TimesDispatch: Skins keen on class

Washington Football Game Day discussions for 2003, 2004, and 2005
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TimesDispatch: Skins keen on class

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Goal in free agency was for team to make Washington a Redskin

No one really paid much attention to the skinny young man who was selling soft drinks and programs at the University of Auburn football games in the early 1990s.

Marcus Washington didn't mind that, as long as the fans bought all his soft drinks or programs.

Little did anyone realize that one day they would be watching that same slender young man perform on the field for the Tigers.

No one outside of the coaching and scouting professions really noticed what Washington did for the Indianapolis Colts the past four years.

The Washington Redskins were paying attention, though. That's why they targeted Washington early in the free agency process, and that's why they gave him a $7 million bonus to play SKINS for them.

Washington does a good job of flying under the radar. The lack of acclaim doesn't bother him at all.

"I really just see myself as a blue-collar guy," Washington said after a training camp practice. "I come out here every day with my hard hat and lunch pail and try to get a little better.

"I get that from my mother, I think. We were very poor, and for a while she was a single parent. But she worked hard every day, rain, sleet or snow. She went to work when she wasn't feeling so good."

To describe Washington as a "football player" sounds silly. But there are football players and then there are "football" players.

A "football" player makes the game appear easy. A "football" player is versatile, effective and goes about his business with little regard for fanfare.

Washington, 6-3 and 247, can play either the weakside or strong side linebacker spot. He can rush the passer, play the run or drop and cover receivers.

Ask Washington to do something, and he studies the situation and finds a way to get his job done.

"I think that's what it's about," he said. "You have to have a plan. You've got to know where you want to go, then figure out how to get there. That's the kind of attitude I try to take.

"That's the kind of guys you need to win the big game. Look at the [Super Bowl champion New England] Patriots last year. Not a lot of guys on their defense stood out, but they played well together and stopped people."

The Redskins wanted Washington, 26, for his versatility. And they wanted him because it enabled them to move LaVar Arrington from the strong side, where he had to battle the tight end on most downs, to the weak side, where Arrington, in theory, will have a clearer path to the quarterback.

Much to their pleasure, what the Redskins thought they were getting in Washington and what they have received from him have been entirely different.

"We think he might be even better than we thought he was when we signed him," said linebackers coach Dale Lindsey. "We knew he was a physical guy. I was not aware of his coverage skills. And there was no way you could tell from the film about his intensity and attitude.

"He's a classy guy with a lot of character, and that's what you need. Everybody is good when things are going well. You need guys who are going to be good when things aren't going well."

Washington grew up in Auburn, Ala., and it's not always easy to go to college in the same town where you were born. But it was hard for Washington to go anywhere else. Auburn linebackers coach Joe Whitt was the father of Washington's best friend.

"I would be at his house and he would tell me, 'I want to coach you. I want you to go to Auburn,' Washington said. "He coached a lot of great linebackers, Kevin Greene, Aundray Bruce, guys like that.

"It was hard going there at first. I weighed 180 pounds, soaking wet, and people expected me to go in and start. That wasn't the case. I grew and got a little bigger, a little faster, a little stronger and smarter and I was able to do that."

And now, the Redskins are looking forward to what Washington will be able to do for them.

AND FURTHERMORE: Arrington sat out of the morning practice because of swelling in the lower part of his left leg, the result of getting leg-whipped Thursday. . . .

Middle linebacker Mike Barrow left practice after injuring his left knee. It was not thought to be serious, but Barrow has had a problem with the knee and an MRI exam was scheduled. . . . Running back Clinton Portis returned to practice yesterday morning after sitting out Thursday evening.



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