Portis and Bailey will play against former teams as Skins face Broncos
Tonight, Clinton Portis and Champ Bailey get to visit their former teammates.
Joe Gibbs gets to visit his bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And the Washington Redskins and Denver Bron- cos finally get to run plays against someone in a different uniform.
The Redskins and Broncos kick off the NFL's exhibition season in the annual Hall of Fame game tonight in Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio.
This is the first of five preseason games for both teams. For veterans, preseason games offer little more than a chance to suffer a season-ending injury. For the rookies, preseason games are an opportunity to show coaches they can perform under pressure.
For Gibbs, this will be the first game he has coached, albeit an exhibition game, since he walked away from pro football more than 11 years ago.
Gibbs was the Redskins' coach from 1981 through the 1992 season. He led them to four Super Bowl appearances, three Super Bowl victories and won 140 regular-season and playoff games.
He retired from coaching in the spring of 1993, citing family and health reasons. He was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
After 11 years out of coaching, Gibbs decided the time was right to return.
Gibbs' decision is so rare that he will be just the second Hall of Fame coach to coach a team in the Hall of Fame game. Paul Brown, with Cincinnati, was the first to do so in 1975.
Preseason games prove little about a coach or a team. But tonight's focus largely will be on Gibbs since he has not coached a game since the Redskins' playoff loss to San Francisco on Jan. 9, 1993.
"What I'd like to see is that we are a real solid, sound team," Gibbs said. "I'd like to start off with a real smooth operation.
"There are so many things going on, we'll try to have it as organized as possible, but it's really organized chaos on the sidelines."
Mark Brunell will start at quarterback, but that is not an indication that he has won the starting job for the regular season. Gibbs said he will alternate his starting quarterbacks in the preseason. Patrick Ramsey, Brunell's primary competition for the starting job, will start the second preseason game, Aug. 14 at home against Carolina.
The starters will play until Gibbs has seen all he wants to see from them.
"They'll play until I feel good about it," Gibbs said. "I never like to tell them how long they'll be in."
Portis, the Redskins' starting running back, probably will not be in too long. The Redskins can't afford to see him suffer an injury.
Portis played for Denver last season, and Bailey played for Washington. They switched teams when the Redskins sent Bailey and a second-round draft choice to Denver for Portis.
Gibbs has had some historic moments against the Broncos. The Redskins defeated Denver 42-10 in Super Bowl XXII. The 35 points the Redskins scored in the second quarter of that game remain a Super Bowl single-quarter record.
No records will be set tonight, except perhaps for the number of times Gibbs is asked how if feels to be back on the sidelines. The game will be televised nationally by ABC.
"That's just what you want," Gibbs said, sighing. "You're back, haven't played a game, everything is new and the game is nationally televised. I hope a lot of people have it turned off."
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