Albert Haynesworth told his side of the story involving his season-long feud with Mike Shanahan and the rest of the Redskins' organization. In a 27-minute interview with The Kevin And Rock Show on 106.7 The Fan, along with Grant Paulsen, Haynesworth lashes out at his teammates, his coaches and the organization, telling his side of the story on why he was deactivated against the New York Giants last Sunday. In the process, he may have talked his way off the Redskins, doing pretty much that without saying anything officially.
Part I of our summary is here. Here are some quick notes from Part II. We'll have more later.
- Haynesworth admitted to arriving late to Friday's practice, at which point he said he was asked to meet with Mike Shanahan. Shanahan told him he wasn't exhibiting enough effort in practice. Haynesworth then went to a defensive players' meeting that he was late to.
- Haynesworth said he was upset about being signaled out and being deactivated. "There were plenty of players that has been late. You get fined and you move on."
- Haynesworth responded to the assertion that he was a poor practice player: "If I didn't have a good practice, sue me. Not everyone's going to have a good practice. IT doesn't mean you can't play well on Sunday."
- He also responded to his teammates' requests to "get in line." "Get in line? OK I was a minute late... I'm not a distraction ... I'm a man. Hopefully they're a man."
- In general, Haynesworth said he's grown weary of all the drama as well. "I think other teams know I can still play the game and play it at the high level I can. It's just too much stuff going on that doesn't have to do with football. It's ridiculous. Let's concentrate on football and do what we're paid to do to win games. These kid games make me sick."
- When asked to characterize his relationship with Shanahan, Haynesworth simply said "All I'm saying is, I'm the player, and he's the head coach." He added that he's not coming into the office tomorrow to speak to him. "I'm not going in the office tomorrow. I'm still heated over this. I'm just sick of it."
- Haynesworth reiterated that he's not a good fit in the 3-4 defense. "I'm a guy that attacks, I penetrate, I get to the backfield, I cause havoc. When you watch at nose guard, they follow the O-lineman whichever way the center goes. They are kind of just going sideways down the line. You want me to be disruptive, but you have me going sideways. It's almost impossible." He added that "you pay me to be the best defensive tackle and you change my position. It's not going to be the same production."
- Finally, he said that if he is let go, he will make the Redskins regret it. " There would be no other DT in the league who can out play me."