Albert Haynesworth's tenure as a member of the Washington Redskins presumably came to a close Tuesday afternoon after being suspended, without pay, for the final four games of the season. All reports out of Washington's front office indicate that Haynesworth will either be traded or released this coming offseason. This suspension arose after a season-long struggle between Haynesworth and head coach Mike Shanahan. While Haynesworth and those close to him protest that he is being treated unfairly, his actions demonstrate that he is clearly in the wrong.
On Feb. 27, 2009, the Redskins gave Albert Haynesworth a seven-year, $100 million contract, with $41 million guaranteed, making Haynesworth the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. It was well deserved seeing as he was coming off of back-to-back seasons as the most dominant defensive tackle in football, finishing third and second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
While the contract was clearly extravagant, no one questioned Haynesworth's on-field talent and penchant for blowing up opposing teams' backfields. Instead, the questions circling Haynesworth always focused on his lack of preparation during the offseason, his negative attitude towards coaches, and one violent display of unnecessary aggression on the field.
Everyone who watches football is familiar with how Haynesworth, then a member of the Tennessee Titans, made his name known in the NFL, infamously face-stomping defenseless and helmet-less Cowboys Offensive Tackle Andre Gurode during the 2006 season. But Haynesworth made us all forget that incident occurred as he wowed and dazzled fans with stunning and herculean performances on the field.
Unfortunately, his ego developed as rapidly as his talents and, after the 2008 season, the Redskins rewarded his on-field efforts with the aforementioned contract. However, fans and members of the media alike were concerned with how Haynesworth would handle his newfound fortune.
Haynesworth had 100 million reasons to keep himself out of trouble and to make good on the promise he made during his introductory press conference.
"You're not going to remember Albert Haynesworth as a bust," Haynesworth said.
But like clockwork, trouble arose during his first season. After a Monday Night Football blowout loss to the Giants in Week 15, Haynesworth openly criticized Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache's scheme and was subsequently sent home by the team. Thus, the Albert Haynesworth drama began.
Haynesworth began the following offseason by skipping both voluntary and mandatory workouts. Once Fat Albert finally showed up to training camp, he was visibly out of shape and twice failed his conditioning test — the same conditioning test that ESPN personality Mike Golic, who is overweight and retired from the NFL 16 years ago, passed after one try.
How is it possible that someone who is being paid $100 million has the audacity to report to his job late and then show zero regard for his employers? After failed attempts to trade Haynesworth for 10 cents on the dollar, the Redskins had no choice but to keep him.
Instead of using all of the public scrutiny and the franchise's transparent rebuke as fuel to propel himself back into the NFL's elite, Haynesworth decided to take the low road and play victim, citing the 3-4 defense as detrimental to his game and, most recently, claiming that everyone is a "hater". Fat Albert decided that he was bigger and more important than the team itself and repeatedly refused to enter games when the defensive package wasn't to his liking. He has even gone as far as to proclaim that he "would be the greatest defensive tackle ever, if he were in the right situation."
Let's play devil's advocate for just one moment. Let's say Haynesworth is really just not in the right situation and the media has blown this ordeal entirely out of proportion — we've seen this happen before to certain athletes. If this were the case, Haynesworth should take the field when he is asked to, mostly third-down situations, play hard and show everyone that he's not trying to turn himself into an albatross. However, during a game against the Eagles in mid-November, Haynesworth literally laid down on the field for the duration of the play. The cameras caught Haynesworth taking a rest on the field while Eagles QB Michael Vick scrambled around and kept the play alive. It's no reason Shanahan is doing everything he can to keep Lazy Albert off the field.
The curtains fell Tuesday on the Haynesworth drama and Redskins players spoke out to support the team's decision. No one came to Haynesworth's defense, no one bought that he was a victim. Veteran Defensive End Vonnie Holliday summed it up best.
"Unfortunately Albert's behavior has his credibility in question," Holliday said. "This is my first year with Albert. Some of these guys are in their second year. For them, there's certainly a credibility issue. How many times can you cry wolf?"
Albert was not forced to sign that contract in 2008. He chose to. He chose to accept $41 million guaranteed and $100 million over seven years to be an employee of the Washington Redskins. The media can blame the organization all they want for giving that kind of money to someone with a history as questionable as Haynesworth's. But when all is said and done, the onus falls on one person and one person only to take responsibility for who he is, what he is capable of doing and what he has promised to do.
