There are a lot of things you could say about how Washington D.C. sports teams operate. You could say the fans jump on bandwagon, coming only when things are good. You could say teams care more about promoting the event nature of the spectacle instead of the actual game. But you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who thinks the football team doesn't care about winning. Most people admit that they do care a great. They just go about accomplishing that goal the wrong way.
That's why Willie Parker's words are kind of confusing. In an interview with 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Parker had some choice words for the organization that cut him last fall. Via Pro Football Talk:
"Being in Washington, they don't care about football. I didn't feel good from day one there," Parker said on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh Tuesday. "They weren't about football. They were about partying. . . . You appreciate Pittsburgh a little bit more after going somewhere else."
That's an odd quote to figure out. Is he saying the players party too much? (Possibly true). Is he saying members in the organization party too much (I guess maybe, but does that matter?)? Is he saying the fans weren't about football (absolutely not)?
Is he saying all of that due to a mix of emotions about how the team cut him when he felt he probably deserved a better chance? Now we have our likeliest answer.
UPDATE: Here's a more complete transcript from Rich Tandler of CSN Washington. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what Parker's specific beef actually is. He's angry at fans for showing up, but he also said only one person (presumably Mike Shanahan) is all about football. Weird.