ABCDE D SPORTS sunday, august 8, 2010 TENNIS
Variety is the slice of life Marcos Baghdatis defeats a similarly versatile opponent at the Legg Mason. D2
DONOVANMCNABB: THENEXTCHAPTER
Ties that bind are McNabb’s support
A close-knit family fuels the quarterback’s competitve nature, perfectionism
BY RICKMAESE IN CHICAGO
S JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
am and WilmaMcNabb have been slowly packing away a past life. Just a day after their son,
Donovan McNabb, was trad- ed to the Washington Red- skins, Wilma hopped online
and ordered new jerseys that featured burgundy and gold. Four months later, though, there still are remnants of Mc- Nabb’s 11-year run as the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback lying around. The license plate holder on Wilma’s sport- utility vehicle is still green, for example. TheMcNabbs have tried to clear most of the Eagles’ knickknacks and photo- graphs from their closets, shelves and walls, but it’s not that easy. “We keep seeing something, and it’s
like, ‘Oh, we forgot one,’ ” Wilma says. “We’d also just got a bunch of new
Eagles’ gear in January,” says Sam. “I was thinking, ‘Well, all right. I’ll be all set. I’m looking prettygoodhere.’Butit’s allgot to go now.” So they’ve been packing it up, putting
just about everything into a box that will be banished to storage space, like old photos and letters from a past love. “We can’t just throw it all away,” Wilma ex- plains. “It’s still part of a legacy.” So many corners of the South Side of
Chicago have played a role in shaping McNabb’s legacy, which the 33-year-old quarterback hopes to build on in his first season as Redskins’ quarterback. But nothing has been as influential and cru- cial as his parents and brother. “They were the ones providing advice,
guidance, [who would] be your worst critics and make sure you’re doing the right things,” McNabb says. “We’ve al- ways been a close-knit family, where no matter what situation someone is in, we’re all going to rally together andmake sure it comes out for the better.”
Unquestioned leadership skills Critics have had no problems dissect-
ingMcNabb’s throwing mechanics, quib- bling and complaining. But those who’ve watched McNabb since he entered the NFL in 1999 rarely take issue with his leadership skills. His former teammates and coaches call him a perfectionist, and McNabb knows where that’s rooted. McNabb was raised in the dangerous
“Wild 100s” section of the city before his family moved to the suburb of Dolton when he was a young boy. “We learned at a young age that you’ve
got to have a thick skin,” said Sean, McNabb’s older brother. “We were the first black family tomoveinto that neigh- borhood. We had no choice but to grow thick skin.” Regardless of where they lived, the
McNabbs alwayshadhigh aspirations for both children, Donovan and Sean, who is older by four years. “My parents continued to push,” Mc-
mcnabb continued on D8 TRACY A WOODWARD/THE WASHINGTON POST Most teammates appeared relieved that defensive lineman AlbertHaynesworth had finally passed his conditioning test.
The newHall of Famer,Russ Grimm, left, and his former Redskins line coach, Joe Bugel, embrace after the induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio.
BASEBALL
Making it an easy decision If Josh Willingham continues to slump, teams might decide to quit pitching to red-hot Adam Dunn. D3
GOLF
An 18-hole ‘shootout’ Sean O’Hair and Ryan Palmer lead the Bridgestone Invitational, but say the final round is wide open. D5
The glorious drive that started it all
I
magine in today’s techno-obsessed NFL, wheremicrochip-implanted footballs are now being considered
to ensure down and distance, if a group ofmen walked purposefully to the line of scrimmage with nothing but their sneers. Then, instead of a false snap count or some other subterfuge to throw off the defense, they told themen across the line what play they were going to run. And they ran that play, over and over,
a virtual Groundhog Day, nine or 11 straight times, depending which former player has the bestmemory— in a game as inconsequential as, oh, the NFC championship. With journeys to Canton, Ohio,
being chronicled, with bronzed busts MIKE WISE
being unveiled at the Pro FootballHall of Fame, that kill-the-clock drive that crumbled the Cowboys’morale should be remembered as the real beginning, when Russ Grimmand hisWashington Redskins teammates bumped helmets andmovedmasses of angry, physical men, who finally no longer wanted to
wise continued on D7
l Grimm shares his big moment with the other ‘Hogs.’ D7 l Some Redskins fans are living in the past and loving it. D7
‘We got the big guy back!’
