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[As you can see, the seventh issue of Hail! magazine, our free digital publication dedicated to the burgundy and gold is now out. Here is a sneak peak of the main feature, written by Micah Fitzhugh, in this week’s issue — an in-depth look at Redskins strong safety LaRon Landry.]

He played Pop Warner football illegally at the age of five, and despite going against kids as old as eight, he earned the nickname, “Hammer.”

Frank Landry was the coach, and so his second-born son could play on the squad, which also included his seven-year-old son, Dawan, he made up a fake identification card, displaying little LaRon’s age as six.

“I remember it all,” LaRon Landry said. “I was No. 2. I had all those white arm pad/gloves and everything. I’d just run around hitting people. People used to look at me and say, ‘You’re mean! You’re like Ronnie Lott out there!’”

It was all over after that. Landry kept playing, switched from linebacker to quarterback a few years later, but never stopped hitting. In high school, he’d run the option and instead of pitching the ball to the running back as a defensive end converged on him, “Hammer” would lower the boom and run his man right over.

“No shaking, no juking. Just hits. Downhill running and hits,” Landry said. “I played quarterback like I played linebacker. I loved the hits.”

It’s clear all these years later, nothing has changed. Flash forward to a hot day in early August at Redskins Park, only a week into training camp.

Landry didn’t give a crap where he was, or who he was going against. He read the play, locked in on his target and launched himself full-speed into the unsuspecting pass-catcher, sent him flying and left him in a heap on the sideline.

The victim this time was Chris Cooley, the Washington Redskins’ Pro Bowl tight end, and it was only a week into training camp, during a series of partial contact 11-on-11 drills. All of the other plays had ended with defenders making contact at slightly less than full-speed, and giving them a bear hug. A coach’s satisfactory whistle would send both teams to their respective huddles.

Landry was in mid-season form, however, and Cooley hadn’t gotten the memo. A little salty, Cooley rose to his feet, met Landry facemask to facemask and let it be known that he didn’t appreciate the overzealous lick. The fourth-year strong safety laughed and bounded off back to the defensive huddle.

“LaRon goes full-speed all the time, that’s just how he practices,” Cooley later said, downplaying the confrontation. “He makes us all better.”

See, Landry just can’t help himself. An intense love for football pulses through his veins, and the chance to deliver bone-rattling hits fuels him.

Landry is always looking for the next opportunity, but he was champing at the bit extra hard during training camp because camp signaled the end of a long offseason that for Landry featured recovery from toe surgery, and that was preceded by a dismal 4-12 season.

Last year Landry made a career-high 90 tackles, and also recorded an interception. Little satisfaction could be taken from the 2009 campaign, however. Not only did the Redskins take a step backward from the 8-8 mark they posted in ‘08, but Landry struggled personally.

Sure, 90 tackles is nothing to sneeze at. But Landry had his fair share of unnecessary roughness and personal fouls to his name as a result of late hits after a play had ended on the field, or even serious blows out of bounds.

Making matters worse – and according to Landry, some of the reasons for the undisciplined play – was the fact that he was playing free safety (not his natural position of strong safety) and often had to play far downfield as a centerfielder rather than closer to all the action. Landry also often struggled in pass coverage and was susceptible to the double-move as opposing teams scored over the top after their receiver got Landry all twisted up.

“It was just frustrating all around,” Landry said. “The way I was preserved and limited of my ability, just to sit in the middle of the field, not to be close to the ball, not to make tackles. I really was not helping my team out because of my strength. I was just limited and frustrated all the way along. It wasn’t anything [personal] with [defensive coordinator] Greg Blache or anything. It was just his scheme, and I wasn’t right for his scheme.

To read the rest of this feature click here and subscribe to Hail! magazine.

Hello friends. As you hopefully know by now, a few buddies and I started Hail! magazine, a digital publication dedicated to the Washington Redskins.

