There was a commenter last week who begged me not go with you-know-who in this slot, which really threw me off. So I asked for suggestions for other possibilities and the silence was deafening. I never even considered that on this post, we would not be talking about none other than:
#7
Joe Theismann
The exercise to find alternatives is seemingly futile, as I can find zero evidence of any other former Redskin who wore this number (is that possible?) We know that no player has worn #7 since, as Theismann's jersey is among those "unofficially" retired by the team. More importantly, why would you even careto go with anyone else? As the NFL MVP in 1983, he led what was at the time, the most potent offense the NFL had ever seen, scoring 541 points. Theismann, Riggins, Monk, Brown, Garrett...come on. They were unstoppable--until they were stopped by the Raiders in the Super Bowl...D'OH! How about these for quarterback stats out of D.C.?
60.1% completion percentage
3714 yards
29 TD's
11 INT's
Not too shabby for a smallish white dude wearing a single-bar facemask with a mom named Olga. I was able to find a jpeg of the poster in Kevin's bedroom:
Theismann was beaten by Jim Plunkett twice actually--the aforementioned Super Bowl and the 1970 Heisman race. Still, being a stud QB out of Notre Dame, he was drafted into the NFL by the Dolphins AND into the MLB by the Minnesota Twins. But he failed to come to a contract agreement with the Dolphins (did the Lerners own the Dolphins back then**) and went up to Toronto to play in the CFL, where he was a two-time All-Star. The Redskins obtained the rights to Theismann in 1974 and he made the jump to the NFL. The only problem was the roster already had Billy Kilmer and Sonny Jurgensen on it. So he volunteered to return punts. You just have to love that. And you know what, he seemed to always exhibit the heart and feistiness of a punt returner for his entire career.
(**I know, I know...Joe Robbie owned the Dolphins and it was a disagreement between the two Joe's that led to Theismann going to Canada.)
Even more famous than the fight he displayed on the field, however, was the way in which he was forever removed from the field. That's right...Monday night, November 18, 1985. I was 9 years old. Oh yeah...we're showing it.
At the end of that video, Joe Theismann speaks of a new man that was born that night. He was right. This guy was born that night:
via i.a.cnn.net
He might not be your favorite talking head of all-time. He might even be the guy you least enjoyed on TV. But he was a Redskin, and sometimes that was enough to overlook things like him saying, "A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
And he was one of the ORIGINAL hosts of American Gladiators!
via www.agdomain.rockfacemedia.com
#7
Joe Theismann
There's no shortage of Joe Theismann stories and memories. What are your favorite memories of #7?