What It Means To Be A Team Captain

[Buford]

Over the past week 3 Captains of the Washington Redskins have had their own little issues that leads me to ask......WHY are these guys wearing the "C" on their uniforms?

• Trent Williams - Suspended for smoking pot and failing a number of drug tests. Now, not many are reporting that all a fat guy like Trent had to do was smoke once and then he's be failing those for the next month. Still, while I've got nothing against the act itself. If its going to get you suspended from your job as a pro-athlete, I think you can wait until your career is over......you're richer than Uncle Scrooge.....and you can smoke everyday for the rest of your life. Just because you're the most talent offensive lineman doesn't mean you should wear the "C". If anything, his absence from player workouts during the lockout should have let people know he wasn't a leader type. Safe to say that next year he shouldn't be wearing the patch. Grow the hell up and do your damn job.

• Santana Moss - Seems that every year he makes a very noticeable mistake that costs a game. I remember back to a game in Green Bay where he slide and fumbled right into a defenders arms. He made a few mistakes yesterday....but the one that got me was after the game with him whining about being called for the push-off. I honestly haven't seen the replay so I don't know if its a legit gripe. But you know two things in the NFL. #1. The Patriots are always going to get that call, so deal with it. #2. After the game there is no point in crying about it anymore. So you were being held and mugged all day? Yes, that sucks. But going in front of the cameras and whining about it isn't going to make a difference. On a good team he's the #2 or #2 WR, in Washington he's your #1. I hope next year he's not wearing the patch anymore.

• DeAngelo Hall - This dude has been a mess all year. He won NFC defensive player of the week when he had a handful of a tackles...an INT....AND gave up a TD to Golden Tate of all people. A few weeks ago after he blew it on the field against Dallas, he said that he'd cut himself. Then yesterday he had a series of mistakes from watching his teammates try to tackle a 6'7 TE who's unreal, to picking up the yellow flag and throwing it after being called for holding and pass interference. Really? He's a Captain on your defense and he has a meltdown like a little kid? They could have ripped the "C" off his uniform at halftime. His skill set is regressing and his play-making abilities are NOT covering for it. I know there are holes in the secondary with the brittle brothers at safety and Wilson just being average. But if you can trade him in the offseason maybe trying to move up in the draft or something. You do it. He has taken over Portis' role of talking bigger than his play. Time to go.

Next year when its time to pick team Captains....I hope the organization does a much better job of picking players who aren't just performing on the field, but aren't embarrassing themselves and their team with their behavior. This has to be part of the rebuilding process......rebuilding character.

[SkinsCrushCowboys]

I could not agree more. It is not a lifetime acheivement award or a justify your draft pick award. It should be given to a player that is a leader on the field and in the locker room.

[Buford]

I could not agree more. It is not a lifetime acheivement award or a justify your draft pick award. It should be given to a player that is a leader on the field and in the locker room.

exactly. Guys like Fletcher earn and keep it. The sad truth is that there still aren't many leaders on the team that are visible. Maybe next year you'll have Kerrigan or Helu. But right now, its just a sad state of affairs.

[Rypien1191]

I agree with the other 2, but I think Tana has earned the C, and earned a right to gripe a little. He got hosed yesterday. Guy has been a solid pro for us for 6(?) years through the good and the bad and never complained, slacked off, or threw teammates under the bus.

[Kelvin Bryant]

I agree with the other 2, but I think Tana has earned the C, and earned a right to gripe a little. He got hosed yesterday. Guy has been a solid pro for us for 6(?) years through the good and the bad and never complained, slacked off, or threw teammates under the bus.

Santana doesn't have the professionalism / maturity issues of the other two, but he has developed a nasty habit of committing game-killing drops. He's become an antimatter version of Gary Clark, who would drop a few early and then kill the other team at the end with a big catch.

[GibbsFactor]

I want DHALL gone this year. Cut him, take the hit. I don't care if we have to start Barnes in his stead.

I'd love to get rid of Williams, he's a toke away from screwing us for the season.

Santana is the only deserving Captain but his best days are behind him. It's just the said state of affairs on offense.

Next year, Fletch and Kerrigan should be our defensive captains. I can't even think of a deserving guy on our offense.

[JCav06]

London Flecther should be the only captain on the Redskins. It's very disturbing that players would look to someone like Trent Williams to lead.

[Dan T.]

Agree somewhat on two of your three... I think the argument against Santana isn't that strong. He's been a solid, hard-working presence on the team through much adversity. I have no problem with him wearing the C.

BTW, was anybody else wondering about the significance of the stars and their colors? From Wiki:

Players with the C patch on their jerseys represents team captain and the number of stars filled in on the patch represents the number of consecutive years that player has been named captain by that team. If they've been named captain for longer than four years, the "C" on the patch is gold. Some teams (e.g., New England) do not have this patch on their jerseys but still designate captains.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa..._team_captains

[Dan T.]

