Tag: Sonny Jurgensen

Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke is extremely popular among his teammates

Offense, defense, it doesn’t matter. Heinicke’s teammates believe in him.

Fans of the Washington Commanders always love the backup quarterback. It’s been that way since the early 1970s when franchise legends Billy Kilmer and Sonny Jurgensen were in town.

Recent quarterback controversies were divisive among the fan base, such as Robert Griffin III vs. Kirk Cousins, both of whom were selected in the 2012 NFL draft.

Does Washington have a new quarterback controversy on its hands with Taylor Heinicke vs. Carson Wentz?

As of now, probably not. However, things can change quickly if Heinicke can rally Washington’s struggling offense in his first start of the 2022 season in Week 7 against the Green Bay Packers. Wentz suffered a fractured ring finger on his right throwing hand and is out for at least the next four weeks.

Heinicke isn’t your typical backup quarterback. He already has his fans amongst Washington’s fans. While many fans loved Heinicke, they viewed him as a high-quality NFL backup. But there are others who felt Heinicke could do more if he were surrounded by better skill players.

After starting 15 games last season, Heinicke gets another shot, beginning with the Packers. This time, he’ll have more than just Terry McLaurin. The Commanders now have first-round pick Jahan Dotson [questionable for Week 7] and a healthy Curtis Samuel.

In addition, Logan Thomas is back [although he is out in Week 7], and running back J.D. McKissic is healthy. The Commanders also have a pair of young tight ends, Cole Turner and Armani Rogers, and rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr.

As it became apparent that Heinicke would be the quarterback for Washington in the short term, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post spoke with several of Heinicke’s teammates, who showered him with praise.

“The kid is a gamer,” tight end Logan Thomas said. “I think everyone knows that.”

What about Dotson?

“I always say he’s the coolest quarterback in the room with the most swag,” Dotson said. “I’m big on sneakers. His sneaker game, day to day he’s bringing in some cool dunks and stuff like that.”

McLaurin has always praised Heinicke, and it was no different over the past week.

“Whether he’s making plays down the field, extending the plays with his legs, diving for pylons, he’s a guy who’s always just going to leave it out on the field,” McLaurin said. “Anybody who’s on this team is going to respect that.”

Defensive end Chase Young, like McLaurin, has long been a fan of Heinicke.

“We just know he’s going to go hard. He’s a dawg,” Young said. “Relentless. The dude, you can’t really break him. And he’s good. S—, he can f—ing play.”

Others heaped praise on Heinicke, too. But you get the point. This team believes in him, and it’s not lip service.

If Heinicke can go out and help the Commanders defeat the Packers, the Heinicke hype train will be at an all-time high. Again.

 

All quotes were courtesy of Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. 

Dallas at Washington: 50 years ago

Washington hopes for a repeat performance against the Cowboys in Week 4.

50 years ago, the 1972 Washington Redskins became the first team in Washington history to play in a Super Bowl.

Playing in the NFC East meant facing Dallas twice during the regular season. The first match-up took place at RFK Stadium in Week 6 on Oct. 22, 1972.

Two things have stuck with me since my childhood about that day. The first was that after church that morning we ate lunch and then watched Game 7 of the 1972 World Series. That was back in the day when kids were encouraged by MLB to watch postseason baseball. All I recall about the game was I was rooting for the Cincinnati Reds at home, but they lost to the Oakland A’s.

When the World Series game had concluded, the 4 p.m. ET CBS national broadcast began the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys at the Washington Redskins.

To this day, I recall being so frustrated thinking the Cowboys were going to blow out the Redskins. Dallas jumped out to a 13-0 lead, and it could have been worse, but the Washington defense held the Cowboys inside of the 10 yard-line twice resulting in two short Tony Fritsch field goals.

But Sonny Jurgensen who only attempted 16 passes on that October day would complete 11 with no interceptions and Washington would come back. Jurgensen connected with Larry Brown for a 19-yard touchdown pass narrowing the deficit to 13-7 at the half.

But Dallas again increased the lead to 13 (20-7) when Walt Garrison scored from one yard. Larry Brown then took a toss to the left side, got a great block from fullback Charlie Harraway, cut back and scored a 34-yard touchdown making the deficit 20-14.

