Gone and I didn't get to say a proper goodbye
The Curly R continues a three part series on the sudden departure and celebration of the greatest Redskins coach of them all, Joe Gibbs. Joe's departure was quite a surprise and as Redskins fans started their day Tuesday 8 January 2008 they had no idea the real offseason had already begun.
Part One: Didn't See That Coming
Part Two: Resigned, Not Re-signed
Part Three: What Now?
=====
Monday night I pubbed a piece for Tuesday morning on the final meltdown of the Redskins in Seattle, when the Redskins went from winning by a point with the ball on the Seahawks 14 yard line to losing by 21, twelve minutes to self destruct. I was looking forward to starting the Redskins 2008 Season in Review that night, Curly R's in depth and upcoming look at the entire Redskins season. As I sat at my desk Tuesday morning around 9:30 my email and google chat started lighting up. Redskins coach and team president Joe Gibbs had in fact not re-signed, he had resigned, Post front page, Times front page.
It took everyone by surprise, the owner, the players, the media, the fans. But curiously no one was really surprised. Everyone that follows Redskins football knows Joe Gibbs is 67 now, is diabetic and has a three year old grandchild with leukemia. As exciting and out of the blue as it was for him to come back in January 2004 it was somehow not as large a shock when he left almost exactly four years to the day later.
Turns out the reason was family, too much time away, too much he's missed, too many people need Joe. Being an NFL head coach is a brutal job and I think it finally caught up with Joe. He was back to doing the sleeping on the couch thing and was not getting as much out of it, something that was anecdotal to those noticing Joe's blank stares on the sidelines, something apparent in the team's records and as is the way of things Joe was just the last to realize it.
The initial outpouring was incredible. Les Carpenter on the front page (op. cit.) of the Washington Post, real estate he has reserved all season for A section coverage the day after games. Tom Boswell was back online with a column less than two hours after the announcement, the lede is as memorable as his previous and as it turns out grossly incorrect column's:
They even exhumed Len Shapiro, he is happy for Joe and was the first to address the rather touchy matter of what happens next, more on that in part three. Mike Wise said it's ok for Joe to let go and makes a King Tut joke about the collective age of Joe's assistants. I always preferred the Space Cowboys jokes.
And by presstime Wednesday Tom Boswell had a third piece up, on the symmetry of Joe's return out of concern for the team and departure out of concern for his family. There was also the matter of 25 million dollars factoring into his return but that is beside the point while we get all misty eyed. Shit the Post even had an editorial on Joe and they managed somehow not to mention obstructionist Democrats or how great the Iraq occupation is going.
Tony Kornheiser also had something to say about Joe Gibbs but I didn't really pay attention.
The most insightful piece on the Day After? Sally Jenkins, sympathetic to Joe and the team but with a cold eye toward the reality of fielding a team next season and beyond. More on this topic in the next piece.
=====
Within a day both major newspapers in the nation's capital, the Washington Post and Washington Times had put together sports sections that essentially amounted to grand monuments to Joe Gibbs.
The Post has a Joe Gibbs timeline, complete with links to old stories, an interactive look at the for years for Joe on and off the field, a link to the Gibbs retrospective up through his first retirement and a classy picture of Joe in 1979 with hair and shirt to prove it. Washington Post photo gallery covering Joe's both stints with the team. Fan reaction, more fan reaction. Player reaction, more player reaction.
The Times posted ten questions about Joe's departure and what it means for the immediate future of the team, pretty useful stuff for fans. Bob Cohn wrote that no matter how trying time were for Joe Gibbs in Take II, his reputation and legacy remain intact. I wholeheartedly agree.
Just like that he was gone, he'll always be in our memories but never again on the sideline. It's back to racing for Joe.
Joe Gibb's Victory Lap concludes tomorrow with part three, What Now?
Editor's note: I switched from this image of Joe Gibbs after seeing this one in this Bob Cohn Washington Times column, photo for Washington Times by Michael Connor.
