Bram Weinstein grew up in the DMV, a big Washington Redskins fan.
Weinstein told John Keim of Ampire Media this week of how he grew up attending games at RFK Stadium, home of the Redskins, and they were one of the three or four best teams in the NFL many seasons.
Joe Gibbs coached Washington from the 1981-1992 seasons, leading them to five NFC Title games, four Super Bowls and winning three Super Bowl championships.
So, when Gibbs returned to coach the Redskins in the 2004 season, there was Weinstein, then an adult, a graduate of American University, and a reporter doing his job covering the Redskins.
Weinstein found Gibbs “to be a genuinely nice person, very giving with his time, with the exception on Fridays, when he turned into ‘Friday Joe.’ The game face came on.”
“He was extremely generous with his time Monday through Thursday then Friday would come along. It was like a light bulb went off. It was like he was ready to go into the ring. He became very short and didn’t have time for you anymore. He was just ready to go, and you could see the competitive nature.”
Weinstein also notes that Gibbs was very good at getting to know the people in the media and giving them some time to do their jobs. However, when it was time to double down and just work, he says, Gibbs took it as seriously as anyone I ever saw. You saw the competitive fire literally come out of him.”
During Gibbs’ second tenure, Weinstein says, “You could see why it burned him out the first time. It meant so much; his emotions went to such a place the results ate at him.”
Indeed in nine of his twelve seasons in his 1.0 tenure, the Redskins won over .600 of their games. In those twelve seasons, only one was a losing season, and that was a 7-9 1988 season.
“That’s who he was, and that’s probably why he was so successful. He knew how to handle personalities, how to delegate authority, knew how to motivate. When Sundays rolled around, it was dead serious to him.”
“I think that is why these guys played for him the way they did, the two times they played for him.”