"I wanted to be the greatest defensive lineman ever to play the game," disgruntled Redskins lineman Albert Haynesworth told ESPN of signing a free agent contract with Washington.
As such, he says, he hesitated when it came time to cash the $21 million bonus check he received this spring. The Redskins were switching from a Haynesworth-approved 4-3 defense to a 3-4, which he feared would make him less effective -- at least in quantifiable terms. The team could certainly use a dominate defensive tackle demanding double coverage right about now.
The change made Haynesworth hesitate before depositing the $21 million bonus check he was given April 1.
"Yeah, check sat at my house for a couple weeks before I cashed it," Haynesworth said. "I was weighing my options about what I should do. ...Do you want to take this? Do you want to commit yourself to playing a 3-4 [defense]? Do you want to go somewhere else and try again?"
Haynesworth ultimately took the money and stayed with the Redskins. But he did protest the change by skipping the team's offseason conditioning program and a mandatory minicamp.
[Sound of record scratching]
Um...say what, now? Haynesworth hesitated to cash a $21 million check, because it meant committing to the Redskins' new defense. So he cashed it, committing, according to his logic (and everyone's), and did everything but as he skipped two camps in protest?
Might as well just admit he didn't feel like getting off the couch and driving to the bank. It's more honest.
Sometimes, it's possible to feel a little sorry for Haynesworth. He hates the new defense, doesn't feel it plays to his strengths (he might be right), and he's disappointed. It's not what he signed up for.
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But that's life. And if Haynesworth really wanted to be the greatest, the opportunity is still there. The Redskins are desperate for the talents he possesses, and he was paid more than handsomely to at least show up, pay attention, and try.
Unfortunately, he's off by himself on the sidelines, being something so far from the greatest lineman of all time that Washington probably won't even miss him when the two sides eventually part ways -- one of them out $21 million, cashed in under the falsest and fattest of pretences.
