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Chris Horton’s Blog Slams the Redskins, Blache, Haynesworth and Hall
By Jamie Mottram | October 4, 2009
Earlier this week, Redskins strong safety Chris Horton lost his starting job to Reed Doughty, who Horton had taken the job away from last season. While some may have disagreed with the move, it was the least of the team’s many concerns. That is, until this was posted on Horton’s blog:
“[Redskins defensive coordinator Greg] Blache stated [Horton is] becoming a self-described “maverick”, and a “riverboat gambler”. He wants to change things up on the defense because he believes what they’ve been working with the past three weeks, well, hasn’t worked. But his decision [to bench Horton] is the wrong move to make.
“Blache contradicts himself. A maverick wouldn’t be afraid to address the real problems on the defense, rather than make a move that does little to change the profile of the guys on the field. He cited a couple of missed tackles and the pass interference call on Horton in explaining his decision. Why not cite the poor tackling at the line on the ensuing touchdown after the penalty? Or any one of the missed tackles on touchdowns other guys in the secondary have had this season. Unfortunately it seems Horton is the fall guy for a lot of problems on the defense.
[ ... ]
“We are paying Albert Haynesworth $100 million to play here. He has one sack and nine tackles through three games. That’s a problem.
“We are paying DeAngelo Hall, a guy who admits that big money has led him to apathy in the past, $55 million to play here. He has ten tackles and one interception through three games. That’s a problem.
[ ... ]
“The Redskins have sunk too much money into guys like Haynesworth and Hall who just aren’t producing yet this season, and they need to get their money’s worth. Haynesworth looks like he’s still getting in game shape, and Hall has missed several key tackles that could have been game changers.
“I could understand Blache’s decision more if Horton hadn’t come up big several times already this year. He is fourth on the team in tackles and had two key plays (the forced fumble and pass break up) in the Rams game. Even on the pass interference call last week, Horton stuck with his guy and played the ball coming in. A home team ref doesn’t make that call at Fed Ex field, and Horton makes a great play, rather than being punished for it.”
Whoa, boy. Where to begin …
First, it’s out of line for a player to endorse such strong, misguided and public criticisms of his teammates, coach and organization.
Second, the excuses made for the pass interference are just embarrassing.
And last, Horton’s a second-year seventh-rounder, meaning he can’t afford to spoil the well here, so let’s hope this is just a case of whoever it is he has commissioned to blog for him causing trouble.
Because, brother, I know you mean well, I root for you on Sundays and I’m glad you’re building out that web presence, but this is doing it wrong.
Update: The post was removed from Horton’s site without explanation.
Update No. 2: Redskins Insider reports that Horton received a call from Redskins PR, which is why the post was removed.
Topics: Blog Stuffs, Chris Horton, Redskins | 6 Comments »
October 4th, 2009 at 2:50 AM
not a smart move by him
might quarantine him from the locker room
and you know Kornhole and Wimponandonandon will blow it up on PTI
October 4th, 2009 at 3:06 AM
Lets call this what is was: a drunk blog post later regretted. I’m betting one of Horton’s boys heard a hoo and spouted off. No big deal
October 4th, 2009 at 11:13 AM
Looks like it was removed. I hope he realizes that he needs to approve the blog posts before they go up because the website is in his name.
October 4th, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Just another example of how out of control that organization is. When the players dont respect what they are ultimately responsible for building, its time to change management.
October 4th, 2009 at 5:41 PM
This blogger actually won a preseason contest to become Chris Horton’s blogger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diHK3GEFCG8). So it appears that Horton wants the PR of a blog, but nothing to do with the actual content. Secondly, the reason the DCLS did not enter this contest is because we realized we could not criticize the Skins on such a blog, which is something this idiot did not realize.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:59 AM
[...] apologized for last week’s unfortunate blog incident. [Chris [...]