I'll bet ten thousand of Mitt Romney's dollars that Trent Williams isn't wearing the C next year.

[Godfather151981]

Over the past week 3 Captains of the Washington Redskins have had their own little issues that leads me to ask......WHY are these guys wearing the "C" on their uniforms?

• Trent Williams - Suspended for smoking pot and failing a number of drug tests. Now, not many are reporting that all a fat guy like Trent had to do was smoke once and then he's be failing those for the next month. Still, while I've got nothing against the act itself. If its going to get you suspended from your job as a pro-athlete, I think you can wait until your career is over......you're richer than Uncle Scrooge.....and you can smoke everyday for the rest of your life. Just because you're the most talent offensive lineman doesn't mean you should wear the "C". If anything, his absence from player workouts during the lockout should have let people know he wasn't a leader type. Safe to say that next year he shouldn't be wearing the patch. Grow the hell up and do your damn job.

• Santana Moss - Seems that every year he makes a very noticeable mistake that costs a game. I remember back to a game in Green Bay where he slide and fumbled right into a defenders arms. He made a few mistakes yesterday....but the one that got me was after the game with him whining about being called for the push-off. I honestly haven't seen the replay so I don't know if its a legit gripe. But you know two things in the NFL. #1. The Patriots are always going to get that call, so deal with it. #2. After the game there is no point in crying about it anymore. So you were being held and mugged all day? Yes, that sucks. But going in front of the cameras and whining about it isn't going to make a difference. On a good team he's the #2 or #2 WR, in Washington he's your #1. I hope next year he's not wearing the patch anymore.

• DeAngelo Hall - This dude has been a mess all year. He won NFC defensive player of the week when he had a handful of a tackles...an INT....AND gave up a TD to Golden Tate of all people. A few weeks ago after he blew it on the field against Dallas, he said that he'd cut himself. Then yesterday he had a series of mistakes from watching his teammates try to tackle a 6'7 TE who's unreal, to picking up the yellow flag and throwing it after being called for holding and pass interference. Really? He's a Captain on your defense and he has a meltdown like a little kid? They could have ripped the "C" off his uniform at halftime. His skill set is regressing and his play-making abilities are NOT covering for it. I know there are holes in the secondary with the brittle brothers at safety and Wilson just being average. But if you can trade him in the offseason maybe trying to move up in the draft or something. You do it. He has taken over Portis' role of talking bigger than his play. Time to go.

Next year when its time to pick team Captains....I hope the organization does a much better job of picking players who aren't just performing on the field, but aren't embarrassing themselves and their team with their behavior. This has to be part of the rebuilding process......rebuilding character.

I don't disagree with you in the least about Trent Williams, and perhaps to a certain extent on DHall. He hasn't had the greatest season in the world. However I see the act of him throwing the flag as one of defiance in the face of really awful circumstances. Yes it got him and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and all, but there comes a point where you can only take so much of the garbage that Triplette's crew was dishing out yesterday. Somehow I don't think that was totally based on yesterday's game either. It seems like whenever there's a close or potentially controversial call in a game involving the Redskins, the other side at the very least gets a benefit of the doubt. I don't think that there's a conspiracy to screw the Redskins or anything, but the calls that go against the Skins sometimes leave me scratching my head. As an example, I felt that after London undressed the officials after that horrible 15-yd penalty the officiating seemed to get progressively worse. You can be like my Dad and say that outbursts as such (and like that of Hall) are going to make the refs go against you, or you can look at it from the proper angle and hold the refs accountable for making the right call all the time. John Thompson once said that if 18-year olds should have to attest to the media for what they did in a game, then refs should as well. (The Skins aren't 18 years old, but you get the point; all leagues seem to protect their officials a little too much.)

As for Santana Moss, your comment about knowing that the Patriots get that call is a bit troubling. What you're saying is that the refs are in fact tainted towards them (or towards certain teams), and that you just have to deal with it. If that's the case, what's the point of playing the game? If there are certain teams or players that are favored, it's only actions similar to what Santana Moss and London Fletcher did (and maybe even DHall) that'll expose it for what it is. But just saying "you know they get that call so deal with it" sounds like rolling over and playing dead.

[2cents]

I don't disagree with you in the least about Trent Williams, and perhaps to a certain extent on DHall. He hasn't had the greatest season in the world. However I see the act of him throwing the flag as one of defiance in the face of really awful circumstances. Yes it got him and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and all, but there comes a point where you can only take so much of the garbage that Triplette's crew was dishing out yesterday. Somehow I don't think that was totally based on yesterday's game either. It seems like whenever there's a close or potentially controversial call in a game involving the Redskins, the other side at the very least gets a benefit of the doubt. I don't think that there's a conspiracy to screw the Redskins or anything, but the calls that go against the Skins sometimes leave me scratching my head. As an example, I felt that after London undressed the officials after that horrible 15-yd penalty the officiating seemed to get progressively worse. You can be like my Dad and say that outbursts as such (and like that of Hall) are going to make the refs go against you, or you can look at it from the proper angle and hold the refs accountable for making the right call all the time. John Thompson once said that if 18-year olds should have to attest to the media for what they did in a game, then refs should as well. (The Skins aren't 18 years old, but you get the point; all leagues seem to protect their officials a little too much.)

