Ron Rivera and the Washington Football Team finally got to have some fun originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
If anybody deserves to have a little bit of fun, it's Ron Rivera.
2020 has been tough on everyone, but particularly for the Washington Football Team head coach.
Think about it: He took over a 3-13 team and a few months into his tenure a massive sexual harassment scandal erupts, the team changes its 90-year-old nickname, 40 percent of the franchise is very publicly up for sale, there's a global pandemic impacting every facet of life and the NFL, and he has to bench his second-year starting quarterback four weeks into the season.
Oh, and in case anyone forgot, Rivera was also diagnosed with cancer in August and underwent chemotherapy for the past few months.
So, yeah, Rivera deserves a few good days, and in Dallas on Thanksgiving, he got one.
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"It was a lot of fun. That’s what you work for is to be able to play that way and have a game go that way," Rivera said Friday.
His Washington team administered a thorough beatdown of the Cowboys, winning 41-16 and playing excellent football in all three phases.
He's got young stars on both sides of the field in Terry McLaurin and Chase Young, and maybe Antonio Gibson is going to join that club. Washington has completely rallied around veteran QB Alex Smith, and now the team sits alone in first place in the NFC East.
Rivera and his staff have coached their players hard, and the results are promising.
A patchwork offensive line has plowed the way to more than 300 yards rushing in the last two games. A young receiver group has been significantly more productive than preseason expectations. Young play caller Scott Turner is mixing power football with pre-snap motion and dialing up just the right amount of trickeration.
Things are coming together in D.C., and for a moment anyway, Rivera and the team enjoyed themselves flying back from Dallas.
"What was really cool was to watch the energy level in the locker room after the game and really watch the guys mingle amongst each other while they were celebrating. That was really cool. For the first hour, hour and a half, on the flight home the guys were pretty ruckus in the back having a good time. They were reliving the game and talking about it. I made a little walk just to kind of see everybody, and then when I came back a little bit later, they were all asleep. They were pretty worn out. It was really cool. Believe me, that’s very gratifying is to see the guys after they earned it. They deserved it. It’s been good to see those guys celebrating the way they did."
When Rivera took the Washington job - before Covid, before the investigation, before the cancer - the coach explained that his changes for the team would take time. A cultural rebuild doesn't happen overnight.
It takes time. There's been speed bumps. But the best fun comes after being earned, and that's why Rivera and his team are finally starting to enjoy themselves.