This weekly e-publication is absolutely free and goes beyond the content of a typical sports publication. In addition to thoroughly covering each and every game during the NFL season, Hail! magazine also gives Redskins fans an inside look at the players representing the burgundy and gold. Whether it be in-depth personality features or a behind-the-scenes look at life off the field, Hail! magazine gives Redskins fans insider access that no one else can match. Some of our weekly features include:

– Ask Andre, Redskins linebacker Andre Carter answers your questions
– Point/counterpoint, the guys from Skinscast debate that week’s hot-button topic
– “Where Are They Now?” feature, catching up with players from yesterday
– Four Downs, an amazing collection of photos from that week’s game
– Cheerleader profile, a chance to get to know the First Ladies of Football
– Pigskins, a weekly comic dedicated to the Redskins
– Plus fan articles, tailgating recipes and much, much more.

If you haven’t seen Hail! magazine yet and would like a sneak peak, here’s a link to our second issue. In it, we spotlight Redskins defensive end Phillip Daniels and his insane powerlifting hobby.

For the feature story, a photographer and I traveled to Chicago the week before training camp to spend a weekend with Daniels to figure out how and why a 37-year-old gets into something as insane like competitive powerlifting. That’s the kind of access we have to the Washington Redskins. That’s why this magazine is like nothing else out there today.

Don’t take my word for it though. Listen to Scott Kelby, the gifted photographer who believes all football fans should subscribe to Hail! magazine for the following two reasons:

1. It’s so incredibly well done, that it looks like an online edition of a full printed magazine. Really great layouts, with a clean, tight design.
2. The photography is just fantastic. Very “SI” like, with big feature photo spreads that really draw you in to the articles.

So there you have it. And the best part about Hail! magazine is it’s completely free. All we ask is that you take 10 seconds to click here and subscribe. Why, you ask? Because the more subscribers we have, the better it is for generating revenue for advertising and everything else.

What’s in it for you, you ask? Well, just for signing up, you’re entered for a chance to win an autographed, framed 16 by 20 picture of Santana Moss, a game-worn Phillip Daniels jersey and, I’m proud to announce today that one lucky reader is now going to take home a game-worn Chris Cooley jersey. Tell me any one of those wouldn’t look great in your Redskins room. So thanks to all of you who have already subscribed and for those still on the fence, I’m guessing those goodies should be enticing enough to win you over.

[As you can see, the fifth issue of Hail! magazine, our free digital publication dedicated to the burgundy and gold is now out. Here is a sneak peak of the main feature, written by David Elfin, in this week’s issue — an in-depth look at Redskins middle linebacker London Fletcher.]

After starting at middle linebacker for mostly successful 4-3 defenses for 11 seasons, London Fletcher could have been angry when his Washington Redskins switched to a 3-4 scheme this winter. But moving to an inside linebacker is nothing compared to what the 35-year-old Cleveland native experienced before he made the NFL as a rookie free agent with theSt. Louis Rams in 1998.

Before he turned 13, Fletcher’s older sister had been raped and murdered, his grandmother had died in his arms and his brother had embarked on a lifetime behind bars. But Fletcher didn’t pick up a gun or a knife. He picked up a basketball and a football.

If he was going to settle scores, that would happen on the court or the field not on the drug-infested streets. That “turn the other cheek” response is derived from Fletcher’s upbeat nature, his religious faith and from a love of competition and sports.

“I looked at the choices that my sister made and decided I wanted to do something different, something to bring a smile to my mom’s face because I knew how hurt she was,” Fletcher said. “I saw the consequences of [my brother’s] choices when I was young and knew I didn’t want to go that route.”

Sports were his route out of the ghetto and to fame and fortune, but Fletcher hasn’t forgotten his roots. He was one of three finalists in January for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, given to the NFL player who best combines excellence on the field and in community service.

