2005 Question: Who benched Lavar Arrington and Why?

[#56fanatic]

how would it be a "LaVar" thread and not have a response by me. Unfortunately, most of what is being said is probably true, and some a little stretched thin of factual and gossip or hear say. I thought the guy could have been an absolute beast. lets not forget when they drafted the guy they dubbed him the next LT, which is why LA came about. He was given this distinction by our (at the time) boy wonder..Danny! Coming into a situation of high expectations, given the keys to the car and told to be LT, i think kind of got into his head. Plus the relationship that he and Danny had, plus the love fest from the fans, all the 56 jerseys, he just thought he could do no wrong. He made some crunching hits, and obviously some mistakes and usually the mistakes stood out more than the hits as the years went on. I personally think we didn't use him to his talents, of being aggressive and letting him chase down the passer and make plays in the back field. We tried to cage him, which to him was worthless.

Regarding the injury, from what i recall on the Jon Thompson show, he tried to come back to early and slipped on the wet turf and basically ended his season and ultimately his time in DC. There was a whole big story of why he left DC. Basically, other guys on the team came to him and said if he didn't restructure his deal then they would be cut and didn't want to leave DC. So he went to the powers that be and said he would rework his contract if these guys had guarantees worked into theirs. They wouldn't do it, so to save them from getting cut (and save him from playing under Joe) he decided to give back the money, leave and allow those other guys to continue their careers in DC.

LaVar loved DC, the fans, and was probably bitter when he left. Once the face of franchise, beloved by many was getting benched and told he couldn't play anymore. He still speaks of the Redskins as "we". I think it hurt him emotionally to leave, given how he was designated the next DC legend before stepping on the field. I loved the dude, think he was a really good player, that could have been a great player but it just didn't work out.

I think I am done. LOL!!