The last thing that anyone with even the slightest understanding of NFL online wagering action expected was a QB controversy on the Washington Redskins squad. After being shipped out of Philly to the quarterback-starved Washington franchise, it seemed like one of the few certainties heading into the 2011 NFL season.
To recap, the Washington Redskins had struggled to remain relevant since the retirement of QB Mark Rypien in the early 90’s and had gone through a succession of awful and unremarkable QBs. The list it much too long to recap here but after several losing seasons with the mediocre Jason Campbell at the helm the Redskin nation was more than grateful to have a legitimate passer back on the team and the last thing you expect is this team risking its marriage with McNabb and going back to the days of likes of Patrick Ramsey, Danny Wuerffel and Shane Matthews.
But the NFL online wagering action is full of crazy events and the latest to develop involves McNabb and the new head coach of the Washington Redskins, 2-time Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan.
Shanahan has earned the right to do crazy things. That’s what you get when you win 2 Super Bowls. But what he did in the Week 8 action (pulled McNabb at the end of the game in the loss the Detroit Lions) was perhaps beyond crazy.
After the Skins traded away key assets to the Eagles in the offseason to finally acquire the Pro Bowl QB they hadn’t had in decades Coach Shanahan chose to leave McNabb on the bench in favor Rex Grossman of all people.
That’s the same Rex Grossman who has lost his starting job to just about anyone who has tried to take it from him. That’s the same Rex Grosman that most people thought retired and starting selling insurance long ago. The same Rex Grossman that has completed a total of 7 passes in the past two NFL online wagering seasons combined.
Shanahan has since tried to explain his decision but it still doesn’t make since. Never in a million years would anyone have made an online wager that McNabb would be pulled in favor of Grossman.
But it happened and now, for better or worse, Shanahan will have to deal the mess. McNabb is a pretty classy guy and unlikely to make a big deal of it, but you can be sure that things will only get worse from here on out for the 4-4 Skins.