Been a minute since I blogged something – had some family strife to deal with, and life got in the way, but on a day of most significance to Redskins Nation, it seemed prudent to pen a few thoughts.
Well unless you crawl under a rock for the entire NFL offseason, you’re probably aware that today is the opening of the 2012 NFL Draft in New York. If you are under a rock, then you won’t be reading this anyway, so I’m going to presume that you know what’s what.
Today is the day that the Washington Redskins select Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick in the draft – a pick that they paid dearly to move up and get – but a move that they desperately needed to make.
Oh sure there is never any such thing as a sure thing in the NFL, especially in the college recruiting process; NFL history is full of great examples of men that, came and saw, but certainly never conquered. So there is still the outside chance that the young man from Baylor could flop, and that Redskins Nation will not get the prodigal son that it so desperately needs…
… but it doesn’t really feel like that, does it?
Oh sure, jackoffs like Donovan McNabb are going to tell you exactly why Griffin will never work out in Washington, but in reality, it’s a good fit – a really, really good fit. And Redskins Nation knows it.
… and that’s what it FEELS like.
I’ve been bleeding burgundy and gold for more than 30 years, and I have been running a Redskins site and publicly expressing my thoughts for the last 10 of them. Other than distant memories like Super Bowl wins, I haven’t been this excited to bleed burgundy and gold, for a long, long time.
And the kid hasn’t even done anything yet.
Now I’m not some Optimistic babbling, over-enthused fan that gets excited when the Redskins 7th Round draft pick makes a special teams play thus crowning him the undisputed jewel of the draft either. Any optimism I have for the Washington Redskins is guarded, and rare – reserved only for special occasions. Two decades plus of futility will put your optimism in check REGARDLESS of your state of mind.
But I am optimistic.
I have… hope.
Yes, yes… that’s exactly what it is. It isn’t anything more tangible than that, but this young man with a rocket for an arm, and locomotives for legs, has given a very defeated Redskins fan, a little bit of hope.
Hope that 20 years of bullspit is over. Hope that 20 years of putting bad-aids on gaping wounds is over. Hope that after giving everything to a franchise for most of my life, that I’m finally again going to get a team that gives a spit, and gives back.
The players are excited. The fans are excited.
This is the dawn of a new era.
There are no guarantees with any college prospect, but rest assured, there are a lot of people in the nation’s capital that think that there is reason to have hope – and it all begins tonight at 8pm.