Which Redskin is the "face of the franchise"?

Green Bay - Aaron Rodgers

New Orleans - Drew Brees

New England - Tom Brady

Think of a team, think of a player... usually the quarterback. That’s the “face of the franchise”.

It’s not always crystal clear

It’s not always clear all the time who the ‘face of the franchise’ is.

Take Dallas, for example. Is it Dak? Zeke? Jason Garrett? or maybe Jerry Jones?

What about Miami? A new head coach, TWO new veteran quarterbacks, an no genuine stars.

You can make the argument for players other than quarterbacks as well.

When people think of the Los Angeles Rams, do they immediately think of Jared Goff? Perhaps Todd Gurley or Aaron Donald or head coach Sean McVay are better bets for the role.

Da Bears, with Khalil Mack, may have a defensive player who just arrived that is more strongly associated with the image of the team than its quarterback, Mitch Trubisky.

One might have made similar arguments in the past for players like JJ Watt in Houston or Vonn Miller in Denver. Even now, I’m not so sure that those two players don’t outshine their respective quarterbacks when it comes to the guy that is most associated with the franchise — especially in Denver, where the face of the franchise may be the guy who wore #17 and hoisted the superbowl trophy.

Redskins

But we are Washington Redskins fans, and it occurs to me that the team is in a bit of an identity crisis.

I wonder if we agree on which player is the “face of the franchise”?

Let me run through a few candidates, and then we’ll see what you think.

Alex Smith

As the team’s highest paid player and putative starting quarterback, Alex is a possible first choice for FotF, but, all things considered, I don’t think anyone will ever really remember Alex Smith first-and-foremost as a Redskin.

Adrian Peterson

He was last year’s only consistent producer on offense, but there are lots of arguments against AD as the face of the franchise, not the least of which is that, when you think of Peterson, you think #28, purple. He is probably still the single active player most associated with the Vikings.

Trent Williams

Before the holdout, Silverback might’ve garnered a lot of support here. He’s one of our own; he’s been here since 2010; he’s arguably the best player on the team, and Washington has a tradition of loving linemen. Still, the FotF is a guy that other NFL fans think of when they think of your team. I’m not sure how many Patriots or Browns fans would think of Silverback if they were asked to name one Redskins player. Right now, I don’t know how many Redskins fans even like TW very much (for the record, I still like him and support him very much).

Derrius Guice

Sort of the corollary to Trent Williams is Derrius Guice. He just arrived, he’s a high profile skill player, and people all across the NFL fan base know his name. In the two or three months following the draft in 2018, Guice made himself a DC celebrity through his infectious personality and incessant use of Twitter and Instagram. I’m happy to make the argument that if he hadn’t torn up his knee, he would already be the undisputed face of the Redskins across the NFL. Aside from a short rant earlier this month, he seems to be doing all he can to reestablish the strong ties with the fans that he built following last year’s draft.

Jonathan Allen

He’s a defensive lineman, but he was a 1st round selection, he got tons of pre-draft hype two yearsago, he’s a BCS National Champion from Alabama, and he plays really good football. He’s been credited by a number of people who follow the team closely with being a leader on the team and one of the guys that has helped set a new tone for the locker room. Allen appears to be taking on an even greater leadership role this season, though he may not say enough words in front of the camera to be the face-of-the-franchise.

Ryan Kerrigan

We picked him in the 1st round of the 2011 draft, one year after Trent Williams. He’s a cornerstone of the franchise. Jay Gruden will tell you that no one works harder; no one is a better teammate or role model. Ryan Kerrigan is the clean-cut boy-next-door that you hope your daughter will bring home. Redskins fans love him, but, around the league he doesn’t have the kind of profile that one usually associates with a guy who produces the way Kerrigan does.

Josh Norman

JoNo may have the highest profile among non-Redskins fans of any player on the roster outside of Adrian Peterson. He’s jumping bulls in Spain, he’s on Dancing with the Stars, he gets interviewed by the national network shows, he’s had high-profile battles with vanquished foes like OBJ and Dez Bryant that have given him the notoriety to do high-profile mobile phone TV ads. Josh Norman certainly has his face out in front of the camera, and he’s always good for a quote (though personally, I find it really hard to understand what the hell he’s talking about most of the time. As an English teacher, I’m offended by the gibberish he spews in reply to questions from journalists). Beyond my personal dislike of his rambling incoherence, one big problem with Norman as FotF is that he is still probably at least as much associated with the Panthers as with the Redskins, and a lot of Redskins fans resent him for his lack of statistical production to back up his very large dollar contract.

Dwayne Haskins

I remember how immediately Robert Griffin became the face-of-the-franchise when he was drafted in 2012 - it was instantaneous. It’s quite different with Haskins, who was the 3rd quarterback drafted, and taken #15 overall. As we approach the midpoint of the or season, it seems unlikely that Dwayne will be the starter when the Redskins visit Philadelphia in Week 1. He certainly wears the mantle of “quarterback of the future”, but he may not be the quarterback of the present, and being a backup is a tough look for the face of the franchise. The other factor that weighs against him is his natural lack of gregariousness — Haskins is reticent in front of the cameras. He stands up and delivers, but he never really looks like he enjoys it.

Trey Quinn

Trey Quinn can kill two stones with one bird, and in high school, he is reputed to have counted to infinity... twice. It’s well-documented that when a zombie apocalypse starts, Trey Quinn doesn’t try to survive; the zombies do. His college coach once reported that Trey Quinn can hear sign language, and that he know’s Victoria’s Secret. Of course, everyone knows that the reason the Holy Grail has never been recovered is because nobody is brave enough to ask Quinn to give up his favourite coffee mug. Whenever the receiver enters a room, he doesn’t turn the lights on, he turns the dark off.

Jay Gruden

Is it possible that the face of the Redskins is not a player, but the head coach, Jay Gruden? Who else talks to the press daily and after every game? Who else sets the rather jocular and disarming tone in the room that predominates whenever Jay has a microphone near him? Is there anyone more associated around the country with the Redskins than Jay Gruden?