Following the video one of our favorite sports writers, Dan Steinberg, was kind enough to share his write up with us. Thanks Dan.
"Wins are wins, man," Shaun Suisham told Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom after he had helped punt and kick the Redskins to that 16-13 home victory. "It's exciting. Different from you guys, we only play once a week, we only play 16 games. So every win is crucial. So it sure isn't pretty, but man, it's a win."
Green and Backstrom were in the Redskins' locker room as media members for Chris Cooley's blog, so they continued to ask questions of Suisham, a Canadian and hockey fan.
"What was your technique tonight with the kicks?" Green asked. "I mean, you were on tonight."
"With the punting?" Suisham replied. "You know, Hunter [Smith] just couldn't go. When you get out there and play someone else's position--like if you had to play goalie or something--it gives you a lot more respect for what they do, when you have to go out on the field and do it."
(Could Green play goalie? "No," he said, "no no no. To play another position? Night and day.")
(As for Alex Ovechkin, I didn't see or talk to him, but apparently he was kicking field goals before the game. Read more on The Skins Blog.)
The hockey-playing duo eventually moved on to different players; I asked Green what the key question of the afternoon should be.
"if I could ask one question?" he repeated. "What are you guys doing tonight, and can I come? That's basically it."
They moved on to Clinton Portis, which was a pretty big get.
"I just wanted to ask you, how did it feel after this win?" Backstrom asked.
"It felt great, especially seeing the team overcome all the turnovers," Portis said. "You know, we continued to fight. I think we fought as a team."
"How about the future?" Backstrom continued. "How do you feel about the future?"
"I think we feel good man," Portis said. "We've got to take it one game at a time. You know, the biggest thing that happened today was for Jason to see that despite what he do, everybody got his back. We continued to fight with him and he can go out and lead this team. Instead of being down if something go wrong...I think he seen today, four turnovers, nobody gave up on him, everybody believe in him, and I think we came together as a team."
(And when will Portis Rock the Red in person? "Next home game," he said. "When's y'all next home game?"
"Thursday," Green said.
"I'll be there," Portis promised.)
Eventually, though, the mics turned back on Green and Backstrom, and they were forced to answer questions. Like, here was Backstrom, on his choice of a Sean Taylor jersey.
"Actually, I got Ovie's," Backstrom said. "I was sleeping over at Ovie's house [Saturday] night, so I just got his jersey. I usually wear Santana Moss. He's a catcher, right?"
And here was Green, when asked his feelings about American football.
"You know what, before I came here, we have the CFL, but I came to a game like this, it's night and day," he said. "So this is my team now."
"It's so small in Sweden," Backstrom said. "First time I went was last year. I just loved it. I was a Redskins fan, like, right away. It's unbelievable, to be here, 90,000 people. And to see the Redskins win, I mean, it's great. It's something you look forward to....I love Redskins, I'm a Redskins fan. So it's good for the team and good for the city, I think, that we cheer for each other."
At least six fans I met were wearing Caps gear and no Redskins stuff as a sign of protest, and tens of thousands booed the team at some point on Sunday. Not Green, though.
"I'm an athlete, so I know what it's like to be booed when things don't go well," he said. "You know, it's not one guy's fault, they're booing the team. But they pulled through, that's all that matters."
This morning Chris joined Jay Crawford on ESPN's First Take. Props to them for promoting our fan photo contest. The poll, which has nearly 50,000 votes, ends Saturday. We said we would do the 2nd part of this contest last week, but wanted to wait for the first half to finish up. So those of you who sent photos in, look for the finalists this weekend. Thanks!
by Roxanne Roberts from The Reliable Source
Photos by Ned Dishman
Tanya Snyder always kept a low profile: The wife of Redskins owner Dan Snyder hasn't had much of a public persona, hardly ever got in front of a microphone.
But that was before she got breast cancer. Tanya Snyder, 47, just agreed to become an NFL national spokeswoman, talking up the cause to football fans. "I have to speak out about this through the NFL and reach as many people as possible," she said Tuesday at a luncheon for cancer patients at Redskins Park. "It's a great opportunity."
The elegant blonde received the diagnosis last year, five years after her mother battled the disease and two months after her own annual mammogram came back normal. Snyder said she found an undetected lump ("I just knew something was wrong") and persisted until doctors found Stage 1 cancer. After multiple surgeries, Snyder said she's "as healthy as I've ever been." Her message: "Pay attention to yourself. Put yourself on the calendar. This is something that's treatable."
Snyder spent the day with 20 local women fighting breast cancer who were invited for pampering -- lunch with players and wives, and gifts of wigs, makeup and jeans. "Today is about you," said guard Derrick Dockery, who hosted the event on the team's day off with wife Emma and tight end Chris Cooley and his wife, Christy.
Dockery's mom, Sheila, is a breast cancer survivor, his mother-in-law died from the disease, and Cooley's mom, Nancy, received her diagnosis last year. When her hair began falling out from chemo treatments, she asked Cooley to buzz the rest. "It was really emotional," he told us. "It made it more real than it already was." After a double mastectomy, she's in remission and doing well, he said.
To raise awareness, Tanya Snyder has asked players to wear something pink for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay. (Cooley will sport pink shoes and gloves.) The ladies at the luncheon were surprised with tickets and pink-and-burgundy jerseys. They'll appear on FedEx Field as the players emerge for introductions before the crowd.
"If you want to draw red-zone plays and leave them on the board..." Cooley joked to his guests. "Have a blast."
