Jay Gruden: The Washington Redskins’ “Fall Guy”
Remember the 80’s TV series “The Fall Guy?” It starred an aging Lee Majors and was all about the exploits of an aging Hollywood stuntman who moon-lighted as a bounty hunter. If you think that sounds like a shit-show, well…you’re not wrong. But it wasn’t nearly as much of a shit-show as the Washington Redskins are today.
Today, as ex-head coach Jay Gruden cleaned out his desk, he became the embodiment of the other popular use of the term “Fall Guy.” Quite simply, Gruden got fired because he couldn’t overcome the sheer power of his bosses’ boobery. Let’s just get right to the point here…ever since Daniel Snyder bought the Washington Redskins in 1999, they been the definition of a shit-show.
According to quasi-credible source the Washington Post, Snyder and team president and worm extraordinaire Bruce Allen called Gruden to the team facility for a 5 a.m. meeting where they did the deed. There’s a lot of “Why now?” talk today in the American sports media, and to me, there’s an easy answer to that question. Jay Gruden gets to take the “walk of shame” because even if Daniel Snyder were capable of understanding he’s the real problem, he can’t fire himself, and he’s not selling the team. In other words, nothing will change with the Washington Redskins as long as Daniel Snyder occupies the owner’s box.
So, fair or otherwise, Gruden gets to take the fall for Snyder’s incompetence. There’s a lot of people who think this is all about Snyder wanting Dwayne Haskins to be the starting quarterback, and while there may be something to that, there’s just so much more wrong with this football team than the quarterback. Don’t forget the only reason the Redskins drafted Haskins was because they guy they paid to stabilize that position got his leg destroyed. If Alex Smith is healthy, this isn’t even a point of discussion as Haskins would not have been drafted.
On second thought, maybe that’s not true. If there’s a team that would spend a 1st-round pick on a quarterback after paying for not just one, but TWO of them…it would be the Redskins. One of the primary indicators for the Redskins and their two decades of futility is to look at this list of starting quarterbacks they’ve used in that time and the numbers of games they played in each season.
- 1999: Brad Johnson (16)
- 2000: Brad Johnson (11) / Jeff George (5)
- 2001: Tony Banks (14) / Jeff George (2)
- 2002: Shane Matthews (7) / Patrick Ramsey (5) / Danny Wuerffel (4)
- 2003: Patrick Ramsey (11) / Tim Hasselbeck (5)
- 2004: Mark Brunell (9) / Patrick Ramsey (7)
- 2005: Mark Brunell (15) / Patrick Ramsey (1)
- 2006: Mark Brunell (9) / Jason Campbell (7)
- 2007 Jason Campbell (13) / Todd Collins (3)
- 2008: Jason Campbell (16)
- 2009: Jason Campbell (16):
- 2010: Donovan McNabb (13) / Rex Grossman (3)
- 2011: Rex Grossman (13) / John Beck (3)
- 2012: Robert Griffin III (15) / Kirk Cousins (1)
- 2013: Robert Griffin III (13) / Kirk Cousins (3)
- 2014: Robert Griffin III (7) / Kirk Cousins (5) / Colt McCoy (4)
- 2015: Kirk Cousins (16)
- 2016: Kirk Cousins (16)
- 2017: Kirk Cousins (16)
- 2018: Alex Smith (10) / Josh Johnson (3) / Colt McCoy (2) / Mark Sanchez (1)
- 2019: Case Keenum (4) / Colt McCoy (1)
That kind of instability at the quarterback position usually leads to the same problem in the coaching ranks. The Redskins are no exception.
- Norv Turner: 1994–2000 49-59-1 .454
- Terry Robiskie: 2000 1-2-0 .333
- Marty Schottenheimer: 2001 8-8-0 .500
- Steve Spurrier: 2002–2003 12-20-0 .375
- Joe Gibbs: 2004–2007 30-34-0 .469
- Jim Zorn: 2008–2009 12-20-0 .375
- Mike Shanahan: 2010–2013 24-40-0 .375
- Jay Gruden 2014–2019: 35-50-1 .418
Next up is Bill Callahan…Anytime the answer is “Bill Callahan,” you should be terrified of the question, especially when you consider that Gruden was the longest-tenured head coach since Daniel Snyder became owner of the team. You knew it wasn’t going to end well for Gruden, because it never does for a Redskin coach during the Snyder regime; only Joe Gibbs was able to leave on his own terms.
When Gruden was hired by the Redskins, he was considered one of the best offensive coordinators in the game. The idea was that he would bringe his success running the Cincinnati Bengals offense to Washington their then-young quarterback Robert Griffin III. Even before Griffin III got hurt, it was cleat the relationship between him and Gruden was chilly at best. Things seemed to be moving in the right direction; Gruden moved on from Griffin and Kirk Cousins helped lead the Redskins to a division title and Gruden’s one playoff appearance in 2015.
But then the Snyder factor kicked in; the Redskins put the franchise tag on Cousins twice, then allowed him to leave in free agency, thus destroying the best period of stability at quarterback in a decade. There’s no coach on earth who con overcome that kind of stupidity coming from the front office, which means whoever takes this job is going to be the next “Fall Guy.”
Got a question, comment, or just want to yell at us? Hit us up at dubsism@yahoo.com, @Dubsism on Twitter, or on our Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook pages, and be sure to bookmark Dubsism.com so you don’t miss anything from the most interesting independent sports blog on the web.
About J-Dub
The Man Behind Dubsism
Dubsism on Pinterest
Click On JoePa-Kenobi To Feel The Power Of The Jedi Photoshop Trick. Besides, you can get the best sports-related recipes ever. This is the sports-related content you are looking for.
Blog Directories
Dubsism 
What The Dubsists Thought…