When asked by 106.7's Holden Kushner if he would consider our current endeavors as "a rebuild" Bruce Allen had this to say:
"I don't know what rebuild is. I think there's an opportunity each week to do well in the NFL. Last year we had a chance to do better, we had a chance to do worse than our 6-10 record. And every opportunity that we're gonna be given this year, we've got to compete. I don't think it's fair to a veteran player to say that we're gonna worry about 2014 instead of 2011. London Fletcher deserves the opportunity to try and win every game we play, and that's what our organization is gonna focus on."
So Bruce Allen said that he does not believe in rebuilding? Wow.
I mean...wow.
Listen, I get it. You can't charge people ungodly sums of money to watch a team show up each week to collect their predetermined ass-whooping. Except...
That is precisely what they have been doing for years. You see, Vinny Cerrato didn't "believe in" the draft. He didn't "believe in" drafting offensive linemen regularly. Dan Snyder didn't "believe in" developing guys on the roster, choosing instead to fill starting spots with free agent veterans. Steve Spurrier didn't "believe in" pass protection. Jim Zorn didn't "believe in" calling off a fake field goal after the opponent called a time-out. We didn't "believe in" Brad Johnson, giving the job to Jeff George. We didn't "believe in" keeping a coach like Marty Schottenheimer--the only coach under Dan Snyder that doesn't have a losing record (he was 8-8.)
I'm going to give Bruce Allen the benefit of the doubt today. His words and his actions just don't line up. Bruce is not guilty of the same transgressions that doomed our franchise in years past--yet. Today he is merely guilty of insulting our intelligence. We just drafted 12 guys. We had over 20 new faces on our roster last season. With a new coach, a new scheme on both sides of the ball and all the new personnel in place, what the hell else would you call what we are doing?
Jesus...just call it what it is! WE ARE NOT STUPID. We can take it. And don't insult London Fletcher's intelligence either. You think he is making Super Bowl arrangements for his family in Indy? Come on, man. Using your same logic, you should be working the phones (after the lockout ends) to find London a team that can contend for a championship and get us something in return...to help us rebuild.
We get it--you want to win.
Great. We all do. Now is not the time for semantics. I understand--you are taking a step forward from the work you and Mike Shanahan did last year. So technically you could argue that we aren't rebuilding in 2011 because we started the process in 2010.
Just one problem though...rebuilding is not a one-year process. You don't "rebuild" for a year when your roster is ancient and mediocre to boot. It takes more than one year. And as long as we are playing the semantics game, technically...trading those draft picks for Donovan McNabb last season kind of derailed the rebuilding process. But Bruce--your draft a couple weeks ago makes up for most of that in my opinion. Stay the course.
Bruce, don't play word games. You not only believe in rebuilding, you are doing a pretty decent job of it these days. Be proud. You think Redskins fans are going to abandon you because the average age of our roster might drop by double-digits? Please...we'll hold a parade for you.
As I have said here already, Redskins fans can take the losing if it has a purpose. If we are putting young players in situations to learn; if we are developing a core group of guys that will form the nucleus of a team that can win for the next ten years; if we are committing to a plan that looks out 5-10 seasons from now--that is something we can all believe in.
You simply can't be as consistently bad as we have been the last decade without needing some honest-to-goodness rebuilding.
So many bad contracts.
So many aging veterans.
So many coaches.
So many undisciplined Sundays.
You have to believe in rebuilding. You are too smart not too, Bruce.