(photo by Brian Murphy)

I wanted to talk about another one of the Redskins rookies, a guy by the name of Devin Thomas, who was last seen tearing it up as a wide out for Michigan State.

Now, this is my fourth preseason covering the ‘Skins. Unfortunately for Thomas and the new guys, they have a much tougher schedule than other rookies faced in previous years. Take LaRon Landry and friends from a year ago. They had a rookie camp, so the first time I saw Landry he was easily the best player on the field. Today, we’re looking at the rookies, while they’re sharing the field with established veterans like Santana Moss, London Fletcher, and yes, Mr. Landry. That makes it a helluva lot harder for them to stand out. In my opinion, Devin Thomas was incredibly nervous in the early stages of his first NFL minicamp. Looking back at my photos, one can’t help but notice Thomas dropping more than a few catchable passes.

After the morning practice ended, I had a chance to talk one-on-one with Thomas and asked him to evaluate his showing in his first NFL minicamp.

“I feel like I did pretty good. I made some minor mistakes, but I think I can adjust to it and perform better in the second practice,” Thomas said.

The good news is, he was right. Thomas warmed up as the day went on and looked perfectly fine by the end of the day. In fact, Thomas made one of the two best plays of the day, by reaching back for a Sam Hollenbach pass that was thrown behind him and hauling in a beauty of a catch that earned cheers from his peers.

We might not be able to tell if Devin Thomas is going to be a Hall of Fame wide receiver in the National Football League after his first day, but we can get an idea of the character this kid has. He was upfront and honest in admitting he made some mistakes and knew he’d have to step it up or the coaches were going to be all over him.
He didn’t want to tell me how great he is, rather what he needed to do to improve. In the me-first world we live in, I’ll take that kind of player on my favorite team any day of the week.

Click here to listen to my interview with Devin Thomas.

Alright, I admit it. I was not doing cartwheels when the Redskins drafted Oklahoma wide receiver Malcolm Kelly with their third second-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft. In fact, in this very blog, I believe I compared him to Rod “Stone Hands” Gardner. This is the part where I’ll say that I possibly overreacted after hearing one too many stories about his less-than-stellar workouts and the comments made immediately following those workouts just before the draft. If he had never ran the 40-yard dash, and therefore never been labeled a problem child for his comments pertaining to those workouts, then all I would have had to go off of were some sweet highlights from his college days. He’s got a big body, he made some big-time catches for a big-time program and he has speed when it counts during gametime.

Compounding matters, one of the guys who I respect from the Redskins organization told me he’s dealt with Malcolm Kelly a couple times since he arrived in town and has been nothing but a pleasure to be around. So that settled it, if I only talked to one rookie on day one of the Redskins 2008 minicamp, I wanted to it to be Kelly. I wanted to get a feel for this kid and see for myself what he’s made of.

Right away he talked about getting the “day one jitters out” and came across completely humble. He also admitted that he’s going to have to concentrate more on running precise routes, because coaches at this level notice every single misstep you make. He ended the interview by promising me he’s going to “play hard every play, and never take a play off.” If you’d like to hear for yourself, here is the link for the full audio.

(photo by Brian Murphy)

(photo by Brian Murphy)

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is, “Which Redskins players are your favorite to talk to?” While I can always find time to chat with Fred Smoot, Marcus Washington, Chris Samuels, Casey Rabach and Anthony Montgomery, the player who is probably at the top of the list is defensive end Phillip Daniels. The 13-year veteran out of Georgia is so down-to-Earth and easy to talk to that half the time I don’t even bother to turn the recorder on. After three plus years of interaction, it feels like to buddies chatting more than a formal interview.

Take for example last year when I discovered that Daniels is the kind of iPods on the Redskins. If one of the new guys buys one and isn’t sure what to put on it, they basically hand it over to Phil and he takes care of them. I asked him to estimate how many teammates he’s had to take care of and he couldn’t even guess. That’s just the kind of guy he is.

So today, on the first day of minicamp, I was talking with some of the Redskins media relation folks and asked if they had seen the YouTube videos of Daniels deadlifting 600 lbs and squating 633 lbs. from a powerlifting competition back in March. I couldn’t remember the exact amounts he had lifted, so I’m pretty sure I actually asked them, “Did either of you see the video of Phillip Daniels powerlifting a Buick?” Once practice ended, I asked Phil exactly how much he had lifted and he told me “633.” Seriously, that’s ridiculous. Most powerlifters are short and squatty. Daniels is listed at 6’4″ and 276 lbs. Most football players are not good powerlifters, but then again, most football players who powerlift aren’t Phillip Daniels.
After getting the official number from him, he was grabbed by ComcastSportsnet for an interview and I snagged some other players. But it just so happened he and I finished up at the same time. As we were headed into the building we started chatting and I asked him when he’s going to help me get big like him. He immediately offered to put together a training regime for me, but said right away, “You can’t be half steppin’.” Basically, his message was if he’s going to do this for me, then I’ve got to commit to it. I told him I’m on the wrong side of 30 and am not trying to play in the NFL, I just want to keep in good shape, and then asked if he’d ever heard of the 300 workout. He hadn’t, so I told him briefly about the training the actors from 300 went through to look ripped for the movie.

Then we got to talking about him powerlifting and that’s when he told me he knows he can beat the 633 lbs. he squatted. Apparently he squatted 650 lbs. earlier in the day, but agreed not to try and overdue it during the competition. He’s going back to Illinois, where his wife shot the videos I linked to earlier, at the end of June and he plans on doing at least 650 lbs. then. His thought process is that he did that in March and is in even better shape now, so he feels like 700 lbs. is a reasonable goal. Considering that’s three and a half of me, needless to say I’ll be impressed when he does it. In fact, I’m saying it now — I fully believe he will do it. Good things happen to good people, and he’s the type of guy to put in the work to reach a crazy goal like that.

Okay, so the last time I mentioned a D.C.-themed t-shirt on here, my buddy George ended up getting a not-so-subtle letter from “The Man” ordering him to shut down production. Hopefully, history will not repeat itself. One of my favorite Redskins fans, we’ll call him Joe, has designed two Sean Taylor Tribute shirts, which can be seen here. Regardless of the fact that I consider Joe a friend, I truly believe his work as a graphic designer is second to none, so go check them out and show him some support.

One word of caution, these t-shirts are only around for a limited time, so head over to Rogue Squirrel and pick them up now. Come football season you’ll make a lot of other ‘Skins fans jealous.