Believe it or not, the Washington Redskins won the NFC East title last season. That success is easy to forget when you look at their 3-12 record this season, which has included seven straight losses. If you ask London Fletcher, one of the differences between 2012 and 2013 for the Redskins is drama.
“I think what happens is, in the National Football League it’s tough enough to win on Sundays when you’re just competing against the opponent,” Fletcher told reporters on Thursday, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post. “But then when you add other dynamics to the situation, that makes it more difficult. Any time you have distractions, some people can block it out. Some people can’t. So it’s not a good thing when you’re dealing with stuff that you have to deal with beyond just the opponent.”
The veteran linebacker made sure to note that he does not believe the Redskins are 3-12 because of distractions — it just didn’t help. If nothing else, I’m sure the drama has made it almost impossible for the team to turn things around over the past month or two.
That said, Fletcher added that he has dealt with plenty of drama during his NFL career.
“I’ve been in Washington for seven years,” he said. “Of course … Oh yeah, ’09 was pretty bad. You had all kind of drama going on throughout the team and coaching. Just a lot of stuff. That was a pretty tough year.”
All players go through tough seasons. Redskins fans can only hope the 2013 season turns out to be the worst of Robert Griffin III’s career. With all the questions surrounding Mike Shanahan’s future and his decision to bench RG3, the past several weeks have been about much more than just X’s and O’s.
