Ahh good times
Both Jason La Canfora and Dan Dan the Sports Bog man caught former Redskins receiver Michael Westbrook beating the shit out of some hapless guy on a pseudo reality TV show last night, it took me back back back... Joseph White AP story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 August 1997:
Redskins practice marred by attack
Westbrook's punches leave teammate bloodied
ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins receiver Michael Westbrook's injuries and work habits have cost him a regular place in the starting lineup. Now, his bloody attack yesterday on a teammate during practice will likely cost him even more.
Westbrook, the team's volatile 1995 first-round draft pick, punched running back Stephen Davis several times, leaving the second-year player face down and bleeding.
Westbrook was ordered off the field immediately by coach Norv Turner, who then told television camera crews to stop filming. Westbrook ran back to the locker room, while Davis lay on the ground.
Westbrook later left Redskin [sic] Park without comment, shaking his head as he walked past reporters. Davis was not available for comment, and trainer Bubba Tyer refused to discuss Davis' injuries.
Before the incident, Westbrook, Davis, [cornerback] Cris Dishman and Brian Mitchell were standing together on the sideline engaged in what appeared to be light-hearted conversation. Westbrook, who is 6 foot 3 and weighs 220 pounds, then hit Davis (6-0, 234) in the face; Davis fell to the ground, with Westbrook punching him several times in the back of the head.
It was unclear what prompted the incident. As Davis lay on the ground, Dishman walked up to Westbrook and said: "That was wrong, man."
Turner said action would be taken against Westbrook, but declined to say whether it would be a fine, suspension or both. (NYT link also here)
Way to stand up for your teammate there Cris.
Michael was fined 50 thousand dollars for the incident and started the season opener, a victory at Carolina, on the bench, Michael did not record a catch in that game.
At that point in Redskins history, Michael was a entering his third year, he was the number four overall selection in the 1995 NFL draft, he had managed exactly 34 catches in each of his first two seasons and had had recurring knee problems. Oddly enough he also pulled in exactly 34 catches in 1997 and was remarkably consistent with between 505 and 559 yards in each of the three seasons. Not exactly stellar first round numbers.
Stephen was a rising second year player, he was drafted in the fourth round of the 1996 draft and had not seen much action in his rookie year as Terry Allen set a franchise record with 1353 rushing yards and led the NFL with 21 rushing touchdowns.
There is no official story of the incident, though there is still a bath ring of echoes that we can put together:
Perhaps Michael was unpopular in the locker room. We certainly know he was a first round pick prima donna. Maybe there was locker room ribbing or pejorative nicknames that had become regular. And yes, perhaps Michael was a shitty blocker and Stephen was not afraid to call Michael out on it. Perhaps that sideline conversation between Michael, Stephen, Cris Dishman and Brian Westbrook was about how jealous the other players were of his house and cars and how the other Redskins treated Michael like an asshole in the locker room.
What seems most reliable is that during that sideline chat Stephen let loose and called Michael a faggot, a homo, a queer or some other derogatory name associated with male individuals of homosexual orientation. Michael, perhaps having heard it before and having had enough thank you very much felt the spontaneous need to assert his manhood and beat the crap out of Stephen, who was taken by surprise and did not even really defend himself.
Michael himself has disputed this to some degree, though not in a way that is necessarily contradicts the story. Michael says he and Brian Mitchell and Terry Allen, no mention of Cris Dishman and the AP made no mention of Terry Allen, were talking on the sideline, about how the veterans should be left to quote handle unquote the team.
Michael admits he addressed this line of discussion by insisting that everyone was jealous of what he had, presumably as a wealthy first round pick who had signed a whopping seven year eighteen million dollar contract. Stephen interjected that Michael was saying a bunch of gay shit, where the term gay here connoted stupid and not homosexual.
Michael goes on in the ESPN piece linked above to describe the anguish he felt and still feels over how that episode morphed out of control into persistent rumors that Michael was slash is gay. It is worth noting that his football regret is over supposedly being labeled incorrectly as gay and not for beating the shit out of a teammate, thereby further alienating himself from the rest of the team.
For my part I never did and still do not give a shit about Michael Westbrook's sexual orientation, nor that of any other player or person on the planet for that matter. I only cared that he was an asshole and a disappointment as a football player of no small expectation on the team I choose to follow.
In all, Michael played seven seasons for the Redskins, by far Michael's best year was 1999 when he pulled in 65 catches for 1191 yards and six touchdowns, the Redskins made the playoffs for the only time in Michael's career.
Maybe his most memorable play though came in game three of that 1997 season, the Redskins played the Cardinals to a pathetic 13-13 tie at Redskins Stadium, just under two minutes into overtime quarterback Gus Frerotte dodged two Cardinals pass rushers, first stepping left and transferring the ball to his left hand, then dodging back to his right, resetting the ball and slinging it forty yards in the air to Michael Westbook who caught it in the end zone and fell backwards for the winning touchdown in overtime, Redskins win 16-13. We all thought Michael had arrived.
When it was all said and done Michael Westbrook played eight seasons in the NFL, caught 285 passes for 4374 yards and 26 touchdowns, had one thousand yard season in his career and is a consensus top fifty NFL draft bust of all time. Stephen Davis played eleven seasons in the pros, carried the ball 1945 times for 8052 yards and 65 touchdowns. Stephen had four thousand yard seasons and set the Redskins franchise record for rushing yards twice, in 1999 and again in 2001.
Redskins fans remember Stephen Davis as the face of the franchise in his time, one of the greatest Redskins ever, the very personification of ball control football. Michael Westbrook, well he was mostly a waste of money on the field who now does reality TV.
Redskins receiver Michael Westbrook attacking Redskins tailback Stephen Davis on 19 August 1997: uncredited image from here, this is a vidcap from what I am pretty sure is WUSA Channel 9's cameras.
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