“I’ve always been driven,” Fletcher said. “Those situations in my family added fuel to the fire that was already there. There was a toughness built into you from an early age in my neighborhood. We used to play tackle football on the concrete. You weren’t going to get a lot of babying at home either. If you were crying, you wouldn’t get a lot of hugging. You’d get, ‘When are you going to stop all that crying?'”

Nor did Fletcher cry over being, shall we say, vertically challenged, even though basketball, not football, was his passion as a youngster and a teenager.

“London excelled at football, but he loved basketball,” said Tim Isaac, who mentored Fletcher at the neighborhood recreation center. “Not only was he a very good player, basketball gave him an outlet for what was going on in his life. He could shoot around and get some solitude.”

Fletcher might have needed solitude at times, but he was always a leader. It’s easy to see the point guard who earned a basketball scholarship to St. Francis (Pa.) – before transferring home to play football for Division III John Carroll – in the 5-foot-10, 245-pound captain, who has been quarterbacking NFL defenses for 12 years.

“I’ve been in leadership positions since I was in elementary school,” Fletcher said. “Guys would ask me, ‘What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?’ I loved watching Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, guys that were leaders. You could just see it in their passion, the way they approached the game, how their teammates responded to them. I love being the leader. That’s just the way I was made. But you can’t try to force your way on people.”

Fletcher didn’t have to do that in Washington. The Redskins gave him a five-year, $25 million contract on the heels of their dreadful 2006 season on defense because: he had been the NFL’s top tackler the previous seven years for St. Louis and Buffalo; he knew Gregg Williams’ scheme from running it for the Bills in 2002-03; and for his inspirational leadership.

“London’s the best football player I’ve been around,” said new Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. “He’s smart. We ask him to do a lot of things and he’s doing a great job with the defense. He makes very few mistakes. He’s the ultimate leader. I don’t think he’s gotten enough credit. I’ve watched him over the years, but until you see him [every day], see how he handles the football team. The guy is really something special.”

Fletcher doesn’t just know his job, he knows what everybody else is supposed to do.

To read the rest of this feature click here and subscribe to Hail! magazine.

(courtesy photo)

[Note: Every Tuesday I write a column for SB Nation DC. This is that column.]

Since 1999, when quarterback Brad Johnson, running back Stephen Davis and receiver Michael Westbrook teamed up for the NFL’s second-best offense, the Washington Redskins have consistently failed to score points and rack up yardage on offense.

Conversely, the Redskins defense has finished in the top 10 in eight of the last 10 seasons. For better or for worse, that’s what Washington Redskins football has boiled down in recent history. The defense keeps the team in the ballgame and then it’s a question of whether or not the offense can do enough to win the ballgame.

Well, after giving up 30 points in back-to-back games against Houston and St. Louis, it’s clear something is not right with the Redskins defense.

You can point to the offense and rightly wonder why running back Clinton Portis seems to be falling down to avoid contact, or why receiver Joey Galloway is prominently involved even though he hasn’t been productive in years, but I would counter that the defense is held to a higher standard.

The offense, regardless of who is drawing up the plays or who is active on gameday, still can’t score consistently in the red zone. They still can’t put together time consuming drives to keep the Redskins defense fresh. They still take dumb penalties at the worst possible time.

But that’s what we expect from them at this point. Stephon Heyer isn’t very good, so when he’s in the game, you know an ill-timed holding penalty by Heyer is surely going to erase a key third-down conversion. That’s what happens when a below-average player is asked to play one of the most important positions in football.

For my money though, there’s nothing more troubling than watching the once-reliable Redskins defense fail to stop anyone. It’s one thing to give up yards in bulk to Matt Schaub and the Texans’ offense. They had the number-one passing attack in football last season and can score points with ease on anyone.

But it’s another story entirely when the Rams, led by a rookie quarterback and without the services of Stephen Jackson for half of the game, light you up. That’s when it’s time to panic.

