Filed under: Interviews, Football
Washington Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth has been dragged through the mud this summer. It started when Mike Shanahan was hired as the head coach and announced that the team's defense would switch to a 3-4 style with Haynesworth at nose tackle as opposed to the 4-3 style where Haynesworth was told he would be playing in when he signed a $100 million contract in 2009.
To show his disapproval, Haynesworth stayed away from the Redskins' offseason practices, conditioning programs and mandatory mini-camps. He showed up to training camp out of shape and couldn't pass the team conditioning test until 10 days after camp started. But despite having the huge contract and receiving a $21 million bonus back in April, Haynesworth believes that he has a right to show that he isn't happy with the way things are going.
"I guess in this world we don't have a lot of people with, like, backbones," Haynesworth told D.C. radio station, 106.7 The Fan. "Just because somebody pay you money don't mean they'll make you do whatever they want or whatever. I mean, does that mean everything is for sale? I mean, I'm not for sale. Yeah, I signed the contract and got paid a lot of money, but ... that don't mean I'm for sale or a slave or whatever."
But even with his disagreement with the new defensive philosophy for the team, Haynesworth says he's coming around. He's been working on the new schemes with defensive coordinator Jim Haslett and getting more comfortable. We'll see how he performs in the team's next game against the St. Louis Rams.