[dgack]

The thing about a guy like Joe is that we as fans will probably NEVER know all the things that have been blamed on him, attributed to him, or otherwise laid at his feet, that weren't really his fault, because he's the kind of guy who accepts responsibility when things go bad, and shares all the spoils of war when he has success.

That's classic leadership and anyone who's ever held a leadership position recognizes those hallmarks easily.

I have said many times that it didn't even matter whether we made the playoffs because Joe did something that needed to be done: he restored basic principles of Redskins Football to this franchise, and brought some dignity back to this team. Being in the playoffs (and fighting our way in, controlling our own destiny, not backing in) is a really amazing exclamation point IMO, because it accomplishes another really huge thing: it shows Redskins fans, and probably more importantly, Redskins players, that we are winners.

To put it in perspective -- Detroit had a better team this year than they've had since the Barry Sanders era, and they couldn't make it in, because they don't have a guy like Joe Gibbs. They have a culture of losing.

Look at another team that dominated during Joe's first campaign -- the 49ers. This year they were supposed to turn the corner, with a Frank Gore coming off a monster year last year, Alex Smith steadily getting better, they signed Darrell Jackson as a seemingly legit WR1 and they scored freak of nature Vernon Davis (Go Terps) at TE. They have been horrible.

Arizona had a hell of a year, finished only two games back behind a really weak Seattle team, but still couldn't do better than .500! They haven't done this well in nearly a DECADE.

Hell, look at New Orleans and Chicago. The window might be closed for those teams. Winning consistently is hard in the NFL. The difference between 9-7 and 4-12 is only 5 games, but it's continents away. Unreachable for a lot of teams.

I think we take that for granted because Joe Gibbs is our coach. To me, that says a lot about Joe Gibbs and what he means to this organization.