The End of a Sad and Fruitless Era

It all started out so promising with the young cannon-armed rookie QB being hazed as the teams savior coach watched on with what seemed like pride. On paper it was a nice marriage, Patrick Ramsey and the Washington Redskins, but now only one game into the 2005 season we seem to be witnessing the end of the Ramsey era in Washington. Joe Gibbs announced that Mark Brunell, last seen underthrowing open recievers while falling into sacks, would take over as the teams starting QB. We should have known that the frequent declarations from Gibbs and the Skins front office that Ramsey had their total confidence was nothing more than lip service.

In fact all we have heard about Ramsey since his rookie year was that he was a deep well of untapped talent who could easily become an mid-level (think Matt Hassleback level) starter in the league. Even with Spurrier talking about Patrick in such glossy tones it didn't take long for names like Wuerffel and Matthews to top the depth chart. Under Spurrier and his blocker-less pro offense Ramsey was a burgondy and gold pinball, but still the team expressed confidence in his ability.

Joe Gibbs if nothing else during his last tenure as coach was a great evaluator of talent, so his proclaiming that Ramsey would be his guy seemed to ring with Redskin fans. We had a thought of some actually continutity at the QB spot, a virtual revolving door since Mark Rypien's Super Bowl MVP in 1991. Sadly it took less than a few months for Gibbs to sign Mark Brunell, a QB who was run out of Jacksonville after injuries and tough hits, and throw another wrench into the QB pile.

Now the Redskins sit at 1-0 (i almost expected beating the Bears would count as half a win), but still with no real QB. Jason Campbell the Skins 1st round draft pick, who according to most insiders is Gibbs's real choice, sits now in the familiar seat that Ramsey had during his rookie year. The chosen one annointed by a legendary coach, just waiting for his opportunity to make some noise.

The real decision for Gibbs now is how long he wants to wait until seeing just what he has in Campbell because if Ramsey's tenure with the team has proven anything its that a teams confidence in a players ability can be worth more than the talent expressed on the field.

- BL