What Will Jason Campbell's Legacy Be?

[djnemo65]

I always felt that Gibbs, in giving up as much as he did to get Campbell, was in significant ways staking his legacy, betting his entire administration on the QB developing into a legit starter (2.0 legacy mind you, the reputation of the first regime is pretty safe). A move that was almost universally criticized at the time as, if nothing else, profligate with picks, giving up a king's ransom to get a guy who was viewed as at best a 2nd round talent, somewhat recklessly counting on him to become twice the player he ever was in college, Campbell's tenure in Washington in many ways came to mirror Gibbs': mostly adequate, in many ways defensible, certainly abundant in character, but ultimately disappointing.

As the last of the Gibbs' 2.0 core Redskins fade into history and we move forward with Shanahan, I think it's possible that many Redskins fans will begin to conflate the terms of Campbell and Gibbs, perhaps even forgetting that Campbell played his last two years with Zorn (or even that there was a coach Zorn, about whom we might find ourselves unable to convince our kids that such a cartoon-character could have actually existed. We may begin to doubt it ourselves). And so I think that people will come to view Campbell over the years in the same way they view Gibbs, with genuine affection for his character, coupled with objective appraisal of his shortcomings.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

I always felt that Gibbs, in giving up as much as he did to get Campbell, was in significant ways staking his legacy, betting his entire administration on the QB developing into a legit starter (2.0 legacy mind you, the reputation of the first regime is pretty safe). A move that was almost universally criticized at the time as, if nothing else, profligate with picks, giving up a king's ransom to get a guy who was viewed as at best a 2nd round talent, somewhat recklessly counting on him to become twice the player he ever was in college, Campbell's tenure in Washington in many ways came to mirror Gibbs': mostly adequate, in many ways defensible, certainly abundant in character, but ultimately disappointing.

As the last of the Gibbs' 2.0 core Redskins fade into history and we move forward with Shanahan, I think it's possible that many Redskins fans will begin to conflate the terms of Campbell and Gibbs, perhaps even forgetting that Campbell played his last two years with Zorn (or even that there was a coach Zorn, about whom we might find ourselves unable to convince our kids that such a cartoon-character could have actually existed. We may begin to doubt it ourselves). And so I think that people will come to view Campbell over the years in the same way they view Gibbs, with genuine affection for his character, coupled with objective appraisal of his shortcomings.

Eloquently stated.

[GusFrerotte]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

I always felt that Gibbs, in giving up as much as he did to get Campbell, was in significant ways staking his legacy, betting his entire administration on the QB developing into a legit starter (2.0 legacy mind you, the reputation of the first regime is pretty safe). A move that was almost universally criticized at the time as, if nothing else, profligate with picks, giving up a king's ransom to get a guy who was viewed as at best a 2nd round talent, somewhat recklessly counting on him to become twice the player he ever was in college, Campbell's tenure in Washington in many ways came to mirror Gibbs': mostly adequate, in many ways defensible, certainly abundant in character, but ultimately disappointing.

As the last of the Gibbs' 2.0 core Redskins fade into history and we move forward with Shanahan, I think it's possible that many Redskins fans will begin to conflate the terms of Campbell and Gibbs, perhaps even forgetting that Campbell played his last two years with Zorn (or even that there was a coach Zorn, about whom we might find ourselves unable to convince our kids that such a cartoon-character could have actually existed. We may begin to doubt it ourselves). And so I think that people will come to view Campbell over the years in the same way they view Gibbs, with genuine affection for his character, coupled with objective appraisal of his shortcomings.

I second GTripps observation. Are you a professional writer?