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HH's Hump Day Redskins Hullabaloo

Guess what day it is??? Mike Harar takes a weekly look at the offseason news and notes of the Washington Redskins along with the rest of the NFL.

By Mike Harar
Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

 

We had some excitement this week in Redskins Land as a couple of our favorite fan celebrities made headlines.  Also, there was another minicamp practice at which the media had access, another Redskins player made the NFL Network's Top 100 list and others continued their excellent work in the DC community.  On top of all this, a team veteran made an interesting analogy when trying to explain what it was like having a new coach.  There was a lot of Hullabaloo to look back on (isn't there always?).  Let's get right to it:

Redskins Hullabaloo of the Week:

-        And on the third day (of the second minicamp), Dan Snyder gave us Matthew McConaughey!!  That's right: Academy Award winner, huge Redskins' fan and all around cool guy Matthew McConaughy.  While donning a Redskins shirt, he visited with the team and roamed the practice field.  Throughout the day, we were gifted with many pictures of the ordeal.  There were pictures of him up close:

Pictures of him from a distance:

Pictures of him schmoozing with DeSean Jackson:

Pictures of him reliving old memories with Doug Williams:

And pictures of him sandwiched between a port-a-john and RG3:

By all accounts, it was an electric experience.  The biggest surprise of the day (at least for the Hump Day staff), was when it became clear that many of the Redskins players and their head coach, Jay Gruden, had never seen McConaughey's best movie of all time, Dazed and Confused.  This was brought to light by NBC4 sports reporter Dianna Russini, as she apparently was asking people throughout the day.  In our opinion, this should be remedied at once, and we propose to the Redskins and Ms. Russini that we host the first ever Hump Day Spectacular Dazed and Confused Redskins Movie Night.  Someone really needs to get on that.

-        The real reason McConaughy was in town was to join our favorite running back Alfred Morris for the first ever Movies with Morris charity night, and to announce a partnership between the Redskins Charitable Foundation and McConaughy's Just Keep Livin Foundation.  Yeah, even his foundation name is cool.

-        Also, while the actor roamed the sidelines, the Redskins actually held a practice.  DeSean Jackson did not participate with the offense, as he was still hampered by a sore hamstring.  Gruden stated afterwards that the team hopes he will be ready to go in Minicamp #3, which started June 10th.  All of this was met with laughter and scoffing by many Eagles fans, who are cautiously optimistic that the DeSean Jackson Experience will blow up in the faces of Washingtonians.

-        In other news and notes from the minicamp, second year running back Chris Thompson and defensive tackle Stephen Bowen also did not participate.  In the spirit of competition, we would like to see Thompson get healthy soon as we are hopeful that he and rookie Lache Seastrunk will be able to compete to provide a boost of speed out of the backfield this season along with providing special teams help.

-        Brian Orakpo finally put out a message that fans could get behind:

-        Middle linebacker Keenan Robinson continued to impress and Jay Gruden continued to give him praise in the post-practice press conference:

-        Gruden also praised Kory Lichtensteiger in the press conference for his play at center.  Lichensteiger seems to have locked down the center position as things stand.  For now...

-        Even though there is still plenty of uncertainty at safety for the Redskins in this offseason, Reed Doughty published a formal goodbye to the team and the fans this week.  I am still not convinced that the Redskins have completely moved on from his services, but he apparently is.  During his tenure in Washington, Doughty provided a steady presence on the team and was always a cerebral and tough player.  We at the Hump Day offices wish him well in his future endeavors, especially if those endeavors lie back here with the Redskins.

-        Another Redskins player made the NFL Networks's top 100 list, and this time it was left tackle Trent Williams who landed at #60.  At this point, it may be safe to assume that no more Redskins will make the list, even though Alfred Morris and Robert Griffin III still have not made an appearance.

-        Speaking of community events, wide receiver Pierre Garcon hosted the All White Party on Thursday to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of DC.  Many area athletes and celebrities came to support the cause and a lot of money was raised.  The highlight of the evening seemed to be this duet:

-        As many of you know and are not necessarily happy about, Ryan Clark has been spending a decent amount of time in Bristol, CT making some appearances on SportsCenter.  During one of his visits last week, Clark said the following to former ESPN 980 Redskins reporter and current ESPN talking head Bram Weinstein:

-        We also received some good news on Richard Crawford this past week, when the following was tweeted:

Crawford was a dynamic punt returner and improving cornerback in 2012.  Having him back at full speed could give the Redskins a big boost in two areas of need.

-        Finally, Santana Moss was quoted this past week for saying the following:

There is really not much more that can be said here, other than he's probably right.  The goal is that this relationship, which is still in the honeymoon phase, will lead to a long and successful marriage filled with many Lombardi Trophies.

Team Having the Best Week: The San Francisco 49ers - The 49ers finally locked in golden boy quarterback Colin Kaepernick with a long term deal that is seemingly team friendly as well.  The total deal is for seven years and $127 million, although only $13 million was guaranteed at signing, with the additional $48 million guaranteed only with injury.  This was a move that had to be made, and one that will keep Kaepernick in San Francisco for a large chunk of his career, for better or for worse.  Interesting side note: backup and first round bust Blaine Gabbert still has a higher annual salary ($2 million) in 2014 than Kaepernick ($745,000).  Other interesting side note: The 49ers traded for and are counting on Gabbert to be their backup.

Team Having the Worst Week: The Cleveland Browns - yep:

Huge Redskins Fan Dale Jr. Report (Aka Why Junior is Awesome):

Junior!!!!!!!!!  Our buddy Dale hung tough and won at Pocono for his second win of the season in the Pocono 400.  His other victory came at a little race you may have heard of that goes by the name of The Daytona 500.  Dale has now assured himself a spot the Chase field, sits in third place with 476 points and is 22 points back from the leader (Jeff Gordon).

The crew heads to the Michigan International Raceway this Sunday for the Quicken Loans 400.  Look for the Superman car to make another appearance.

Random UnRedskins Item: The Miami Heat are currently playing the San Antonio Spurs for the NBA championship.  In Game 1 on Friday night, the AT&T Center in San Antonio had a problem with the air conditioning and the temperature got fairly hot inside the arena.

Unfortunately, Miami Heat super star Lebron James did not drink enough Gatorade and started cramping, until he finally had to exit the game for good with several minutes left in the fourth quarter.  That moment was captured here:

The Heat lost that night, and this started a series of tweets by Spurs' fans simulating Lebron's exit from the game.  Here are some examples:

That got us thinking about another type of Lebroning, and we found this video that we found fairly funny.  Enjoy:

Next on the Redskins' schedule: The team is currently in minicamp June 9 - 12.

That is it for this week's Hullabaloo!  Thanks for checking in and we'll see you next week.

Until then........

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