Oh, he’ll tell you he wanted to be the coach for next season. But we know the truth. Mike Shanahan just wanted his $7 million left on his contract.
ESPN has consistently reported the “leaks” of information regarding Shanahan and his relationship with quarterback Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins organization. What also should be noted is that Mike Shanahan and ESPN’s breaking newsman, Adam Schefter, are best buddies. They wrote a book together documenting Mike’s Super Bowl winning teams in Denver. Where did all the inside information on the chaos of the Washington locker room come from? Duh, it came from Mike.
I’m no conspiracy theorist. But I’m guessing Mike Shanahan has had the idea of throwing in the towel on this organization for awhile. He didn’t want Donovan McNabb. He didn’t think McNabb could run his two-minute drill. He didn’t like Albert Haynesworth. He didn’t want to trade picks for RGIII. Moreover, he didn’t like the former Baylor quarterback’s attitude and demeanor. His son, Kyle Shanahan, still has a bright future, now that the younger of the two has announced he’s not coming back nor is he working with daddy again. Rather than mess it up anymore than what had already been done, Mike came up with a scheme to get out of dodge. It wouldn’t be hard. All the team had to do was lose. Then, they had to lose with RGIII on the bench. Sprinkle in some dysfunctional problems with the owner, team name issues, bad decisions (I still don’t know why they went for a two-point conversion at the end of regulation in week 16 when a PAT would have tied it), and you have the perfect storm.
But there was one last piece to the puzzle. Mike wanted his $7 million. And he knows all too well about coaches being dismissed without collecting all of their cash. Shanahan’s departure from the Raiders organization was about as calm and collected as was his exit with the Redskins. He was fired “with cause.” Therefore, the Raiders have not paid him what would now be, due to inflation, around $400,000. Ask Mike and he’ll tell you they still owe him a fat check. He was so mad about it that he allegedly once ordered Elvis Grbac, when both were a part of the San Francisco 49ers staff, to launch a ball at senior citizen Al Davis’ head. It missed. Al replied with a gesture of his own. Make no mistake; this exit was elaborately planned by the Shanahan camp.
So what now? Mike is likely done. You can escape one bad situation and find a few cushy head coaching jobs. But burn two bridges and people start to wonder. As for Kyle, he has multiple suitors and a future in the head coaching department. All is well that ends well…as long as you take home that $7 million.
