OPINION:
We know at least two things that have magnified the significance of Sunday’s season finale of the Washington Redskins, a 7-8 team, playing the New York Giants, a 2-13 team.
First, Washington is playing for that 8-8 banner to fly high at Redskins Park, something to sell to season tickets holders next season — three straight non-losing seasons.
Line up quickly. Those tickets are going to go fast.
Second, and much more importantly, Sunday could be Kirk Cousins’ last game in a Redskins uniform.
We’ve seen this one before. It’s the second straight season Cousins has been faced with the prospect of playing his last game in Washington. He has faced free agency the past two years, only to be kept at Redskins Park by the franchise tag — and $44 million.
This time, though, it seems the end may be near. The option that the Redskins and Cousins will reach a long-term contract agreement seems unlikely, given the suspected animosity between Cousins and team president Bruce Allen.
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Another option is to tag Cousins once again with the franchise tag, which would pay Cousins the insane amount of $34 million for next season, which is also unlikely. That leaves the Redskins taking the chance with the transition tag — which would allow Cousins to entertain offers from other teams, with the Redskins forced to match that offer — or free agency.
Cousins is not showing his hand on what he believes his future is.
He has said he’s thought about this being his last game as a Redskin, but his message has consistently been, “There will be plenty of time to discern all of those questions in the off season, but right now I have to focus on winning football games.”
If it is Cousins’ last game, at least Redskins fans can prepare to say goodbye. It has rarely been that way for noteworthy Washington quarterbacks in the past.
Super Bowl winning quarterback Mark Rypien played his final game for the Redskins on Dec. 31, 1993, a 14-9 loss at RFK Stadium in a forgettable 4-12 season, two years removed from his Super Bowl victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Rypien struggled in his final season in Washington, injured and starting in just 10 games, completing 166 for 319 passes for four touchdowns and 10 interceptions. There was a sense that this was the end for Rypien. “You get a understanding that it’s time to move on,” he said. “Not because you want to, but you can just sense from a feeling around you that this might be the time.”
He went on to play five more seasons in the NFL, primarily as a backup.
The Super Bowl-winning quarterback before him, Doug Williams, hardly had a glorious goodbye. He had been forced out of the starting job in 1989 by Rypien, and Williams’ last appearance in a Washington uniform came on Dec. 17, 1989, when he entered the game late in the first quarter for Rypien, who suffered a neck injury. Williams completed 7 of 12 passes for 106 yards and one touchdown, but Rypien returned in the third quarter for a 31-30 win over the Falcons in Atlanta. It would be Williams’ last NFL game.
We’ll never forget Joe Theismann’s last game.
The Monday Night Football contest of Nov. 18, 1985, is one of the more unforgettable games in NFL history. Theismann, who led the Redskins to two NFC titles and one Super Bowl championship, was on the downside of his career at age 36, and struggled in 1985 with eight touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Washington had drafted his replacement, Jay Schroeder, the year before. But he remained the starter, and it would have taken a crane to remove him from the job. Or, in this case, a New York Giants Hall of Fame linebacker, Lawrence Taylor and one gruesomely broken leg.
Theismann had completed 7 of 10 passes for one touchdown before being being tackled by Taylor from behind while scrambling. Schroeder would lead the Redskins to a 23-21 win that night and take over as the starting quarterback.
It was one of the most graphic injuries ever broadcast live in a sporting event, and not only ended Theismann’s time with the Redskins, it ended his NFL career.
At the age of 40, Sonny Jurgensen played in his final Redskins and NFL game — the only time he played in a playoff game, coming off the bench in relief of Billy Kilmer, completing 6 of 12 passes for also throwing three interceptions in a 19-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at the Coliseum in a first-round playoff game. He had started just four games that year.
Finally, there was one of the greats of all time, Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh, who put the Redskins on the map in this town in his rookie year in 1937, the first season the franchise played in Washington. He went out with a whimper, having lost the starting job to Eddie LeBaron and coming in to quarterback just one series in the final game of the 1952 season before hometown fans at Griffith Stadium in 27-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
He was carried off the field by his teammates, and told reporters after the game, “I enjoyed my years in Washington.”
Will Kirk Cousins say the same thing? Is Sunday his goodbye?
⦁ Thom Loverro hosts his weekly podcast “Cigars & Curveballs” Wednesdays available on iTunes, Google Play and the reVolver podcast network.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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