(photo by Brian Murphy)

Last season 13 members of the Dallas Cowboys made the Pro Bowl. And although the game is completely irrelevant, that numbers didn’t sit well with those in and in support of the Washington Redskins.

This year, the ‘Skins front office vowed to take a different approach – thus the creation of Vote the Redskins Ticket, a campaign encouraging fans to vote Redskins players to the 2009 Pro Bowl. Out came buttons, banners and bumper stickers, all encouraging fans to take a stand and vote for the burgundy and gold. If fans can regularly vote for their favorite contestants on meaningless shows like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, then why can’t they do the same for their favorite football players?

So why are we bringing all of this up now? Here are the NFC’s 26 starters through this week, as voted by the fans:

Offense

QB – Drew Brees, New Orleans
RB – Clinton Portis, Washington
FB – Mike Sellers, Washington
WR – Santana Moss, Washington
WR – Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona
TE – Chris Cooley, Washington
T – Chris Samuels, Washington
T – Flozell Adams, Dallas
G – Pete Kendall, Washington
G – Randy Thomas, Washington
C – Casey Rabach, Washington

Defense

DE – Justin Tuck, New York
DE – Andre Carter, Washington
DT – Cornelius Griffin, Washington
DT – Kedric Golston, Washington
OLB – DeMarcus Ware, Dallas
MLB – London Fletcher, Washington
OLB – Jason Taylor, Washington
CB – Shawn Springs, Washington
CB – Carlos Rogers, Washington
FS – LaRon Landry, Washington
SS – Chris “The Predator” Horton, Washington

Special Teams

K – Shaun Suisham, Washington
P – Ryan Plackemeier, Washington
KR – Rock Cartwright, Washington
ST – Khary Campbell, Washington

That’s right, folks. There are 21 Redskins players currently leading at their respective positions in fan voting for the Pro Bowl. The rest of the conference? They’ve got five (and only two come from outside of the NFC East). A year ago only Cooley, Samuels and long snapper Ethan Albright earned a trip to the Pro Bowl from the ‘Skins roster, so we’ll call that a slight improvement.

As a refresher, the selection process for the NFC and AFC squads consists of votes from coaches, players and fans. The consensus ballots of NFL fans, players and coaches each count one-third towards determining the rosters. So fans shouldn’t automatically expect to see half of the Redskins active roster in Hawaii this February.

That doesn’t mean this isn’t impressive. It is. Every NFL fan has the opportunity to vote for whomever he or she sees fit. It just so happens, they’re all voting Redskins. So keep up the good work, ‘Skins fans. It’s nice to show that the fans really do care – especially when all we’re hearing from the “real” media these days is that Redskins fans suck and give their tickets away to towel-waving Steelers fans.

If nothing else, maybe this will force the NFL to finally fix the Pro Bowl, which is nothing more than a glorified popularity contest anyways. And if 21 Redskins do make the Pro Bowl, can one of them buy a ticket for backup quarterback Colt Brennan? I hear he’s kind of popular out in Hawaii or something.

(photos by Brian Murphy)

As with most important things in life, we sought out cornerback Fred Smoot to find his opinion on the addition of cornerback DeAngelo Hall to what has now become a crowded Redskins secondary. Would the former “Love Boat Captain” welcome the addition of the talented, but sometimes troubled 24-year-old, or would he take it as a slap in the face from management, adding a Pro Bowler that could cut in to his own playing time?

“He’s a great addition,” Smoot said, when asked about his newest teammate. “The defensive backfield, we call it the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen because I don’t think nobody’s got the kind of superhero power in the backfield that we’ve got.”

Well then. That was easy. With that it was time to track down Hall and get his thoughts moments after his first game with the ‘Skins.

You talked about signing here because you were comfortable with the area. Obviously you’re familiar with Virginia growing up here and going to school at Virginia Tech. So let us ask, how was your first week on the job?

“It was good,” Hall said. “It felt good and I felt comfortable. I felt at home.”

And it didn’t take you very long to make an impact on the Redskins defense.

“Yeah, I was able to get the ball in my hands,” he said. “It was just a slant. T.O. kind of came off the ball aggressive, kind of knocked me off a little bit, but I stayed high on him. [Tony] Romo went front side first and then came back backside and just threw the ball a little bit behind him and I was able to get my hands on it.”

It had to feel pretty good to get that ball in your hands in the first quarter of your first game with the Washington Redskins, right?

“This is a great atmosphere,” he said. “There’s a lot of fans in this place and it’s a primetime game. Any time it’s a primetime game you feel so excited and so amped up. To get the ball in my hands did feel good.”

What have the coaches said to you as far as your role on this team for the remainder of the season?

“I don’t really know,” Hall said. “We haven’t really sat down and talked about it like that. We’ve got four great corners and the best ones are going to get on the field, however many we can get out there. However many packages we can work to get us all out there, that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

So you’re comfortable being a part of what Fred Smoot calls the “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?”

“Yeah, I’m definitely comfortable with that.”