As for Santana Moss, your comment about knowing that the Patriots get that call is a bit troubling. What you're saying is that the refs are in fact tainted towards them (or towards certain teams), and that you just have to deal with it. If that's the case, what's the point of playing the game? If there are certain teams or players that are favored, it's only actions similar to what Santana Moss and London Fletcher did (and maybe even DHall) that'll expose it for what it is. But just saying "you know they get that call so deal with it" sounds like rolling over and playing dead.

But what did he say that was factually incorrect? I think talking to him right after the game was a mistake, but he was right. The refs screwed us, you knew it was going to happen, it had been happening all day.

[Godfather151981]

But what did he say that was factually incorrect? I think talking to him right after the game was a mistake, but he was right. The refs screwed us, you knew it was going to happen, it had been happening all day.

It's not that they hadn't been screwing us all day, because they had been. But my point is that you can't just sit there and "allow" them to do that without putting up a fight. Maybe if enough players speak out about it the league will sit down and look seriously at the way that their refs are officiating games. At the very least I can respect a ref like Hocculi who admitted that he screwed up a call, especially knowing that he has a reputation as a fair official around the NFL. But some of these clowns like Triplette get away with the calls they make like it's nothing. Sure we don't know what the league says to them and so forth, but they keep trotting them out year after year, so obviously there must be a certain satisfaction with the job that they're doing. The more people speak out on refs like this guy, the better the chance that the league might do something about it. Sure guys will get fined, but obviously that's not as big of an issue as it's made out to be if they still do it. (Incidentally, if I were Daniel Snyder I'd pick up the tab for any player/coach fined this week for commenting about officiating, and then publically say that I did so. It might send a message to the league in that the guys they were trying to discipline got off scott free, but yet their commentary on the refs would still be out there.)

---------- Post added December-12th-2011 at 01:37 PM ----------

Really tired of the fans coming down on Moss. Most of it is unwarranted and petty. Guy has been nothing but professional to this organization and it's fans for the past 6 years. 2005,2008,2009,2010 he's started all 16 games. 2006 and 2007 14 games. Guy is consistent, look at his stats. He works his tail off and doesn't complain. Involved with the community and kids in the area. Never has asked to be traded to a contender. Never has tried to leave this mess of an organization and enduring through the day's of his close friends death Sean Taylor, horrible Al Saunders, Jason Campbell, Jim Zorn, Sherm Lewis etc. Guy even took a paycut to come BACK here even though he could have made more elsewhere.

Yet, he gets questioned on his character and on whether or not he should be a captain.

In my opinion Santana Moss should be in the Redskins Ring of Honor when all's said and done.

[Coach Janky Spanky]

Trent Williams -- it's possible they made him Captain not because of what he's done, but to pressure him into being a leader and working harder and showing up for stuff like player-organized workouts and not getting suspended. That obviously hasn't worked.

Deangelo Hall should not be Captain. There's a chance he's not around next year. He is not a #1 CB and not a leader.

I'm okay with Moss. Also should be Fletcher, Kerrigan, Orakpo,

[Buford]

Its the Jordan rules. Winning teams that don't need the calls are going to get the calls. This isn't new. Being unhappy about it is fine and don't disagree with it. But to whine about it seems weak to me.

Is Orakpo getting held constantly? Yes? Do we complain? Yes...but he's not out crying about it.

Captain's need to lead.....either through their play or their words. If you fail at either one of those, then what do you have?

[Godfather151981]

Its the Jordan rules. Winning teams that don't need the calls are going to get the calls. This isn't new. Being unhappy about it is fine and don't disagree with it. But to whine about it seems weak to me.

Is Orakpo getting held constantly? Yes? Do we complain? Yes...but he's not out crying about it.

Captain's need to lead.....either through their play or their words. If you fail at either one of those, then what do you have?

As is stated above, my point would be that if you don't complain about it nothing will ever be addressed. Have you ever seen a Yankee fan complain about umpiring? Or a Duke fan about refs? Probably not. I'm not suggesting that these teams win because of officiating, however it's really weak and quite frankly really unfair for the "winners" to get close calls their way all the time. I'm not suggesting that the weaker team should get them either; I just want the calls to be fair. However if I see a call that's blatantly not fair or right, you'd better believe that ref's going to hear about it. I'm not willing to sit idley by and just accept that "winning" teams get all the calls.