Shaun Alexander Is Delusional
by Lance Zimmerman
Why is it no surprise that Shaun Alexander is talking like he’s a feature back ready to carry the load for any team willing to give him a shot? Has he forgotten that he’s been banished from his last two teams for impersonating a starting running back? Alexander’s mercy signing with the Washington Redskins last year when Clinton Portis went down with an injury was his chance to get back into the game, to show teams that he still had what it takes to make it in the NFL. Head Coach Jim Zorn had been with Alexander for the majority of his career in Seattle, and knew what he could do. I think after Alexander’s four game stint Zorn remembered more of what Alexander couldn’t do, and that’s run behind an offensive line that didn’t feature two of the greatest linemen to ever play the game in Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. Alexander is still looking for a team, so if you, or anybody needs an extra person to fill out your co-ed flag football team, give him a call. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble getting through. Shaun Alexander joined 106.7 The Fan in Washington DC to discuss his efforts to make a comeback at the ripe old age of 32.
Alexander was asked what it’s like going from league MVP to out of the league in such a short period of time:
“It’s a part of the business. This league, you’ve got to have a strong, strong chin. It will humble you really quick. There will be times that you’re playing at the top of your game and the next thing you know you’re like ‘whoa do I even have it anymore?’ The next thing you know you’re like ‘yeah I got it’.’ I think that every player goes through that. I remember Ricky Watters and Cortez Kennedy when I first got to Seattle they’re like ‘hey, in this league, you will be fired.’ And I’m like ‘ah, man!’ The guys that have played over seven (years), especially if they’re running backs, they usually don’t play as well. For me, having a broken foot one year, and having a broken hand and wrist the next year and trying to play through it, trying to be mister tough guy, it made my stats look like ‘oh he doesn’t have it anymore.” “My training from being with the Redskins has went up to a level where I am as strong and as explosive as I’ve ever been right now. I feel that is if I was at the right team and the right situation, I could really help somebody. One thing I’ve been doing since I was a little kid and that’s score touchdowns so if somebody needs somebody to get in the red zone and do some work, I could probably still do that pretty well. “
On Clinton Portis’ unorthodox style and his blocking skills:
“I have never seen anyone attack people blocking like him. There have been some that are good. Emmitt Smith was good, but I’ve never seen anybody, he hits people like he’s the fullback. If you’re not good at carrying the ball, then you better be a great blocker, but he’s good at carrying the ball in a weird kind of way. It never looked like he was running strait up. He looked like he was going to fall over all the time. You watch him and he takes it out on people. You usually feel sorry for some guys because he takes the life out of them by pass blocking them.”
Alexander was asked on the growth of Jason Campbell and if it’s realistic to expect a big year out of him with Jim Zorn tutoring him after being under Coach Holmgren and learning the West Coast Offense:
“All I can tell you is that if you look back in history with Coach Holmgren and Bill Walsh, they had Joe Montana and Joe Montana played for some years before he got good. Steve Young was a backup for years and then he got to play. Brett Favre was in the system and then boom all of the sudden it hit him how to dominate it. Hasselbeck was Brett’s assistant in Green Bay and then goes to Seattle, and it still took him some years. It’s kind of like ‘oh man, poor Jason.’ He’s thrown into a system where all the greats in Coach Holmgren’s system had a little bit of time to work it out. Coach Zorn is going to coach him up, we know that for a fact, but I think that Jason is good enough to do it but it takes something. You’ve got to totally be locked in like no other. If human pressure gets you, you won’t make it. If you get too lackadaisical about it you won’t make it. There’s a groove you have to find to be the quarterback of the west coast.” Listen to Shaun Alexander on 106.7 The Fan with the Junkies
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