Joe Gibbs Resigns

I was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and have continued following the Redskins since my childhood.

The Redskins have announced that Joe Gibbs is resigning today, both as President and Head Coach of the Washington Redskins. Some have expressed great surprise. I cannot say that I am surprised. The fact is that he is 67 years old. He puts in 14-18 hour days during the football season. He has a wife who would like to see him not die from the stress of coaching. He has a grandson with leukemia. He experienced one of his star players murdered this year. He does not need the money. When you add to that the fact that this was a chance to go out on top, the stars were aligned for this second retirement after 15 years as head coach of the Washington Redskins. There are few observers of the NFL who would deny that holding this team together after the murder of Sean Taylor, and helping them to rally to win the last four games of the season and reach the playoffs, is one of the great coaching achievements and stories of NFL history. People watched and they thought, "Joe Gibbs must still be a great coach." Under the circumstances, I just can't see what he would have to gain in coming back for another try.

On the team end of things, the Redskins are a good team that often required some heavy lifting in the motivation department. Gibbs provided that. But even when motivated, this Redskins team is not good enough to consistently beat the better teams in the league. They had trouble staying on the same field with the Patriots earlier this season. The fact is that while this team is good, it is not good enough. If the Redskins are to continue growing, there will have to be some more painful moves that disrupt 'the family' that Gibbs has built. Some players will be cut, and some others will be brought in. There are some major improvements that are needed if the Redskins are to become a power in the NFL once more.

That said, the Redskins are considerably improved from the state that Gibbs found them in. To me, Gibbs has done what he came to Washington to do: he righted the ship. It's an impressive team. It's a team that is no longer taken lightly. It's a team that has pride. It's a team that has cohesion. It's a family. Gibbs built that family and recreated an ethos that the players believe in. At 67, Gibbs can leave knowing that he has restored dignity to the Washington Redskins franchise. As a fan, I'm very grateful for that.

Winning is fabulous, but contrary to what another former Redskins coach, Vince Lombardi, once taught, it's not everything. There is much to be said for simple dignity. There is much to be said for playing, or living for that matter, with honor. And that, to me, is Gibbs's legacy in Washington.