“I don’t know whether you want to call it playing down to the level of the opponent, but whatever you call it, we definitely do that against teams that haven’t won in a long time,” said middle linebacker London Fletcher. “The Rams haven’t won at home in two years. They haven’t scored 30 points in a long time. We all have ownership in this.”

Click here for the full article.

[As you can see, the fourth issue of Hail! magazine, our free digital publication dedicated to the burgundy and gold is now out. Here is a sneak peak of the main feature, written by David Elfin, in this week’s issue — an in-depth look at Redskins running back Clinton Portis as he closes in on 10,000 career rushing yards.]

Heading into Week 2, Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis needed just 241 yards to become the 25th back during the NFL’s 91-year history to rush for 10,000 career yards.

That’s a magic number that such Hall of Famers as Gale Sayers, Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Bronko Nagurski and Paul Hornung didn’t reach.

Of course, seasons are longer than they were back then, affording more of a chance to add yards at a younger age before the legs lose their agility and spark, but 11 of the 13 backs who reached 10,000 yards and have been eligible to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame are enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

The two exceptions are Ottis Anderson (10,273) and Ricky Watters (10,643), so perhaps, 11,000 is really the magic mark.

Besides, if Portis’ two half-seasons (2006 and 2009) are combined into one, he has averaged 1,385 yards per season over his eight-year career. If he hits that number in 2010, he’ll vault over the 11,000 yard barrier.

Prior to facing Houston, Portis was also just 876 yards shy of surpassing Hall of Famer John Riggins as the leading rusher in Redskins history. And Portis needed two rushing touchdowns to move past Stephen Davis for second place in franchise history, behind only Riggins. Portis already holds the club record with 26 games with 100 rushing yards.

So how good is Portis? Is he Hall of Fame material despite his often crazy antics and his even more offbeat comments?

Well, if, as the saying goes, you’re judged by the company you keep, Portis can make a pretty strong case. Consider that the only backs ahead of him through Week 2 in yards from scrimmage per game (107.9) are Hall of Fame legends Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and Walter Payton, as well as Canton cinches LaDainian Tomlinson and Marshall Faulk.

Among active backs, only Tomlinson and Fred Taylor (who has played four more seasons) have run for yards than Portis.

Of course, unlike Brown, Payton and Faulk, Portis has never won a championship. But neither did Sanders. And Tomlinson and Taylor haven’t either. Portis only played in one playoff victory during his first eight seasons, but that’s all Sanders did during his 10-year career.

And while former Redskins running back Ladell Betts was superb in relief of the injured Portis during the second half of the 2006 season, the Redskins were still just 2-7 when their No. 1 back didn’t start that year, 3-4 when he did. All told, during Portis’ first six-plus years in Washington, the Redskins were 37-41 with him in the lineup, 5-13 when he didn’t start.

The Redskins have had other great backs including Hall of Famers Riggins, Bill Dudley, Cliff Battles and Larry Brown, as well as Davis and Terry Allen, but a case can certainly be made that no other back will have done more in a Washington uniform by the time the 29-year-old University of Miami product is all said and done.

Portis’ fascinating Redskins career has been about character and characters.

If he wasn’t dressing up in costume as he did virtually every Thursday during the 2005 playoff season – remember Southeast Jerome, Doctor Don’t Know, Sheriff Gonna Getcha and Coach Janky Spanky? – Portis was verbally sparring with coaches or radio talk show hosts.

Portis has never enjoyed practice or preseason, but the weekday diva transforms into a warrior on game day. And few feature backs have ever blocked as effectively as Portis, although at 5-foot-11 and 218 pounds, he’s no giant.

“I have more fun blocking than doing anything,” he said. “When I broke 60-yarders, I used to come to the sideline and be gasping for air. It was a run. It wasn’t nothing exciting. That’s what I get paid to do. When I knock somebody off their feet, that’s what’s exciting to me.”

To read the rest of this feature click here and subscribe to Hail! magazine.