 There never was a debut quite like it. All Bobby Mitchell did in his
first game as a Redskin was to integrate the team, run back a
kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, take a pass 81 yards for another
touchdown, score a third touchdown on a short pass and set up two or three
more TDs with key plays. All of this happened against the Dallas Cowboys.
If you're counting, Mitchell had a hand
in five touchdowns that hot day in the Cotton Bowl and the Redskins needed
all of them. On September 16, 1962, the season opener, the Redskins
and Cowboys battled to a 35-35 tie.
If ever a team had a set of ready-made
excuses for losing a football game, all you would need to do is look at
the Washington Redskins as they took the field at D.C. Stadium on October
23, 1966.
Otto Graham, the former Cleveland
Browns passer who had just been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame,
had been hired surprisingly by team president Edward Bennett Williams as
the new Redskins Head Coach.
ßà
Bobby Mitchell, the league's no. 1
receiver, was not in the Redskins starting lineup. Graham had benched
Mitchell because of his blocking, or lack of it. Graham also had chewed
out Jurgensen and Charley Taylor during a mid-week session Graham
described only as "a family affair."
Graham also made one other bold
move. He switched Taylor, the team's top running back, to split end,
giving Taylor wider opportunity to utilize his great speed and his
breakaway ability. Nobody knew it at the time, but Taylor would go on to
lead the league that year with 72 catches while setting a Redskins
record with 15 touchdowns.
"The
greatest moment in sports," Allen proclaimed, "is when you've
got a victory and you give away the game balls."
He said this in the jubilant locker
room after a Redskins victory over the New York Giants on September 26,
1971. Nobody knew it at the time, but two things happened that day:
First, the Redskins started a streak
that included an unbelievable 11 straight victories over the Giants. And
second, the Over the Hill Gang got their nickname.
ßà
Allen knew the odds makers favored the
Giants, but he whipped his club into a frenzy, demanding their best, as
only he could. "Be physical," Allen ordered his defense.
During the game, the Redskins got into
four fist fights, were penalized 18 times for 173 yards, but amazingly
still licked the Giants by 27 points.
It was a wild one. Larry Brown,
the Redskins running back, had a 20-stitch gash on his hand for
throwing a punch at Roland Lakes for a tackle after the whistle on the
first offensive play of the game. Later on, Tarkenton became so incensed
after he was sacked that he fired the football at Redskins defensive end
Jimmie Jones. Redskins guard Paul Laaveg was banished along with the
Giants Pat Hughes for still another fight. And in the final minutes,
Redskins defensive end Verlon Biggs was tossed out along with the Giants'
Willie Young for still another fight.
Allen had told his team before the game
that he wanted to hear that huge Giants crowd booing their own team. And
it turned out that way as Tarkenton was sacked three times and his backup,
Randy Johnson, was sacked twice.
Go to http://www.redskins.com
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