There has been a multitude of media members the past two weeks getting a lot of traction out of an interesting story from the Washington Redskins training camp, so I figured I might as well join the fray and mail in an easy column.
Albert Haynesworth, Redskins tackle and he of a massive $100 million contract, apparently decided to forgo the voluntary offseason workouts created by new Washington coach, Mike Shanahan. Shanahan, not impressed by Haynesworth’s perceived lack of effort and commitment to the team, decreed that his star tackle would have to pass a conditioning test before joining the rest of his teammates in full practices at training camp.
Now, NFL tackles are big boys. If you weigh 300lbs on the button at that position, your teammates would take one look at you and think you’re malnourished. So, truthfully, throwing around words like ‘physical conditioning’ and ‘in shape’ with these behemoths is all relative.
Fat Albert failed the test twice. Then he tried it again and said his left knee was sore. Haynesworth waited a week, while the national media feasted upon this story, until he finally managed to pass the test a few days ago and join the rest of training camp.
I’m not exactly sure what was gained by Shanahan in forcing Haynesworth to sit out until he passed the test. I understand that Shanahan was trying to exert his authority and show that no one player is above the team when it comes to preparing for the upcoming season, but Haynesworth didn’t learn anything.
He wasn’t fined or docked pay. The only ‘punishment’ he received was being banned from practice for one week. Really? That’s a punishment? Not being forced to wear bulky equipment and working your ass off for four hours a day in searing, heat-stroke inducing heat in August is a bad thing? Sounds like a vacation to me.
What was this conditioning test that Haynesworth failed, you ask? It was two 300 yard shuttle runs: run 50 yards, stop and return to the start line. You do that three times, get your time, rest for three and a half minutes and then run it again. To pass, Fat Albert had to run the first shuttle in under 70 seconds and the second in under 73 seconds.
I brag constantly in this space about my supposed superior physical fitness, so I figured I would put my money where my well-defined musculature is. I completed the two shuttle runs to see if I was fit enough to partake in the Washington Redskin’s training camp.
My times: 56 seconds in the first shuttle and 59 seconds in the second. Passed with flying colours.
Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, can send email me my $100 million contract whenever he has a few minutes of spare time.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment