all, extend to their on-field play. “Both of us are real fast, guys that can play backyard football at times,” Griffin says on Steinberg’s SportsBog blog. That style, and the lack of protection, often left RGIII exposed.
“Kyle has to be very happy,” says Smoot. “He’s got two of the same kind of athletes. They are not just athletes—they are rock stars.”
Let’s see if Shanahan can keep his new frontman out of the mosh pit.
Find Carol Ross Joynt on Twitter at @caroljoynt.
Kyle Shanahan Returns to Washington With “Johnny Football” in Tow
When Kyle Shanahan, the Cleveland Browns’ new offensive coordinator, returns to Washington Monday night for a pre-season game, his star quarterback will be a rookie sensation who won the Heisman with a major Texas college program, who’s been anointed to lead his team out of a playoff drought. Washington fans have seen this movie before. And it’s one that should scare Johnny Football half to death.
Robert Griffin III, Kyle’s last quarterback of this description, is still speaking to Kyle—according to the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg (“It’s not that type of relationship where we wouldn’t talk,” the quarterback assured Steinberg.) But that’s as warm as RGIII could get about the man who got kicked to the curb with his head-coach dad, Mike, after a dreadful 3-13 season, and a QB/O coordinator partnership that had deteriorated past petulant to nonexistent.
(It’s another question whether the FedEx faithful will be even that generous. “I think he won’t get booed,” former Washington defensive back Fred Smoot told Washingtonian. “The Redskins are a classy organization; we have an educated and passionate fan base. It’s not like Philadelphia, where they don’t like anybody, not even their own players most of the time.” One man’s opinion.)
More worrying than last year’s record for Manziel may be the how Griffin’s rookie year wound up, in a calamitous playoff game against Seattle, when Griffin almost crawled off the field with a knee injury that required surgery and rehabilitation.
The two Texans’ similarities, after all, extend to their on-field play. “Both of us are real fast, guys that can play backyard football at times,” Griffin says on Steinberg’s SportsBog blog. That style, and the lack of protection, often left RGIII exposed.
“Kyle has to be very happy,” says Smoot. “He’s got two of the same kind of athletes. They are not just athletes—they are rock stars.”
Let’s see if Shanahan can keep his new frontman out of the mosh pit.
Find Carol Ross Joynt on Twitter at @caroljoynt.
Must-Reads
Take Our Restaurant Survey and You Could Win Dinner at a Mike Isabella Restaurant
10 Fall Festivals Near DC That You Don’t Want to Miss
Washingtonian’s Great Places to Work Application
DC is Getting an All-Male Burlesque Brunch
September 2016: How to Dress in DC
More from News & Politics
Photos and Scenes From the African American History Museum’s Opening Day
How History Museums Around the US Have Presented the African American Experience
Frederick Could Be an Urban Suburb of DC–Unless Its Good Ol’ Boy Past Gets in Its Way
Road Closures, Traffic Detours, and Security Information for the African American History Museum Opening
FDR Defended His Dog During a Campaign Speech in DC
DC’s Most Popular Baby Names Over the Years
How One Writer Told the Story of the New African American History Museum
The National Archives Just Released These GIFs of Old-Time DC—and They’re Awesome
Most Popular
The Best Cheap Restaurants in Washington, DC
100 Very Best Restaurants
9 New Restaurants to Try Now
How One Couple Transformed a Virginia Estate into the Ultimate Southern Lawn Party Wedding
I Was at the Montgomery Mall During the Shooting. This Is What It Was Like Inside.