ANALYSIS/OPINION:
For Washington Redskins fans who were paying attention this weekend to past connections and possibilities, these NFL playoff games were a reminder of what could have been — and how 2012 was such a remarkably pivotal season in this franchise’s recent history.
There, nearly leading the Seattle Seahawks to a dramatic comeback win over the Carolina Panthers, was Russell Wilson, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback who the Redskins coveted in the 2012 draft and would have picked over Kirk Cousins.
Also in full view was Peyton Manning, the other quarterback option Washington hoped for in 2012 instead of trading three first-round and a second-round pick for the right to draft Robert Griffin III.
Yes, history nearly took many different turns for the Redskins, other than the sometimes dark and dysfunctional road the organization took to wind up with Kirk Cousins as its starting quarterback in 2015.
If Wilson had survived one more round in the draft — the fourth, instead of being selected in the third round by Seattle — or if they had opted to pass on Josh LeRibeus — yes, Josh LeRibeus — in the third round, Wilson, not Cousins, would have been the second quarterback Mike Shanahan picked in that draft.
“Even in the third round, we were thinking about picking Russell Wilson, just because we thought he presented the same problems as Robert,” Shanahan said in an interview last February on the radio show I co-host, “The Sports Fix” on ESPN 980. “And, if you could have a guy as your first- and second-team quarterback who both had the same type of athletic ability, you would give yourself a chance. So, that was being talked about, but obviously, it didn’t happen.”
Wilson, though, could have been backing up another quarterback other than Griffin — Manning.
Manning, brought back from the dead like El Cid to face his longtime nemesis, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, on Sunday in the AFC title game, was Shanahan’s first choice to be his quarterback in 2012. If it wasn’t for Eli Manning’s presence with the New York Giants and in the NFC East, Peyton Manning would have likely been the Redskins’ quarterback in 2012 and wouldn’t have joined the Denver Broncos.
Former Super Bowl quarterback Steve Young, who is a longtime admirer of Shanahan’s from their days together with the San Francisco 49ers — Shanahan was his quarterbacks coach — believed at the time that Washington was the right place for Manning.
“Well first of all, no one is doubting my love affair with Mike Shanahan,” Young said in an interview with ESPN 980 at the Super Bowl in 2012. “I mean, the two of us, for three of four years, the guy was unbelievable. He can call plays like no one I’ve ever seen. He was just amazing in my professional career. So, first of all, when you talk about quarterbacks and who could really do something with Peyton Manning, in my mind it’s Mike Shanahan … It’s one of those places where it seems like it’s all in place.”
He wasn’t the only one who thought it was all in place. The Denver Post reported in March 2012 that the two other finalists for Manning — a free agent after being released from the Indianapolis Colts following his neck fusion surgery that left his football future very much in doubt — were the Redskins and the Miami Dolphins.
That was because, The Denver Post reported, of the Broncos’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game after the 2005 season. Because the Broncos lost that game, Shanahan and his staff was selected to coach the AFC team in the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.
Shanahan spent considerable time there with Manning — not just in practice and meetings, but also playing golf together. He “became enamored with Manning’s work ethic, seriousness and attention to detail,” according to the report.
Manning was a Shanahan type of guy, so when he was on the market in 2012, Shanahan and his son, Kyle, then the Redskins’ offensive coordinator, met with Manning at Shanahan’s palatial Denver home. He tried to convince him to join the Redskins, but Eli got in the way.
“[Manning] was a strong consideration,” Shanahan said in the ESPN 980 interview in February 2015. “We talked to him for a number of hours at my house. He was the guy that we were strongly thinking about, but at the end of the day, I really felt with Eli being with the Giants that he was not going to come in our direction.”
It didn’t happen, of course. Manning surprised everyone by signing with Denver, where he has had an amazing second act — 140 touchdown passes and 53 interceptions, with a 45-12 record in four seasons — and though, at the age of 39, he appeared to be operating on his last legs this season, here he is, facing Brady for the 17th time in his career, with a chance to get to the Super Bowl.
It’s not likely he would have had that same opportunity in Washington — particularly with the $36 million salary cap penalty that crippled the organization several weeks after Shanahan met with Manning.
But, Manning told reporters in October 2013 his interest in the Redskins was real.
“I wouldn’t have met with [the Redskins] had I not been considering a number of options,” Manning said. “That was very early in the process for me and I was just getting a feel for how this whole process works. … I enjoyed that visit with him and Kyle both. I was very impressed with Kyle Shanahan and Mike and I have had somewhat of a relationship for quite some time now.”
It’s just not a coaching relationship with the Washington Redskins.
⦁ Thom Loverro is co-host of “The Sports Fix,” noon to 2 p.m. daily on ESPN 980 and espn980.com.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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