The Fort Worth Star-Telegram drew up an All-Cowboys Super Bowl team in honor of the big game being played in the Dallas area. Although Dan Snyder is trying desperately to get a Super Bowl to Washington, that probably won’t happen until near the end of this decade if at all.
That being the case, now is good a time as any to draw up an All-Redskins Super Bowl team.
Only a player’s performance in the Super Bowl games in which he played will be considered. It is not a career achievement award, it’s a Super Bowl award.
Today we’ll put together the offensive team and do the defense on Thursday. Of course, we would love to hear your comments and criticism of the selections here in the comments or you can go to our Facebook page and talk about it there.
Offensive line
It is hard not to put the original Hogs, the group that blew back the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII, in as a group and be done with it. That would be, left to right, Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm, Jeff Bostic, Fred Dean, and George Starke.
But Timmy Smith had some monster holes to run through for his 204 yards against the Broncos in XXII and Mark May, Raleigh McKenzie, and R. C. Thielmann had a lot to do with that along with Bostic and Jacoby (Grimm missed the game with an injury) not to mention that Doug Williams had a lot of time to pass.
The Redskins were favored by about a field goal going into Super Bowl VII despite the fact that the Miami Dolphins were undefeated going into the game. This wasn't utter folly; Washington had lost just one game in the first 12 before dropping the last two games after they had wrapped up the NFC East. Miami went undefeated against one of the weakest schedules ever before or since.
But the Redskins were uncompetitive in the game, losing 14-7 . One of the reasons advanced for the loss was that Hall of Fame coach George Allen had the team too tight for the game. A team that had played with supreme confidence all year appeared to be so afraid of making a mistake that they couldn't do anything.
Allen's performance at the press conference two days before the game, an event that had been scheduled well in advance, gives a peek inside his mindset going into the game. Here is a short excerpt from my book The Redskins Chronicle about Allen at that presser:
Jan 12—George Allen has had it.
“The only thing I have to say is that this is the first meeting I’m going to miss with a team in 23 years,” Allen said at the week’s final press conference. “I hope the questions we get will be of some value. I’ve been answering the same questions since Monday.”
He noted that 31 players were in interviews for an hour and a half yesterday and “we had our worst practice of the week.”
Allen’s negative tone prompted one reporter to ask, “Aren’t you sounding like a loser?”
“I’m not thinking like one,” Allen shot back, although his tirades indicated otherwise.
Meanwhile, Allen’s opposite number wasn’t fazed by the whole circus. Miami’s Don Shula, coaching his third Super Bowl, proclaimed, “My attitude is damned good.”
And here is a quick You Tube package of highlights from that game, apparently put together by relatives of a lady name June. Although it was put together from a Miami perspective, it's accurate since there really were no Redskins highlights.
London Fletcher, who perennially is on the list of Pro Bowl snubs, moved a step closer to making a trip to Hawaii in late January on Monday.
Patrick Willis, who had surgery on his right hand near the end of the season, has withdrawn from the all-star game. First alternate Jonathan Vilma of the Saints will take Willis' spot on the Pro Bowl roster.
According to the Redskins, Fletcher was a second alternate for the two inside linebacker spots. Vilma was the first alternate so that moves Fletcher to the position of being the next man up if another opening comes up.
Last year, Fletcher was in a similar position. Vilma was on the Pro Bowl squad and Fletcher was the first alternate. Since the Pro Bowl was played on the weekend in between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, players on the teams in the final game did not participate in the Pro Bowl and the first alternates went to Hawaii.
When Vilma's Saints advanced to the Super Bowl, Fletcher got his ticket to the Pro Bowl punched.
The Pro Bowl again is during the off week before the Super Bowl so the same thing would happen this year if the Saints can win some games on the road and advance to the game in Jerry World in Dallas. Fletcher also would play in the Pro Bowl if the Bears make it to the Super Bowl. Chicago's Brian Urlacher is the other inside linebacker on the NFC squad.
