themurf
March-24th-2009, 07:36 AM
http://www.homermcfanboy.com/images/betts032409.jpg
(photo by Brian Murphy)
Yesterday we ran part one of our exclusive interview with Washington Redskins running back Ladell Betts in which he talked about how he’s spent his offseason and his plans for life after football (http://www.homermcfanboy.com/2009/03/23/catching-up-with-betts/). Here is part two where we chatted about the team’s free agent acquisitions, how Betts views himself and those pesky quarterback rumors swirling around town these days. Enjoy.
The team was also able to bring back cornerback DeAngelo Hall. What are your thoughts on having him around for a few more years?
“You know, that one didn’t surprise me as much,” Betts said. “I kind of had a feeling that we would try to keep DeAngelo, especially after the way he played once he got here. I mean, I don’t know what happened, as far as when he got out in Oakland, that’s not really for me to dig into. But I think he was a pleasant surprise when he got out here. He meshed well with the team, everybody got along well with him and he immediately created turnovers. That’s something that the defensive coaches and the head coaches were looking for, so it wasn’t a surprise to me that we would try to keep him – especially with him being so young.”
Even Randy Moss didn’t look like Randy Moss when he was in Oakland, so we’re not going overboard trying to analyze Hall’s time with the Raiders.
“Everybody has things like that that happen,” he said. “And sometimes things happen for a reason. He’s a hometown guy anyway, so like I said, it didn’t surprise me that we kept him.”
The other guy the ‘Skins brought back was offensive lineman Derrick Dockery, who you obviously know well. What’s it like to see him return to town?
“I tell you what, that was probably one of the guys I was most glad to see come back,” Betts said. “I was sad to see him go in the first place. Being a running back, he was one of the guys who always paved the holes and he helped me – or I guess we helped each other – to get new contracts back in 2006. It was good to see Big Dock make his way back to the city and just from talking to him since he got back, I think he missed being here.”
We’ve talked to some of your teammates recently and tried to figure it out, but no one really has a good answer. What the hell happened to you guys to make you finish the season 2-6?
“I think it’s a series of things,” Betts said. “There’s really no excuse for it, but we had injuries take place. I really think that was the biggest thing, injuries caught up with us and we just weren’t playing with the same level of confidence. I think once you drop a few games here and there, you get into tough ballgames and people sometimes tend to look at it and say, ‘Oh no, here we go again’ as opposed to the first eight games if something happened nobody even blinked. We kept fighting through and pushed through to get those close games. In the end it didn’t work out that way. We got banged up a little bit, but that happens to every team. We just didn’t finish the same way we started. There ain’t no excuse for it, it’s just something that happened.”
We talked earlier about your decision a couple years back to re-sign here and stay in Washington. Do you see yourself as a guy who could go to another city and be the feature back or are you more comfortable here backing up someone like Clinton Portis?
Click here (http://www.homermcfanboy.com/2009/03/24/finishing-up-with-betts/) for the full article.
(photo by Brian Murphy)
Yesterday we ran part one of our exclusive interview with Washington Redskins running back Ladell Betts in which he talked about how he’s spent his offseason and his plans for life after football (http://www.homermcfanboy.com/2009/03/23/catching-up-with-betts/). Here is part two where we chatted about the team’s free agent acquisitions, how Betts views himself and those pesky quarterback rumors swirling around town these days. Enjoy.
The team was also able to bring back cornerback DeAngelo Hall. What are your thoughts on having him around for a few more years?
“You know, that one didn’t surprise me as much,” Betts said. “I kind of had a feeling that we would try to keep DeAngelo, especially after the way he played once he got here. I mean, I don’t know what happened, as far as when he got out in Oakland, that’s not really for me to dig into. But I think he was a pleasant surprise when he got out here. He meshed well with the team, everybody got along well with him and he immediately created turnovers. That’s something that the defensive coaches and the head coaches were looking for, so it wasn’t a surprise to me that we would try to keep him – especially with him being so young.”
Even Randy Moss didn’t look like Randy Moss when he was in Oakland, so we’re not going overboard trying to analyze Hall’s time with the Raiders.
“Everybody has things like that that happen,” he said. “And sometimes things happen for a reason. He’s a hometown guy anyway, so like I said, it didn’t surprise me that we kept him.”
The other guy the ‘Skins brought back was offensive lineman Derrick Dockery, who you obviously know well. What’s it like to see him return to town?
“I tell you what, that was probably one of the guys I was most glad to see come back,” Betts said. “I was sad to see him go in the first place. Being a running back, he was one of the guys who always paved the holes and he helped me – or I guess we helped each other – to get new contracts back in 2006. It was good to see Big Dock make his way back to the city and just from talking to him since he got back, I think he missed being here.”
We’ve talked to some of your teammates recently and tried to figure it out, but no one really has a good answer. What the hell happened to you guys to make you finish the season 2-6?
“I think it’s a series of things,” Betts said. “There’s really no excuse for it, but we had injuries take place. I really think that was the biggest thing, injuries caught up with us and we just weren’t playing with the same level of confidence. I think once you drop a few games here and there, you get into tough ballgames and people sometimes tend to look at it and say, ‘Oh no, here we go again’ as opposed to the first eight games if something happened nobody even blinked. We kept fighting through and pushed through to get those close games. In the end it didn’t work out that way. We got banged up a little bit, but that happens to every team. We just didn’t finish the same way we started. There ain’t no excuse for it, it’s just something that happened.”
We talked earlier about your decision a couple years back to re-sign here and stay in Washington. Do you see yourself as a guy who could go to another city and be the feature back or are you more comfortable here backing up someone like Clinton Portis?
Click here (http://www.homermcfanboy.com/2009/03/24/finishing-up-with-betts/) for the full article.