London Fletcher used to think that this playoff thing was pretty easy.
He broke in with the Rams in 1998 and the next year The Greatest Show on Turf exploded onto the NFL scene and he was a starting linebacker for a Super Bowl champion. Two years later he Rams looked set to win it all again, but they were upset by Tom Brady and the Patriots. It looked to Fletcher like postseason appearances would be a common occurrence in his career.
“You kind of take things for granted, especially at that point in your career,” he said on Thursday, three days before the Redskins play Seattle in the NFC playoffs. “You don’t know how tough it is to get to the playoffs and to win it.”
Fletcher learned how tough it was. In 2002 he signed with the Bills as a free agent and they failed to make the playoffs in any of his five seasons there. He came to the Redskins in 2007 and they won a wild card playoff spot. But they were one and done and they haven’t been back until this year.
And Fletcher said that he won’t take it for granted this time.
“Definitely, I’m appreciating this a lot more,” he said. “You think about this group, this team, where we’re at after being 3-6 at one point in the season, winning seven straight games to win the division and to get in this position. So I guess I can say I’m enjoying this a lot more now, I’m more appreciative of it.”
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