Curt Knight’s 42-yard field goal brought Washington even closer to 20-17. Jurgensen then lead the Redskins on an 80-yard drive in seven plays, the final a 13-yard touchdown run by Harraway.

Washington had twice come back from 13-point deficits to win 24-20. The win elevated Washington’s record to 5-1 and dropped Dallas to 4-2. It was the third consecutive win for Washington.

Commanders to retire Sonny Jurgensen’s No. 9

The Commanders will honor Sonny during the Week 18 home game against the Cowboys.

Finally, the Burgundy and Gold No. 9 will be retired.

Tuesday, on his 88th birthday (August 23, 1934) the Washington Commanders announced they are retiring Sonny Jurgensen’s No. 9 jersey.

Jurgensen quarterbacked the former Redskins from 1964-1974 so well, that he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame 1983 class.

The Commanders will honor Sonny, officially retiring his jersey during this season’s Week 18 home contest against the Dallas Cowboys. Jurgensen being 88 years old, we hope he will be able to attend.

Sonny led the NFL in completions and passing yards in 1966, 1967 and 1969, despite his offensive line giving up the most sacks in 1969 (40). Also in 1967, Sonny set a franchise record that remarkably still stands today, when he passed for 31 touchdowns (in only a 14-game season).

In 1970 on a 6-8 team, he led the NFL in completion percentage. In 1972 the Redskins had their best team since the 1940’s. Sonny led the team to four straight victories including an exciting come from behind 24-20 win over Dallas at RFK, where Dallas had led 13-0 and 20-7.

The next week in New York against the Giants, Sonny was untouched when  he stepped in an uneven section of turf, tearing his Achilles tendon. At age 38, Washington continued to win, becoming NFC Champions before losing Super Bowl VII to Miami 14-7. Sadly, Sonny had to watch on crutches.

Jurgensen retired after the 1974 season and continued being hugely popular in the DMV, working for WTOP TV 9 and later WRC TV 4, providing Redskins analysis. He then joined the Radio Broadcast team of Frank Herzog and Sam Huff, announcing games for the team he loved from 1981-2018.

Consequently, Sonny Jurgensen quarterbacked Washington for 11 seasons and was part of the legendary radio broadcast team for another 38 seasons. When we think of retired Washington Redskins jerseys, who have actually put in the time and work that Sonny Jurgensen has?

Could there even be anyone else as deserving as Sonny Jurgensen?

 

Daron Payne not in Washington’s future plans?

It’s been a frustrating offseason for Washington fans.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbykgy681k112p8 player_id=none image=https://washingtonfootballwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

It wouldn’t be Washington football if it didn’t involve uncertainty.

Don’t call me a hater.

Seriously, I have followed this team much closer than most fans since the 1969 season. I fell in love as a kid when the Redskins had Sonny Jurgensen throwing tight spirals to Charley Taylor and Jerry Smith while a young Larry Brown was becoming one of the fiercest runners to ever put on a helmet.

I watched all five Super Bowls in team history and cried as a 9-year-old when they lost Super Bowl VII. So don’t call me a hater.

But today’s latest development again left me frustrated. The front office/head coach Ron Rivera and his front office assistants will not extend defensive tackle Daron Payne.

This AFTER they let Tim Settle go to sign with Buffalo for a mere $9 million over two years and then released Matt Ioannidis. Wait, what?

Following the team for 50+ years, I certainly understand it is a business. Ok, so why release this information today? Why let each of your competitors know you now “have” to trade him? I wrote about this prior to the trade for Carson Wentz, regarding their desperation to obtain a quarterback.

Ok, they were determined to re-sign Jonathan Allen, and I approved of the move. So, why haven’t they been trying to trade Daron Payne earlier in this 2022 offseason, when many other teams were making trades?

If they had traded Payne earlier, could they have not kept both Ioannidis and Settle? They certainly could have.

Has there been much of a plan this offseason? Is it just me, or does it seem there are reactions rather than direction and vision? They cannot let Payne get to the 2022 season. Good grief, Kirk Cousins, Brandon Scherff AND Daron Payne? Is there a plan?

Perhaps they will trade him during this week’s NFL draft? What will they get for him? If they lose Payne, Ioannidis and Settle in a two-month span, their strongest roster spot (DT) will have been virtually annihilated.

