Washington may be divided along Republican, Tea Party and Democratic lines, if there is one thing that unites many in The District is their love of the Washington Redskins.
The Redskins have three Super Bowl titles and a long and proud history of top-flight quarterbacks ranging from Sammy Baugh and Joe Theisman to the first African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl, Doug Williams.
For all of their storied accomplishments, the Redskins have not had a bona-fide starter under center since the days of Mark Rypien and Jay Schroeder.
Does the name Heath Shuler ring a bell?
With the recent Donovan McNabb debacle, you cannot help but wonder if journeymen quarterbacks, John Beck and Rex Grossman are the answer in D.C
Grossman, who recently proclaimed that the Redskins would be a sleeper in the NFC East, would back up his words with an impressive one touchdown, 207-yard performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the Redskins 16-7 win in their pre-season opener.
Pre-season may not count in the standings, but Grossman’s performance—mainly against the Steelers second and third stringers—may have turned some heads in the nation’s capital.
The former Florida Gator was selected 22nd overall by the Chicago Bears in the 2003 NFL Draft, the 6’1 236-pound Grossman led the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006, his first full year as a starter.
Chicago would go on to lose to the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI, 29-17
Grossman would go on to lose the Chicago Bears starting quarterback job to Kyle Orton, and would eventually be cut after the 2007-2008 season and sign with the Houston Texans in 2009.
Washington would sign Grossman after the 2009-10 season as a backup to —former starter and current Minnesota Vikings quarterback—Donovan McNabb.
Now with McNabb gone, Grossman has an opportunity to become the man in Washington because he may have found the perfect system with the perfect coach that plays to his strength of attacking vertically downfield.
In Washington, Grossmann finally has a set of veteran wideouts in Jabar Gaffney, Donte Stallworth and Santana Moss to throw to and a reliable pass-catching tight end in Chris Cooley to help him in the red-zone.
Which are vast improvements over the Bears 2006 roster of wideouts Bernard Berrian, Justin Gage, Mushin Muhammad and tight end, Desmond Clark
Grossman will also be helped out in the backfield by newly-acquired free agent running back, Tim Hightower.
While Hightower is not in the same class as former Chicago Bears running backs from the 2006 Bears NFC champion team of Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones, being in Kyle Shanahan’s vertical passing attack—who was Grossman’s offensive coordinator in Houston—looks like a perfect fit.
If Grossman continues to show his strong play under center for Washington in pre-season, his opening statement for the starting job, and his claims of the Redskins being sleepers, may not turn heads for much longer.
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