Peter King rips Joe Theismann for Dwayne Haskins approach

Last week, former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann gave first-round draft pick Dwayne Haskins his blessing to wear No. 7 for next season. 

That didn’t sit well with NBC Sports’ Peter King. 

In his new column, King, a well-respected NFL insider, ripped Theismann — calling his actions “really weird.”

King writes:

I think Joe Theismann even seeming to suggest Dwayne Haskins had to kiss his ring before being rewarded with the number seven jersey in Washington is really weird, and a little bit mindful of the Emperor with No Clothes. Would anyone think that a man with fewer passing yards than Steve Grogan and Jim Harbaugh, with fewer touchdown passes than Earl Morrall and Jon Kitna, with a lower career rating than Kyle Orton and Dave Krieg … should have his number retired? Mark Rypien won a Super Bowl. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Brad Johnson and Jeff Hostetler won one. Come on. The fact that Washington never gave Theismann’s number out for years after his gruesome injury is a nice gesture, I suppose. But it’s silly to think he was an all-timer, the kind of player whose number should never be worn again.

To Theismann’s credit, in an interview with 106.7 The Fan, he noted that Haskins did not have to ask.

“I just got off the phone with Dwayne just a little while ago, and I told him it was OK to wear No. 7,” Theismann said. “Given him permission. Not that I feel like I needed to, but he was respectful enough to ask.”