Haynesworth finally passes test, joins Redskins at practice
BY RICK MAESE AND JASON REID Early in the afternoon practice, the
large lineman, formerly caught in a tug-of-war between disgruntled and disinterested, squatted down and lined up as a nose tackle, sticking his hand in the grass at Redskins Park for the first time in seven months. The magnitude of themoment—four and a halfmonths inthemaking—wasn’t lost ondefensive coordinator Jim Haslett, who shouted out, “Oh yeah,we got the big guy back!” On the 10th day of training camp,
Albert Haynesworth finally joined his teammates at practice. Earlier in the morning, he passed CoachMike Shana- han’s conditioning test, which Haynes- worth had failed on three previous tries. “The test is over, and you know, now
it’s back to playing football,” Haynes- worth said after practice, refusing to take any questions. Shortly before noon, Haynesworth
was greeted by a smattering of cheers when the Redskins’ faithful gathered for Fan Appreciation Day realized he was wearing pads for the first time in camp.He participated in position drills but watched from the side when the teamran plays in 11-on-11 drills. Coach- es expect him to fully participate in practice when players return to camp Monday morning. Haynesworth will line up as the nose tackle for the second-team defense in a newly in- stalled 3-4 scheme that kept him from all but one day of the team’s offseason workouts. Despite his initialmisgivings, coach-
es and teammates report that Haynes- worth is slowly coming around on the team’s new defense. “I think he knows the nose and the
ends aremore involved than he thought they were,” said defensive end Phillip Daniels. “It ain’t just holding blocks. It’s, ‘Go andmake plays.’ ” Coaches, though, don’t seem overly
concerned with Haynesworth’s level of contentment. Since moving into their offices at Redskins Park in January, the coaching staff has implemented its new plans without first polling players. “My job is not him enjoying our
redskins continued on D6 Nationals decide to strengthen their Montreal connection
Honoring ex-Expo Dawson solidifies the link
to the franchise’s past BY DAVE SHEININ
On Tuesday night, shortly before Ste-
phen Strasburg takes the mound at Na- tionalsPark for the top of the first inning, Andre Dawson will hear his name an- nounced, hobble toward home plate on his famously gimpy knees, and—though
he never played a single game in Wash- ington — accept an honor from the Washington Nationals, who consider him one of the greatest players in fran- chise history. “I’m thrilled by it,” Dawson said in a
telephone interview. “The [Nationals] organization and I are attached, to what- ever degree, and I’mgoing to enjoy it and make the most of it.” If you think the Dawson ceremony
could feel a little awkward, if you think it’s pointless (if not downright insulting) for the Nationals to recognize a former Montreal Expo as one of their own, if you
think any nod to the franchise’sMontreal heritage comes at the expense of Wash- ington’s own rich baseball legacy, you are reading way too much into something that is, at its heart, a very simple proposi- tion.
Dawson, 46, was inducted last month
into baseball’s Hall of Fame, becoming just the second player, after Gary Carter, togointo CooperstownwearinganExpos cap. He will be in Washington with the FloridaMarlins, for whom he is a special assistant to the team president. (Carter is also expected to be on hand, and will be recognized.)
“It’s just honoring a great player for a
great career,” Nationals President Stan Kasten said of Dawson. Okay, maybe it’s a little more compli-
cated than that. When the Expos relocated to Wash-
ington and became the Nationals in 2005, the franchise took its 36-yearMon- treal history with it — including the official franchise records — while also adopting, somewhat unofficially, the leg- acy of the two incarnations of the old Washington Senators.
expos continued on D5
EZ SU
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