Ex-Redskins Make Waves on Airwaves

Sam Huff, left, and Sonny Jurgensen, right, are among the prominent ex-Redskins covering the team. (By John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)
Buy Photo

Walker, a former tight end who has been involved in various media in Washington since his playing career ended in 1985, still speaks passionately about the Redskins. During Dallas week, he playfully hangs up on callers who support the Cowboys. Like Mitchell, he is of the belief that his history -- even if it is grounded in years before some Redskins were born -- adds weight to his words.

"I'm all for them," Walker said. "But if they don't prepare properly, I know what's expected of them. I know what's an acceptable level of effort. I know the difference between them not getting the job done and someone being better than them. If they got a problem with that, then honestly, to hell with them. My job's not to coddle. I'm not a babysitter."

Gilbert said he wants neither babysitters nor coddlers. When Snyder bought the former SportsTalk 980 in June, Gilbert -- who had run a sports radio station in Dallas and later worked at ESPN -- met with his new charges and told them not to expect interference from Snyder.

"We told them, 'We think you're good at what you do. We're all going to be under a tighter level of scrutiny,' " Gilbert said. " 'All we ask is you be fair.' "

So when the station announced Vinny Cerrato, the team's executive vice president of football operations, would have his regular show, two of the mainstays in the market -- longtime hosts Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin -- criticized him harshly on the air, analysis that Gilbert called "totally in-bounds." Both Walker and Mitchell, the two former players who play the most regular role in the market -- Mitchell is also on Comcast SportsNet's pre- and post-game shows -- said they would not change the way they approach their jobs. "That would be an insult to me," Walker said.

The players, too, can't promise to change their reactions. It is rote locker room speak to say they don't listen to the opinions, don't read the papers, don't get caught up in the coverage. It is, several players said, easier to dismiss the comments of journalists who never played. The Portis-Mitchell confrontation, though, is just one example of how the words of ex-players can sting.

"I could see that one coming," said Smoot, who had heard Portis stew about Mitchell's comments. "It was overdue. B-Mitch has been real critical of Clinton. It's one thing to be critical of somebody, but it's another thing to always [have] something negative to say. Never nothing good. I knew it would happen. I just didn't know when."

But the ex-players said there's no way they'll change their approach, regardless of the players' feelings, regardless of who owns the station on which they broadcast. "A lot of these players," said Mitchell, who also played in New York and Philadelphia, "they couldn't make it in other markets."

For now, though, they have to make it in Washington. That means dealing with the shadows of men who used to wear the uniforms they wear now.

"I think as a player, you have to understand the environment we live in now," Kendall said. "We're going to have a lot of media types, and potentially, a lot of those media types are going to be former players, and people are going to be making some bold, loud statements without the benefit of all the information. Sometimes they're right, and sometimes they're wrong."