For the record, both Shawn Springs and Carlos Rogers are also on record as being pleased with the addition of Hall. All four guys seem to believe there’s plenty of playing time and opportunities for each of them and look forward to having talented peers alongside each other to help push the unit to a higher level. While it wasn’t great news for Leigh Torrence, everyone else in town should be pleased with what very well might be the deepest secondary in football.

And speaking of Hall’s local roots, the Redskins are currently offering a free Virginia Tech hoodie with the purchase of a DeAngelo Hall jersey. This will most likely go much smoother than the time the ‘Skins offered free Army recruitment with the purchase of a Robert McCune jersey.

(photos by Brian Murphy)

Lost in the aftermath of the Washington Redskins’ disappointing 14-10 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys is the fact that two of the franchise’s most popular players — wide receiver Art Monk and cornerback Darrell Green were honored prior to Sunday night’s game.

The two 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees received their Hall of Fame rings during a pre-game ceremony on the field prior to kickoff. The ceremony began with video highlights of the players’ respective careers and also included recorded comments from former teammates.

After Green’s 20-year career and Monk’s 14 years with the organization, it was a fitting tribute to two of the greatest players in the history of the franchise. There was much to be happy about Sunday night, but seeing two greats get their Hall of Fame rings in front of the fans who love them was something ‘Skins fans can remember fondly.

When was the last time a team picked up a 24-year-old Pro Bowl player basically for free? Honestly, if it’s happened before we certainly don’t remember. But that’s what’s happened now that the Washington Redskins have signed free agent cornerback DeAngelo Hall for the remainder of the 2008 season.

Hall, a two-time Pro Bowler, was available because the Oakland Raiders (really, need we say more?) decided to move in a different direction – this after trading multiple draft picks to acquire him and signing the former Virginia Tech Hokie to a seven-year, $70-million deal this past offseason. Hall’s time in Oakland basically comes down to eight games for eight million dollars, which is why he was probably willing to accept a prorated $1 million deal with the Redskins for the second half of the season.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first. Hall is overrated. He is. We promise. He’s good, but he’s not the second coming of Deion Sanders or Champ Bailey. According to Matt Mosley, who covers the NFC East for ESPN.com:

“Hall has given up more yardage this season than any cornerback in the league. And regarding his reputation, he did get along with Jim Mora in Atlanta. The problem was that he got along with him too well. The other players resented the coach’s friendship with Hall, and that signified the beginning of the end for Mora.”

Others have said that Hall was uncoachable on the field and a pain in the ass off it in Oakland. So why would the Redskins risk ruining their fourth-ranked defense by bring in a talented, but troubled player? Because the positives outweigh the negatives.

Depth is an area of concern for the ‘Skins secondary. Cornerback Shawn Springs is simply unable to stay on the field for any length of time at this point in his career. Cornerback Fred Smoot manages to play, but he’s often banged up as well and Carlos Rogers is back from a major knee injury one year ago. Adding Hall to the mix takes pressure off of everyone involved – especially if he comes in with something to prove, since he’ll be a free agent after this season.

At safety, the ‘Skins have LaRon Landry and Chris Horton … and that’s it. If (and that’s a big if) Springs can actually get back on the field, then we could see him used as a safety more often. If the team was willing to put together packages to get Landry, Horton and Reed Doughty on the field at the same time, then they certainly would jump at the chance to utilize Springs in a similar fashion.

But here’s the biggest reason ‘Skins fans should like this move – it shows the Redskins front office is getting smarter. Just a season or two ago, management would have jumped at the chance to acquire a Pro Bowl player like Hall in his prime. If multiple draft picks were used to acquire wide receiver/malcontent Brandon Lloyd or rental running back T.J. Duckett, it’s scary to think how many picks Hall would have been worth in their eyes.

And once here, without ever having played a down in D.C., Hall would have a signed (at a minimum) the same five-year, $25-million contract that was standard with players like Lloyd and safety/bust Adam Archuleta. This time around, management locked him in for roughly half a million bucks. And the best part is, if internet reports are true, ownership spoke with defensive captains London Fletcher and Cornelius Griffin prior to making the move. This is a veteran team with great locker room leadership. Players talk to friends throughout the league, so checking in with those guys to ensure Hall won’t be a disruption or that the risk is outweighed by the potential reward shows a maturity – a willingness to admit management might not have all the answers – that some would say we’ve never seen before.

This isn’t fantasy football anymore. This is (hopefully) another sign that the Redskins front office is learning from past mistakes and looking at both the short-term and long-term ramifications of their decisions. For the first time in recent history, a free agent didn’t choose the Redskins over teams like New England, Pittsburgh and New Orleans simply because the Redskins outbid everyone else (truth is the Chesapeake, Virginia native is happy to come back home). They made a fiscally responsible decision to bring Hall in for eight games and see if he fits. If not, no biggie. They still have their draft picks and don’t do anymore damage to their salary cap situation. That’s what we in the business like to call a win-win.

(courtesy photo)