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Washington: Be glad you got Brad
Posted: Saturday August 14, 1999 10:33 AM
This is the 10th in a series of postcards Sports Illustrated's Peter King will e-mail from his annual NFL training-camp tour. Friday, Aug. 13 TEAM: Washington Redskins SITE: Foxboro Stadium, hard by Route 1 between Boston and Providence, for the Skins' preseason opener against New England. PLAYER I SAW WHOM I REALLY LIKED: Quarterback Brad Johnson . I won't forget the night Charley Casserly -- then the Redskins GM and now a team "consultant," which is a very weird story for another day -- traded first-, second- and third-round draft choices for Johnson, and was ripped as some sort of front-office rube for giving away too much. Well, the former Vikings QB executed two drives Friday night, his first game night as a Redskin. On the first, he got sacked, ending the drive. On the second, he took his new team 79 yards in 14 smooth plays, finishing it by throwing a four-yard strike to Larry Centers in the seam of a New England zone. Touchdown. Redskins, 14-0. From there, the first-teamers for both squads began exiting. THE FOOD: Typical press-box fare. Tortilla chips, a very over-mayonnaised turkey-and-swiss sandwich on a roll, potato salad, root beer. And I will admit to sneaking a halftime brownie. Or two. Dear NFL Junkie: The other day my buddy John Czarnecki of Fox Sports -- whose opinion is absolute gold -- told me how impressed he was with the Redskins after visiting them at training camp in Frostburg, Md. Maybe he saw them on a good day, I thought. But now I believe. Almost. In his first pro game ever, cornerback Champ Bailey baited one of the game's best quarterbacks, Drew Bledsoe , into an interception and a subsequent 46-yard touchdown run by laying back until the last possible minute and stepping into the path of a Bledsoe laser. Then Johnson did what he does best. Be accurate. Lead. Score. After the game, I told coach Norv Turner , "If Brad Johnson's healthy for 14 games this year, I like you to be a playoff team." "Did you see him out there?" Turner asked. "The veteran maturity, the veteran decision-making ... I trust him so much to make the right decision at all times. And I know Rodney Peete didn't look all that good tonight, but he's played well in camp. If he has to play, I still think we're in good shape." I don't know about that. But the price paid for Johnson will turn out to be cheap if he keeps taking his team downfield like he did on this night. More postcards: Dallas | Cleveland | Detroit | Tampa Bay | Minnesota | Green Bay | Chicago | New Orleans | Kansas City Check back soon for more Postcards from Camp. To send a question to Peter King's King's NFL Mailbag, click here.
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