Who is the player in Joe Gibbs doghouse?

[inmate running the asylum]

Excerpts from Richmond Times-Dispatch
Paul Woody - December 31, 2004

IT'S THE EFFORT THAT COUNTS: The players who bother Redskins coach Joe Gibbs the most are the ones who fail to get the most out of their ability.

"I watch guys in the meetings," Gibbs said. "I give them lectures. I tell them, 'I see you sitting back in there, not taking notes, and that makes an impression on me.'

"I've had talks with guys, I just had one of these two weeks ago, and I told this guy, 'The coach who works with you said you can go to the Pro Bowl. But you aren't going to go because you don't want to go to the Pro Bowl. I'm just telling you this for you and your family. What you're going to do is bounce from team to team to team unless you get in gear. And you're going to wind up a mess.'

"I told him, 'Here's what we see, and here's what's going to happen unless you fix it.' That guy has a little girl, and he loves that little girl. And I told him, 'You're going to play six years, and she's going to have to figure out where she's going to college. Or you're going to play 12, and she never has to worry about anything the rest of her life. And it's up to you.' Sometimes it works. Sometimes, you know . . .

"I hate having those meetings. But if you don't have them, I think you hurt the team."

I tend to agree with Bubba, and my guess is that the unidentified player is Rod Gardener.

My reasoning:
1. It has to be a starter. No backup is going to the Pro Bowl.
2. The player has to be on offense. All the starters on defense if anything, have been overachieving.
3. It has to be a player who is not playing hurt.
4. It has to be a player with less than six years in the league. This eliminates starters like Cory Raymer, etc. This is Gardener's 4th season, whereas it is only Dockery's 2nd.
5. The player has to be an underachiever.

My 1st choice: Rod Gardener
My 2nd choice: Derrick Dockery

My guess is Gardener will be playing for another team in 2005, which will confirm this.

P.S. The player in question has a small daughter. Anyone have a current 2004 Press Guide? A clue might be found in the press guide, where it indicates sometimes whether a player is married or single, etc.

Question: Gardener seems to be doing a lot of nightclubbing into the wee hours, and may be a bad influence on younger players like Sean Taylor. Is Gardener even married?

Comments anyone?

[bubba9497]

Maybe Robert Royal as well

[illone]

maybe Sellars? That guy makes great plays sometimes, but other times seems like a possible cancer....

I hate to think it would be Portis

The only reason I say that is because on the post-game show, chik and doc both made comments to the fact that Portis AND Taylor both have "me" attitudes, also saying that UM players are selfish, etc.....

I only caught part of what was said. Did anyone else catch it?

[herrmag]

Actually, coach Gibbs gave me that speech the other night. I was so disappointed. Wait a second, I don't have a daughter!! I don't even have a wife! Ok, so theres the little fact that I don't play football, but thats besides the point.



Yes, good chance it's Rod. Not sure if he has a daughter, but if it's not him, he deserves a similar speech.

[inmate running the asylum]

The more I think about it, it has to be Rod Gardener IMHO. Someone who plays like an all pro on rare occasions (Dallas 1st game), but then disappears and underachieves for long stretches. Plus a guy in his 4th season, shouldn't need to be practicing with a machine to learn how to catch footballs at this stage of his career.

Dockery and Royal may have potential, but they haven't been around long enough and never played like all pros to date.

Sellers is a backup player. Portis has been all pro, but we know we have some blocking problems on the O-line, which gives him an excuse I guess. So I rule these guys out.

[illone]

It's still speculation. I mean Gibbs treats all the players the same and in effect he could be telling a guy (Sellars) that he has potential to be much better....

Plenty of evidence for a case against RG though.

Remember the GB game when brunell threw the pic after the bogus illegal shift call? All I remember is Gardner chasing after the ref begging for a flag rather than going after the ball


*cant type lol

[inmate running the asylum]

Originally posted by illone
It's still speculation. I mean Gibbs treats all the players the same and in effect he could be telling a guy (Sellars) that he has potential to be much better....

Sellars definitely needs to cut down on his penalties on ST, but he is a backup behind Cooley. Therefore there is no way he could be a potential all pro, if he can't get on the field to start ahead of Cooley. For this reason I rule him out.

[Renegade7]

No doubt it's 50/50. Shot, if he isn't in Gibbs doghouse he's definetly in mine.

[Rockville Redskin]

I hope it is Gardner and I hope he is shipped outta here regardless of how well he does with another team...its obvious his mind isn't on football and thats apparent on Sundays and this constant nightlife wouldn't be a problem if he just f'ing produced...I used to be a big fan of him but he really needs to go now

[SonnyJ]

What about McCants?

He disappeared after the Philly game - two weeks ago. He kind of jaked it on that play where Ramsey threw the pick to Dawkins. He also struggled to get on the field in the first half of the season.

He certainly has talent - whether it's pro bowl or not, I don't know. But it certainly seems that he is on Gibbs' *****-list.

[Chrisbob74]

If Gardener was in the "dog house" why didn't Gibbs bench him and play Jacobs, Thrash or McCants instead?

My guess is it is an OL man, maybe Thomas or Samuels, but they haven't been benched because there is little or nothing behind them.

[Warhead36]

It's someone on the Offensive Line. My money's on Samuels.

[Chachie]

Sellars is MY doghouse. Never saw a guy who would F up on a special teams play, get scolded by his teammates, and come out on the NEXT special teams play and get another personal foul penalty. What a MORON.

Of the guys that have been mentioned so far in this thread, which ones have daughters?

Samuels, McCants and 50/50 are good candidates, but what about Portis or Coles? I know these guys are big-time NFL players and Coles is a warrior, but even anyone can become despondent and cease exercising the fundamentals that help a player grow. I read a thread here not long ago about Lav Coles and how he seems like a beaten man. I've watched CP pretty closely this season and my opinion has slowly become that he is a pouter on the field and a fur-wearing, bling-toter off the field.

It also could have been a warning to the entire team from Joe. Who knows, but I wanted to call out a couple more players for good measure.

[TLusby]

I think it is Dockery or Samuels.

[TODD]

Does Gardner even have a daughter? I mean, he's obviously out partying a lot so...?

My gut says Dockery, because everyone's high on his upside but hasn't really performed well.