Burgundy and Gold Banquet: My Conversations with Danny Smith, Shanahan, and Darryl Grant

[HailRiggoRanger]

I had the honor of attending the Burgundy and Gold Banquet tonight. Was in a great location sitting at a table next to Danny Smith and then Darryl Grant, Dexter Manley, and Larry Michael were at another table next to me. In addition to Youth For Tomorrow (YFT) being a great organization, I wanted to attend to meet Joe Gibbs. He was polite but distant. He stayed to the end to sign an autograph for everyone, but he was overwhelmed and wasn't really having conversations with people. He did take the time to thank my friend that works for YFT.

However, I managed to talk to Danny Smith, Shanahan, and Darryl Grant, and I wanted to share my conversations.

By far, I had the most extensive conversation with Danny Smith. He was engaged, was willing to talk football, and was quick-witted. I walked away impressed and now know why one coach after another retains him (sorry Bang). Quite honestly, if I wasn't in a hurry to meet Shanahan and Gibbs, Smith seemed willing to keep talking football.

Me: "Sir, I just have one question for you -- did you or Zorn call the Swinging Gate play?"
Smith: "Well, we just wanted [the Giants] to call a timeout...which they did."
Me: "Yes."
Smith: "If you remember Suisham had just gone to the Cowboys, and we were playing them next week. He knew the play, and we knew we couldn't run it against the Cowboys."
Me: "Yes, makes sense."
Smith: "So, I told Zorn, 'Don't do it [after the timeout].' But, he called it b/c he wanted to use it and knew he couldn't against the Cowboys."
Me: "Yes, unfortunately, the thing that people remember is the one time you screwed up. You guys had a lot of success with the Special Teams on trick plays that year."
Smith: "Yes, that's exactly right."

I then had a decent conversation with Shanahan. I also found him to be engaging. I told him I was in the military, and he shocked me with his military knowledge. I told him, where I had been stationed, and he asked follow-up questions about the locations. But, the best part:

Me: "Please tell us that you're a Redskins fan for good now, as opposed to being a Broncos fan."
Shanahan: "Yes, I am...without a doubt."

Earlier in the night, I met Darryl Grant...easily one of the friendliest guys there.

Me: "You made my childhood with that game against the Cowboys."
Grant: "Thank you, I really appreciate that."
Me: "You were one of the best on those teams."
Grant: "I appreciate that. I would love to be one of the Top 80 Redskins. If you could please tell your friends to go to redskins80th.com and vote for me, I would love it."
Me: "Sure, you deserve to be on the list."

[GothSkinsFan]

Darryl Grant -- best high-step in Redskins history, without a doubt.

[COWBOY-KILLA-]

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

[scruffylookin]

Hey Daryl I voted for you.

It was never "Butz and whomever" or just Butz. But rather "Butz and Grant" that made up the rock in the middle that allowed Dexter and later Charles Mann to rush the passer.

The other take away is why do coaches always forget things we fans know with ease? Danny, Suisham was cut after the Saints game. He wasn't "traded to Dallas". Pet peeve.

[HailRiggoRanger]

The other take away is why do coaches always forget things we fans know with ease? Danny, Suisham was cut after the Saints game. He wasn't "traded to Dallas". Pet peeve.

I think that may be my mistake. I typed up the transcript without thinking. As soon as Smith mentioned Suisham, I remembered thinking, "That's right, we cut him." Thinking back, I don't remember that Smith used the word "traded" b/c that would have stuck out to me at the time. I think it was more generic like "Suisham had just gone to the Cowboys." It was definitely in the context of "we didn't care about losing him, but he knew this play we really wanted to use."

Am going to edit it b/c all mistakes are mine.

---------- Post added May-17th-2012 at 05:37 AM ----------

Hey Daryl I voted for you.

Looking over the list, Darryl is definitely Top 10 on there. But with that said, you just sensed that he was thinking, "Hey Fans, if you remember, I was just as good back then as the usual suspects -- Manley, Mann, and Butz."

[roanoker]

Cool post, thanks.

[HailRiggoRanger]

Picture 1 -- Danny Smith
Picture 2 -- Dexter Manley, Darryl Grant, and Danny Smith

[redskindan07]

Nice post, thanks for sharing!!

[MWCREDSKINS]

Daryl Grant would be happy to know i voted for him, he sj\hould've made it the first time

[Burgold]

Given some of the names that made it onto the 70 best it's crazy that Grant isn't already there! that was a heck of a line and he was a big part of it for many years.