Forgive me, but sometimes I feel as soon as Washington strengthens one weakness (QB), it manages to create two more weaknesses, which is what they have done this offseason: strengthen QB, weaken their draft possibilities and gut their defensive tackle depth.

 

53 years ago today: Washington head coach Vince Lombardi

On this day, 53 years ago, Vince Lombardi made history.

It was 53 years ago today in Washington football history Vince Lombardi appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated March 3, 1969.

Lombardi appearing in coat and tie, the cover read, “Vince Lombardi Puts a Legend on the Line.”

Lombardi in Green Bay had turned things around instantly with a 7-5, 1959 team, the first winning Packers team since Curly Lambeau’s 1947 (6-5-1) team. All Lombardi accomplished in his nine seasons with Green Bay was a winning season each year, an 89-29-4 regular-season record, 3 NFL Championships, and the first two Super Bowl Championships.

Retiring on top, following 1967 season, Lombardi was an executive with the Packers in 1968 and miserable.

Hired by the Redskins in 1969, Lombardi at his first press conference proclaimed, “Gentlemen, it is not true that I can walk across the Potomac River—not even when it is frozen.”

Washington had been 5-9 in 1968, and had last enjoyed a winning season in 1955 (8-4), long before any of the Redskins Lombardi inherited. There were however three future Hall of Famers: Sonny Jurgensen, Charley Taylor and Chris Hanburger.

Sam Huff returned for the 1969 season, having come out of retirement to play one season under Lombardi. Lombardi promised in that first press conference, “We’re going to have a winner the first year!”

Indeed Lombardi was a winner, leading Washington to a 7-5-2 record in his only season in Washington. He was diagnosed with colon cancer June, 1970, and died September 3, 1970, only age 57.

A few more excerpts quoting Lombardi in the SI issue:

“I’m not a legend, because I don’t want to be a legend. One main reason I came back to coaching is that I didn’t want to be regarded as a legend…I’m too young to be a legend.”

“Now a good coach is a good coach. Right? If you take all 26 coaches in pro football and look at their football knowledge, you’d find almost no difference. So if the knowledge isn’t different, what’s different? The coach’s personality. See?” He paused, then laughed—arararararargh!—and said, “Now how am I supposed to explain my own personality? What am I supposed to say? That I’m a great leader? A mental powerhouse? That I’ve got charisma?”

“You cannot be successful in football—or in any organization—unless you have people who bend to your personality. They must bend or already be molded to your personality.”

“I believe a man should be on time—not a minute late, not 10 seconds late—but on time for things. I believe that a man who’s late for meetings or for the bus won’t run his pass routes right. He’ll be sloppy.”

“I just heard the other day about a kid I used to coach in high school. I heard he’s in trouble. I heard he’s drinking, doing a lot of heavy drinking… Lombardi rubbed the three-diamond setting in his huge Super Bowl ring and he said, “It’s corny and it’ll sound awful in writing, but you just feel bad when you know you couldn’t get through to a kid like that.”

 

Carson Wentz now first QB in Eagles history to throw TD pass in every regular-season game

Carson Wentz now first QB Eagles history to throw a TD pass in every regular-season game

Carson Wentz is continuing to rewrite the record books and hours after leading the Eagles to the playoffs and securing the franchises first 4,000 passing seasons, he’s been recognized for something else.

After crunching the numbers, Wentz is now the first quarterback in Eagles team history to throw at least one touchdown pass in all 16 regular-season games.

Wentz completed 63% of his passes for 4,039 yards, 27 touchdowns with 7 total interceptions.

Even more impressive, Wentz was the only quarterback to accomplish the feat this season.

Carson Wentz breaks Eagles’ single season passing record

Carson Wentz becomes Eagles first 4,000-yard passer in team history

Carson Wentz has completed his first full season since he was a rookie and along the way, he shattered two Eagles passing records. Earlier in the Eagles Week 17 win over the Giants, Wentz became the Eagles single-season leader for completions.

Wentz entered the game with 3,750 yards on the season, leaving him 162 behind McNabb for the single-season record and 250 shy of becoming the Eagles first 4,000-yard passer in a season.

Wentz is just the 27th quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000 yards, win 8 games, throw 25 touchdowns and less than 10 interceptions in a season in the history of the NFL.