Building a Roster: Step 1

The late Bobby Bethard hard at work building the Washington roster. Note a young Charlie Casserly on the left with his long hair and glasses.

Once upon a time in the NFL there was no “Free Agency.” Drafts went to 20-rounds. Hall-of-Fame Linebacker Chris Hanburger was taken in the 18th round in the 1965 Draft. He found out he was drafted when a reporter called him for comment. Teams retained the rights of a player until he was cut, traded, or retired. As a result Training Camp became the place where the roster was really formed. There the 20 Draftees and the veterans fought for a roster spot and a paycheck for the winter. That’s all gone by the stern now. The modern process is a study in 3D Chess with a strict clock counting cadence. Long before Training Camp the roster is set to within a few players. Camp is for installing the Offense and Defense. The first stage of roster construction is upon the WFT and all the other teams in the League.

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The Gag-Ack Bowl

Abner Haynes in 1960, the inaugural season for the Dallas Texans. In 1963 the franchise moved to Kansas City changing the branding to “Chiefs.” Haynes was a dual threat. He broke 1000-yards rushing and had over 500-yards receiving in 1962.

The shame of this Super Bowl is that it will probably be a good football game. It’s also the last football game of meaning for seven months. Those two combined will provide sufficient reason to actually watch it. Pity. This is a game between one team that is annoying and one that’s repulsive. Kansas City has become the team that’s easy to dislike. Perennial winners transform into that role. The over-exposure eventually irritates the senses. There are advertisements in abundance, hyperbolic accolades in bunches, and the inevitable winning despite dire circumstances. It’s an old formula that invariably induces fatigue. The only twist with the Chiefs is the Taylor Swift angle. Apparently some people watch the games just to see the glimpses of her jumping up and down in the luxury suite. Imagine that. The networks feed the need. Then there’s the Eagles. Gag-Ack!

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Building on greatness!

The 2024/2025 Washington Commanders season will stick with most us as the greatest season in the franchise’s history that did not finish with one of their three Super Bowl wins. To make it to within one game of the Super Bowl in this season was nothing short of miraculous. What owner Josh Harris built with his philosophies of: Culture-People-Talent is nothing short of incredible. Actually all of his businesses and sports teams have been built this same philosophy, but certainly the results will vary.

In the HBSE sports empire, the Commanders are the crown jewel. The decisions on-and-off the field have scored big. From hiring team president Mark Clouse to team GM Adam Peters to head coach Dan Quinn to quarterback Jayden Daniels to lesser known employees like Ops assistant Cyrus Daniels who was promoted from his position as an intern. It takes a village, and building a winning culture with talented people is a key. Computers and analytics can only do so much — this is a game played by humans, even though the Commanders’ quarterback seemed like a cyborg at times.

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Of Snowballs and Hell

Eagles’ players sit on the bench during the “Snow Bowl” December 19, 1948 at Shibe Park against the Chicago Cardinals. Philly won the first of two consecutive titles that day: 7-0. The two teams combined for 42 passing yards.

Sports exist at some level to remind that logic and reason don’t always carry the day. Analysts exist to bring reason and perspective to what we observe. In a field absolutely flooded to saturation with people the desire to have a unique thought is beyond difficult. The few, and this means very few that predicted a Washington win last week at Detroit were certainly unique. Detroit was the deserving #1 Seed, rested, and playing in front of their frenzied fans. The Burgundy and Gold was Cinderella awaiting the pumpkin ride home. The Lions’ Quarterback, Jared Goff had thrown 12 interceptions all year with 5 of those coming in one game. In his previous 8 games he had thrown 21 Touchdowns versus 3 picks. Washington’s Defense was averaging right around one turnover a game. There was nothing reasonable or logical to suggest that Goff would throw 3 interceptions in this one game. But, he did. That’s sports for you.

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Drafting Jayden Daniels at №2 wasn’t a sure thing!

