The Shanahans Have Been Plotting For Years to Unleash John Beck onto the World

By no means am I going to cry about Rex Grossman not getting a fair chance to start. But the tale laid out here is a bit unbelievable. Mike and Kyle Shanahan have apparently been in love with John Beck since he was drafted by Miami. They stared at him longingly from afar as he led the Dolphins to zero offensive touchdowns as a starter, but apparently were unable to secure his services in Denver as a backup to Cutler when he fell out of favor with the Parcells regime and languished as third string.

Then, when they arrived in Washington last year, Shanahan went out and traded for a quarterback. I know, I know, you think it was Donovan McNabb, since they gave up a high draft pick for him and signed him to a big money deal, and well, made him the starter. You would be wrong.

"At Mike’s insistence, Washington traded for Beck before last season and rewarded him with a contract extension. The Shanahans’ plan was in motion before Beck’s nameplate was dry on his Redskins Park dressing stall."

McNabb was just a beard; the plan was in place. It required the costly move of giving up someone named Doug Dutch. It required that ominous contract extension, which totaled $2 million over 2 years, which you might think screamed 3rd string veteran money. No, it was part of a bigger plan.

All that drama last year with McNabb now makes sense; it was to set the stage for the emergence of John Beck. Sure, the team went to Grossman after benching McNabb, but even that was part of the plan.

"Wisely, the Shanahans kept Beck on the bench during the final stages of an awful 6-10 season, protecting him until they had time to improve Washington’s roster. . . . Presumably, Beck should have a better chance to succeed this season because the Redskins have better parts."

You see, Beck was like the star young rookie hot shot planning for his 30th birthday party who the team didn’t want to throw to the wolves until they upgraded the talent around him, so Grossman just served as the veteran journeyman innings eater. Now that Jabar Gaffney and Tim Hightower are in the fold, though, it’s game on.

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[photo via Getty]