Albert Haynesworth's never lived up to his big free agent contract when he signed with Washington. (Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports)
Albert Haynesworth had a short stay with the Patriots in 2011. Acquired in a trade from the Washington Redskins when the lockout ended on July 29, the defensive tackle was waived Nov. 8. He played six games, was inactive for two, and had a grand total of six tackles.
Largely forgotten in NFL circles, Haynesworth’s name was back in the news last week. First, former Redskins tight end Chris Cooley spared no words in evaluating him, at which point Haynesworth fired back with some heated words for coach Mike Shanahan.
Somewhat surprisingly, Shanahan didn’t mince words when he was asked about Haynesworth’s comments.
Starting at the beginning, Cooley was talking on his show in Washington on ESPN 980 when the discussion centered around the bad contract the Washington Wizards gave Gilbert Arenas. Cooley said, “Every year, every team, someone signs a big contract and then they turn into a piece of dump.”
Cooley was then asked which contract was worse: the Arenas deal or the one the Redskins gave Haynesworth. Famously, Haynesworth collected a huge amount of guaranteed money including a large option bonus his second year and then refused to report for offseason workouts and was out of shape when he arrived at training camp.
Cooley didn’t hesitate. He said, “No question, the Haynesworth contract. Because he was trying to get released by the team. His goal was to come here, make a large signing bonus, and then get released and not have to do any of the work. He didn’t care about the back end of that contract, he didn’t care about making all of that money. His idea was, you paid me for what I did in the past, and my goal is to be released as soon as possible and basically take $33 million from you for absolutely nothing.
“His goal from the get-go was to take that money. He also indicated to many players on the team that his new goal was to get released as soon as possible, sign another maybe $10, $12 million contract — that’s verbatim — go somewhere, play for a year and probably get released, and keep that money too. I mean, if it was a player on this team currently, I would not discuss this on the air. But being the player that he was, and the guy that he was around here, this was open (knowledge) among many players in this locker room: that his goal was basically to take money.”
The delusional Haynesworth responded on a Tennessee radio station by claiming the team is dysfunctional because of Shanahan, and that eventually the coach will clash with quarterback Robert Griffin III because he can’t be trusted by players.
“I mean, it’s like, you can’t win with that team,” Haynesworth said. “And you think it was just me? I mean, look how he did Donovan (McNabb). See what’s going on with RGIII. I met RGIII. He seemed like an extremely nice guy that’s willing to work. Now he’s gonna learn – I mean, I hate to say he’s gonna learn — about Shanahan, how he’s conniving and everything like that, where he’s not gonna help him out, it’s all about him.”
Haynesworth played his best football with the Titans when he was in his contract year, and cashed in with the free-agent deal he received from Washington, signed only hours after free agency opened in 2009. Yet, Haynesworth tried to make the case he would have preferred to be paid less to become a Hall of Famer somewhere else. Of course, he went elsewhere for a lot less money and was out of the league after the 2011 season. So much for the Hall of Fame.
In going after Cooley, Haynesworth said, “He sounds as stupid as he looks,” and then added, “Maybe he should worry about his own personal life and worry about what his wife is doing and all that stuff – or maybe now I should say what his ex-wife was doing.”
The most laughable words he said in characterizing his time in Washington were, “I still tried to play, I still practiced hard, I still played hard, because I’ve got respect for myself. I’m not gonna let any man beat me on the field, or say they beat Albert Haynesworth on the field.” Right.
Finally, it was Shanahan’s turn. He said, “Let’s put it this way. I think I’ve been a head coach and an assistant coach for about 40 years, and when you look back on those days and you take a look at the people that you get along with or people that – for one reason or another – that you may not get along with, Albert was one of the few guys that … Let me start this over again because I want to be pretty specific on this since you asked me that question.
“The only people I really haven’t gotten along with since I’ve been a coach – as head coach, an assistant coach – is someone that’s lazy and No. 2, when somebody is lazy and they may lack character, or they’re lazy and they lack passion for the game, those are the only people I haven’t gotten along with as a head coach or as an assistant coach. And so that’s what you’re looking for. When I take a look through my years at people that have been lazy or have lacked passion for their job, they don’t go into the next year. When they do, they don’t last the next year.
“So the people that I look at that come back and complain or do some of those things that you do when you don’t get along with somebody as a head coach or an assistant coach, it usually falls into one of those couple areas: lazy, lack of passion, and a lot of times, a lack of character. And he fits all three. You usually take the high road as much as you can. I usually do, but I thought that he’s been talking quite a bit over the last couple years, so I thought at least I’d be honest with you guys and kind of tell you how I feel.”
Classic comments came from former NFL player LaVar Arrington, who has a radio show in Washington and current linebacker London Fletcher.
Arrington: “No scheme or unfair treatment made him lay on the ground for about a minute while a play was still live.” That was followed by the hashtag #Fatty.
Fletcher: “He came in here and he took Mr. Snyder’s money (owner Dan Snyder). Robbed him without a mask.”