Securing the №2 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft was one part of the equation when you think how close the Washington Commanders were to falling in the draft. Basically, if the New England Patriots played worse or the Commanders played better in the entirety of the 2024 season — the outcome could have been far different in the draft order.

The other part of the equation is that Washington could have picked a different quarterback than Jayden Daniels. Imagine that. The Chicago Bears had the first pick, and they passed on Daniels.

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VICTORY SUNDAY/MONDAY: Headed to the NFC Championship Game

One win from the Super Bowl. The point-spread from Vegas had the Washington Commanders as the deepest underdog in the Division Round of games at +9½ points. There was 82 percent of the betting straight-up on the Lions. That means that 18 percent got paid 4:1 on this Commanders win. This wasn’t a walk-off win — rather this was a stomp-off win. The 45-31 domination over the №1 seeded Detroit Lions propelled Washington to the NFC Championship game next Sunday against either Los Angeles or Philadelphia. This is the furthest Washington has climbed in a postseason since their Super Bowl season of 1991/1992.

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Jayden vs Goliath

Detroit’s last championship was on December 29,1957. Players hoist coach George Wilson in celebration. Star Quarterback Bobby Layne was injured for the game. His backup Tobin Rote threw for four touchdowns and ran for another. More importantly he didn’t throw a single interception. For his 13-year career Tote threw 43 more picks than TDs. Detroit won 59-14 over Cleveland. They have not appeared in a Championship Game since.

Even the most ardent supporter of the Burgundy and Gold did not have this playoff run on the calendar before the season. Washington has continually defied gravity en route to this game. Five times in a row this team has won the game on the last play from scrimmage. Five. And, these weren’t meaningless games against scrub teams. (Ok, Dallas qualifies at the moment as a scrub team. Yes, that was gratuitous…but, it felt good to see it in print.) It has been a wonderful ride. Now things get much, much harder. Tampa Bay is a fine football team. Detroit is an excellent one.

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VICTORY MONDAY: Jayden Daniels just turned 5 when Washington won their previous playoff game!

Washington’s star quarterback was born a week before Christmas on December 18, 2000. Jayden Daniels had celebrated his 5th birthday just 20 days before the Washington Redskins won their last playoff game on January 7, 2006 against these same Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was 6,945 days between playoff wins. The Washington Nationals had just completed their inaugural season. George W. Bush was the President of the United States. And Mark Brunell was the aging 36 year old quarterback for Washington in that playoff game.

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Full Circle Moment

Washington legend Doug Williams in his early career at Tampa Bay. Shown here he’s in the original “Dreamsicle” uniform with the pirate holding a knife in his teeth. Williams came to Washington for his last four years starting just 14 regular season games winning only 5 of them. But, none of that matters when compared to the “Touch of Class” Super Bowl MVP game in 1987. Williams and Ricky Sanders abused the Denver secondary for four Touchdowns in a single quarter. That record still stands. Today Williams is a Senior Advisor to the Washington Football Team.

Some four and a half months ago Dan Quinn brought his new team to Tampa Bay for their first foray into real football. “New” was the operative word. The coaching staff had been “Oil Changed.” The Quarterback was starting his first game that would count. And, the roster had been essentially “Zero Staffed.” Only the players with longer and more expensive contracts were safe from the scythe that new General Manager Adam Peters wielded. Adding to the mix the opponent had won their Division three times in a row. Their coach was old friend Todd Bowles. He is considered a master at disguising Defenses. Surely the new QB would get schooled as the new WFT got trounced into disorganization. Tampa won handily. But, the game left an impression on Bowles.

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Victory Monday coming up, and a No. 6 seed for the 12-5 Commanders!

The Washington Commanders won with 00:02 seconds remaining against the Cowboys with Marcus Mariota as the game-winning QB in relief of Jayden Daniels who got to rest in the second half. With the win, the Commanders finished their regular season with a 12-5 record, and the No. 6 seed in the playoffs.

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