Paperwork? What Paperwork?

A simple paperwork blunder cripples the 'Skins
By "Donald De Line"

Regular Season 2104 (Washington) - In one fell swoop a single piece of paperwork caused the Redskins' biggest off season acquisition to effectively miss the first 5 games of the 2014 season.

A miscommunication between the Redskins front office and running back Ben Stickland's agent concerning paperwork that needed to be filed with the league office caused him to be barred from participating in team practices during training camp. And to make matters worse it happened twice, fellow running back Randy Poindexter who shares the same agent with Strickland also fell victim to the same oversight.

Both trained on their own over the off season but neither were allowed to participate in team practices and the coaching staff had no choice but to hold them to limited action in the first 5 games, amounting to just one attempt by Strickland for 13 yards. Strength and Conditioning coach Richard Rouse as well as head coach Mark Norton declared both players now fit and up to speed with the west coast offense employed with by Washington. Norton mentioned 'Strickland had a good feel for the west coast style coming from Buffalo where he ran it last year but we have some distinct wrinkles for the running backs with receiving routes and blocking assignments he needed to learn before we could put them out there. I certainly think he is ready.' Norton even jokingly added 'hopefully he can maintain that 13 yards per carry average!' Look for Strickland to play a major role in the rest of the season as he has been named the starter for the rest of the season.

Overlooked.... Thats how running back Pat Watters feels after being the starter last season and ranking fifth in the league in rushing thus far with 530 yards. He also ranks second in the league in all purpose yards behind only star running back Dan Cobb of the Patriots. 'Of course I am disappointed to no longer be the starting half back but I hope to continue to help the team and Ben [Strickland] as the full back.' Watters comments shows that coach Norton's preaching of team first is really taking hold.

After winning just one game last year, the Redskins have already met last years total for wins and have been far more competitive. They took the Green Bay Packers who won 12 games last year to overtime in a thrilling week 2 matchup. So far this season the Redskins are showing that they are catching up to the other USAFL teams, losing their 4 games by an average of just 5.5 points compared to an average of 20.6 points through week 5 last season. Will the addition of Strickland to the starting lineup make the difference between wins and losses? Only time will tell

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