THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 1995 TAG: 9507250400
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FROSTBURG, MD. LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
It may be the most boring drill in training camp.
A lone safety or cornerback lines up in the secondary and runs across the field, chasing an imaginary receiver. The secondary coach tosses a pass your dog could catch with one paw. ``Interception,'' followed by a unimpeded scamper toward the other end zone.
In six practices here, the Washington Redskins already have worked this drill several hundred times. There are, after all, 11 defensive backs on the depth chart.
Only one player - James Washington - has returned each of his interceptions for a touchdown. The others rarely run more than 15 yards before stopping.
Maybe they'll get it one day. Washington is trying to teach them something he learned years ago from a college friend out of Chesapeake, Kenny Easley - there's only one way to play, and that's to offer up body and soul.
``I was a freshman at UCLA and I'd hit and hit guys, but I just didn't have that `ooomph,' '' Washington recalled Monday. ``Kenny came to me one day and said, `The worst thing that can happen to you on the football field is that you're knocked out trying to knock someone else out. The best thing that can happen is that you can knock out somebody from the other team.' I've lived by that motto ever since.''
Washington isn't afraid to knock himself out, so he runs 50 yards when everyone else runs 15.
``You hope they start thinking, `If a guy like (Washington) can take the ball and keep running, why can't I?' '' Washington said. ``I was fortunate the last couple of years to have a great defensive line in front of me, and I was on the field maybe 65 plays.
``I'll be honest with you. I know I'm with a new team. I know we're going to be out there more. I'm preparing myself for the long haul.''
The longest of his 8-year career. He's not surrounded by the big, bad Dallas Cowboys anymore, but the Redskins, bottom feeders the past two seasons. And that's precisely why the Redskins brass went hard after Washington. There's nowhere for this team to go but up, and James Washington knows the way.
He left the Rams as a Plan B free agent and went to a Dallas team that, under Jimmy Johnson, won only one game the first year. Three years later in Super Bowl XXVIII against Buffalo, Washington was runner-up for MVP honors after forcing one fumble by Thurman Thomas, returning another fumble 46 yards for a score and intercepting a pass by Jim Kelly to set up another touchdown.
``My first year (in Dallas), we won one game; they won three here last year,'' he says, smiling. ``I figure I'm two games ahead.''
Coach Norv Turner wasn't the only reason Washington came to D.C. He and new secondary coach Tom Hayes are fast friends, going back to their days as player and position coach at UCLA.
``James is much more mature now,'' Hayes said. ``He's never been afraid to stand up and say what he believes. He's always been very intense in practice and he's become a much better player with experience.
``He pushes other players to be the best they can be.''
Sometimes, maybe, he just pushes. There's a lot of talk so far about what effect Washington's presence will have on a team that lacked any firebrands.
Recall last year's end-of-half brawl in the Dallas-New York Giants Monday night game? That was James Washington grabbing a photographer's tripod and threatening to use it on a Giant.
And then there's his bandanna. The NFL doesn't like players to wear them. Makes 'em look like gang members. Washington wore a blue bandanna in Dallas. He has worn a white one under his burgundy Redskins helmet.
``My presence?'' Washington repeated in a way that indicates he considers it a buzzword for something more sinister. ``I carry myself a little cocky, but I'm probably one of the nicest guys out here as far as helping other guys develop.
``We came up through Jimmy Johnson. He was very aggressive. Our coach was cocky. We were taught to be cocky. Our coach here has confidence. Once the team picks up the attitude of the coach. ... I didn't come here to take that role. It has been handed to me.''
So Washington will continue to go the extra mile. When one of the cornerbacks makes a play, Washington is among the first to say something. When someone fails to make a play he should have, Washington is there, too.
And even when he dropped an easy interception during Monday's afternoon workout, Washington kept running.
``What you're trying to do is work yourself and everyone else so hard that on game day you go, `Hey, this is the most relaxing part of the week,' '' Washington said. ``That's when the fun begins.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BILL ABOURJILIE/Staff
James Washington, a Redskins' defensive back acquired from the
Cowboys, isn't afraid to knock himself out in practice.
by CNB