The Curly R continues a three part series on the sudden departure and celebration of the greatest Redskins coach of them all, Joe Gibbs. Joe's departure was quite a surprise and as Redskins fans started their day Tuesday 8 January 2008 they had no idea the real offseason had already begun.
Part One: Didn't See That Coming
Part Two: Resigned, Not Re-signed
Part Three: What Now?
=====
Monday night I pubbed a piece for Tuesday morning on the final meltdown of the Redskins in Seattle, when the Redskins went from winning by a point with the ball on the Seahawks 14 yard line to losing by 21, twelve minutes to self destruct. I was looking forward to starting the Redskins 2008 Season in Review that night, Curly R's in depth and upcoming look at the entire Redskins season. As I sat at my desk Tuesday morning around 9:30 my email and google chat started lighting up. Redskins coach and team president Joe Gibbs had in fact not re-signed, he had resigned, Post front page, Times front page.
It took everyone by surprise, the owner, the players, the media, the fans. But curiously no one was really surprised. Everyone that follows Redskins football knows Joe Gibbs is 67 now, is diabetic and has a three year old grandchild with leukemia. As exciting and out of the blue as it was for him to come back in January 2004 it was somehow not as large a shock when he left almost exactly four years to the day later.
Turns out the reason was family, too much time away, too much he's missed, too many people need Joe. Being an NFL head coach is a brutal job and I think it finally caught up with Joe. He was back to doing the sleeping on the couch thing and was not getting as much out of it, something that was anecdotal to those noticing Joe's blank stares on the sidelines, something apparent in the team's records and as is the way of things Joe was just the last to realize it.
The initial outpouring was incredible. Les Carpenter on the front page (op. cit.) of the Washington Post, real estate he has reserved all season for A section coverage the day after games. Tom Boswell was back online with a column less than two hours after the announcement, the lede is as memorable as his previous and as it turns out grossly incorrect column's:
The one turn of events that nobody wanted to believe would happen, and that few inside the team even dreamed could happen, has suddenly hit the Redskins. Today, Joe Gibbs retired.
They even exhumed Len Shapiro, he is happy for Joe and was the first to address the rather touchy matter of what happens next, more on that in part three. Mike Wise said it's ok for Joe to let go and makes a King Tut joke about the collective age of Joe's assistants. I always preferred the Space Cowboys jokes.
And by presstime Wednesday Tom Boswell had a third piece up, on the symmetry of Joe's return out of concern for the team and departure out of concern for his family. There was also the matter of 25 million dollars factoring into his return but that is beside the point while we get all misty eyed. Shit the Post even had an editorial on Joe and they managed somehow not to mention obstructionist Democrats or how great the Iraq occupation is going.
Tony Kornheiser also had something to say about Joe Gibbs but I didn't really pay attention.
The most insightful piece on the Day After? Sally Jenkins, sympathetic to Joe and the team but with a cold eye toward the reality of fielding a team next season and beyond. More on this topic in the next piece.
=====
Within a day both major newspapers in the nation's capital, the Washington Post and Washington Times had put together sports sections that essentially amounted to grand monuments to Joe Gibbs.
The Post has a Joe Gibbs timeline, complete with links to old stories, an interactive look at the for years for Joe on and off the field, a link to the Gibbs retrospective up through his first retirement and a classy picture of Joe in 1979 with hair and shirt to prove it. Washington Post photo gallery covering Joe's both stints with the team. Fan reaction, more fan reaction. Player reaction, more player reaction.
The Times posted ten questions about Joe's departure and what it means for the immediate future of the team, pretty useful stuff for fans. Bob Cohn wrote that no matter how trying time were for Joe Gibbs in Take II, his reputation and legacy remain intact. I wholeheartedly agree.
Just like that he was gone, he'll always be in our memories but never again on the sideline. It's back to racing for Joe.
Joe Gibb's Victory Lap concludes tomorrow with part three, What Now?
Editor's note: I switched from this image of Joe Gibbs after seeing this one in this Bob Cohn Washington Times column, photo for Washington Times by Michael Connor.
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