Re: NFL 2012/13 Postseason Thread
I just want to address this matter since apparently everyone and their mother is lining up to burn Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan at the stake for leaving his rookie quarterback in the game for the 2nd half despite the young man being blatantly injured.
Make no mistake about it... I do not like the Redskins one bit. I absolutely loathe everything they stand for from their grotesque hog-smitten fans down to their dirty and arrogant nature on the field. That being said: THIS IS THE FREAKING PLAYOFFS, okay? This isn't regular season anymore. You play to win or you don't play at all. The only future you should be concerned about is next week. There are no consolation prizes for empathy in the NFL. You cannot simply put in your backup quarterback in that situation, who has little to zero experience running that offense, barely clinging to a marginal lead, and have any hope or delusion whatsoever that you can still win that game.
Bottom line: if it was your team in that situation, you would want your team's leader on the field at any cost. Maybe he gets hurt, maybe he doesn't, but the fact remains you aren't playing again until September if he doesn't play at all. Your job as an NFL player or coach is to WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS. Period. If there's a cost that's too high for that, then professional sports are not for you. I don't like RGIII, but I respect him. And I would expect any quarterback on my team to do the same thing he did.
