Former Denver Broncos defensive end, Marco Coleman joined LaVar Arrington and Chad Dukes on 106.7 The Fan yesterday. According to the Washington Post, he joined many other current and former NFL players in giving his opinion about how defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth is conducting himself these days.
It’s no surprise that the subject came up.
“I always worked out, pretty much my whole career, in a city different than where I played,” Coleman said. “But I always would try to make it to some of those [offseason] workouts, just to have that time to hang out, to bond with your teammates. To just not go at all, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do…
“You just roll with it and you have to be a professional football player,” he later continued. “If you’re a football player, it doesn’t matter where you are, you’re gonna make some plays, however it’s gonna happen. If I’ve got a two-gap, I’ve got to find some kind of way — especially if I’m getting paid $21 million — to still make a play.”
Apparently, Coleman was then asked what he would do if he was asked to play in a defensive scheme that he felt wasn’t right for him.
According to the Post, he answered:
“Well, Marco Coleman would realize the gem which you have in a new quarterback — that’s one of the best in the league — and a coach that’s gonna probably be a Hall of Famer. That in itself is gonna say, ‘Ok, I’ve got all my paper, we’re gonna go win, now what have I got to do to be a part of this winning situation?’
“Definitely stepping up and beating my own chest about what I do and what I want to do, that definitely could be a detriment to the team, and I wouldn’t want to be a part of that. I wouldn’t want to be a reason to hold the team back from winning, when we brought in such high-caliber leadership on the football team.”
On the subject of whether or not head coach Mike Shanahan would not use Haynesworth correctly, Coleman said, “You’ve got to trust that a coach like Mike Shanahan realizes that he has a stud defensive lineman, and the last thing he would do is put you in a position where you would not be able to be productive. I mean, c’mon. You’re talking about a mastermind as it comes in football, and he picked the right people to be in the defensive coordinating positions. And I’m pretty sure Albert Haynesworth would be a huge part of your defense….
“If he’s gonna be a disruption, believe that Mike Shanahan won’t even mess around with him, will make him stay away….I don’t think Mike Shanahan, with his experience and the caliber of players he’s dealt with, would allow a guy like him to disrupt his move toward trying to win a championship in Washington.”
At one point, the subject of playing for Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan came up and Coleman said that Shanahan himself would be worth two or three more wins. The former Bronco said the same thing about quarterback Donovan McNabb.
Marco Coleman was a first round draft pick by the Miami Dolphins in 1992. He also played for the San Diego Chargers, the Washington Redskins, Jacksonville Jaguars, the Eagles and then the Broncos. During that time, he was an outside linebacker converted to a defensive end.
As a rookie, he was named NFL Rookie of the Year by Sports Illustrated and Defensive Rookie of the Year by Football News.
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