Sean Taylor Remembrance: One Day at a Time – Dec. 2007
It was a sentiment that was echoed throughout nearly every post-game interview and media quote binge – “one game at a time.” Perhaps it is the most cliché of all jock-talk, but today, on the eve of another new year, it offered a most poignant reminder of what it means to be a fan, a coach, a player and a Washington Redskin. The argument could be made that the Skins are the king of heartbreak football. They keep us transfixed – leading us on with fervent first-half optimism, followed by stretches of cruel, almost-hopeless underachievement and just when it seems all but over, we stay tuned-in, only to have the team’s fate determined by a last-second interception, or a botched time out. But something changed in these last four weeks.
Well, actually, a lot changed. Beyond the injuries and personnel changes, in addition to the attacking defensive and the well-oiled offense, the Redskins had an identity shift that was necessitated as much by higher, unseen forces as by their own volition. A season marred by injury, uncertainty, and tragedy, could only end in two markedly different movie-script endings: a complete collapse, or a defining series of inspirational victories both on and off the field. But this season is no movie, and while it remains the best, unfinished story of the year, for the Washington Redskins, all of us, this season has been all too real.
The uncanny 21-point victory over the Cowboys played in a stadium full of rabid fans attending the most important game in the Joe Gibbs II era, was a reminder of what “one game at a time” really means. Players have been mentioning the presence of their fallen teammate during the course of every game and while we as fans may never understand the depth of this presence, we can appreciate the integrity behind each player and coach who speaks the cliché. One game at a time is how we all had to appreciate #21 in his burgundy and gold. One game at a time is all that’s left to say when the Hall of Fame coach overlooks one of the simplest rules of the game and suffers the “worst moment in [his] career.” One game at a time is the only speed suitable for a team with a career back-up quarterback at the helm of a shipped rocked off-course. And now, one game at a time is all we’ve got as we enter a single-elimination playoff.
“One game at a time” is the mantra of the Washington Redskins and it is the tagline to the epic story that has come to fruition in these last four months. But that’s not to say that we cannot dream. After all, that what dreams are for, right?
How great would it be if we take revenge on those Seahawks in the January rain, in their own house no less? How great would it be to get the last laugh against that self-righteous, self-proclaimed, “America’s Team?” How great would it be to reach the Superbowl as the anti-Patriots? What would it feel like to celebrate a victory over the national villain, a team that humiliated our proud franchise and handed our hall of fame coach the worst loss of his career?
But there is pain in these dreams as well: the pain of a lost teammate and player that follows every win on the football field. The thought of a great playoff run and a dream-come-true Superbowl victory without #21 is almost too bittersweet to swallow. And so, the Washington Redskins, all of us, are left with only one choice: “One game at a time.” Perhaps that’s the way it should be. Perhaps that’s what we’ve been missing all along. Even a cautious optimism can still fall victim to underwhelming disappointment; but to face the potential reality of just one more game brings out an effort, and a respect and an appreciation of the game that can only come with a singular, all-in, focus. So, here we go as Redskins, both in life and in football, “one game at a time.”
- Published on Washingtonpost.com Redskins Insider
