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Ole Ricky remembers Michael Westbrook, one of the more controversial players of the ‘90s. I have to admit we did not like each other. He’d say mean things when walking by and I’d write mean things in the paper. Nowadays, I don’t think he would have bothered me as much. 1/
But, Michael was thin skinned and I was high strung so we butted heads more than once. But, I’ll admit some of it was on me. I could have handled it better. So could he. 2/
So let’s get to the most famous moment of Westbrook’s 7 years in Washington. Yeah, seven, really. Punching Stephen Davis during an Aug. 1997 practice. I was 20 yards away, missed the first punch but like everyone was frozen in place as Westbrook hit David several times. 3/
Everyone was just so shocked it was like a seven-second delay before Norv Turner finally walked over and yelled “Michael, what the f- are you doing?” and broke it up. 4/
Basically, several players were jawing at each other at practice liked they always did and still do nowadays. Davis called Westbrook a bad word and Michael just snapped and hit him. The worst part for Westbrook was WUSA-9 photog Dave Satchel caught it all on film. 5/
Now fights happen all too often, but they’re not caught on film that much. Marvcus Patton gave Heath Shuler a black eye a couple weeks earlier after tiring of the QB throwing so many picks. But this would be a classic example of stupid PR reaction. 6/
All Michael needed to do was swallow his pride, say Davis called him a bad word and he snapped. He was sorry and would try to be a better man. Every guy would have said OK, I’d have hit him, too. But no, Michael waited two days to mumble something. It blew out of control. 7/
The team was really mad because it happened on the same day as the new stadium media tour and the TV news led off with the fight instead of the stadium. Team fined Michael $50K and made him see a counselor for a while. Nice lady. She helped many players over two years. 8/
Everybody saw Michael as the bad guy, but partly because the 1995 first-rounder underperformed most years with injuries. This reaction was way over the top, though. 9/
I could tell Westbrook stories all day. He held out 26 days. First practice back, Westbrook and Darrell Green tangled up and both were on the ground. Darrell likes to joke everyone ran to Westbrook to see he was OK while the future HOF corner stayed on the ground. 10/
Westbrook had a Lamborghini, which I think cost around $200K back then. He’d drive down the long quiet road to Redskins Park 60 mph – in reverse. He once pulled even with me at a light. I revved my engine. He was gone over the horizon in two seconds like the space shuttle. 11/
A big magazine came to Redskins Park to photograph Westbrook with his car. I came by and pulled out a dollar while asking if I could have my picture taken with it, too. I think Michael would have killed me in that moment if he could have. 12/
I’ll tell more stories another day. Need something for late July if the pandemic continues. But I’ll say I’d like to see Michael again. See if he’s changed. He wasn’t the bad guy portrayed, though he had his moments. 13/
Tomorrow – Chris Hanburger. Great film story. Remember, lots of stories in my book and these are the of types of tales I’ll tell this summer at my “Pizza and Pigskins Tours” whenever it’s safe to come out. -30- https://www.amazon.com/Things-Redskins-Fans-Should-Before/dp/1600789366/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408370759&sr=1-1&keywords=100+things+redskins+fans+should+know
