Albert Haynesworth signing was one of the worst in NFL history. On Thursday, Chris Cooley went in on Haynesworth. The former Defensive Player of the Year responded by calling in to Tennessee Sports Radio . However, instead of defending the allegations from Cooley that he was trying to get cut after he received his signing bonus or that he was a terrible human being, he attacked Mike Shanahan's reputation.
via Washington Post:
“The first day I get to Washington, that morning before, they’re like yeah, we’re gonna design our defense just like Tennessee, because we want you to let loose,” Haynesworth said, mentioning the proposed personnel moves. “So I was like ok, that’s great. And then the very first practice, we started doing all this different stuff that we hadn’t done. After that practice, I asked the D coordinator, hey, do you know are we gonna do some of [the Tennessee] stuff? And the guy was like no, we’re not doing none of that.
“I was like, why are you gonna lie to me? I hate to be lied to. I’m gonna tell you the truth just like it is, if it’s good or bad. So I expect people to do the same thing to me. And they just basically lied to me, tell me to come there just to get me there and be one of their little showcases or whatever, like trophies on their wall or something. Then, after that year of playing and not doing ANYTHING like we did in Tennessee…then we get Shanahan in there, aka Red Lobster, as Fred Smoot says. He comes in and completely changes the defense to a 3-4, where I’m reading. I’m not doing things that I normally do — exploding and shooting the gaps and creating havoc – I’m staying on the line, going left and right. Not even going forward.
“I mean, it’s like, you can’t win with that team,” Haynesworth said. “And you think it was just me? I mean, look how he did Donovan. See what’s going on with RGIII. I met RGIII. He seemed like an extremely nice guy that’s willing to work. Now he’s gonna learn – I mean, I hate to say he’s gonna learn — about Shanahan, how he’s conniving and everything like that, where he’s not gonna help him out, it’s all about him.”
Was that supposed to be his vindication? That was a terrible defense argument. Then, again Haynesworth was never a great defender anyways. Is he really trying to justify his tanking his career with a soliloquy about not running the defensive scheme he preferred? With Haynesworth out of the NFL and in the restaraunt business, Darrelle Revis is now the NFL's highest-paid defender. The situation in Tampa Bay makes the Redskins Shanahan era look brighter than the sun's reflection off the Lombardi Trophy on a clear day. Revis who is also being misused in zone coverage, has too much pride to throw a tantrum.
Albert Haynesworth makes a few solid points, but his words have to be taken with a grain of salt. Chris Cooley isn't without blame here. It's his fault that Haynesworth was given the attention he doesn't deserve.
