Do You Remember Back in Old D.C. – Part 2

July 5, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

In head coaching, the Jack Pardee era of Redskins football followed the George Allen era and it only lasted for three years. Pardee went 24-24 during that time and failed to make the playoffs every year, following Allen, who madethe playoffs five times in seven years. Jack Kent Cooke fired Pardee after the 1980 season, but the team made a number of moves during the Pardee tenure that created eventual success after he was fired.

Pardee, who played under Allen when coached the Rams and Redskins, came over from the Bears’ head coach position, where he led them to a playoff berth in 1977.

Some notable players drafted during the Pardee era were 1979 – Don Warren (round 4), Rich Milot (round 7), Monte Coleman (round 11) and in 1980 – Art Monk (round 1).

An undrafted free agent that was signed in 1979 was a middle linebacker from Maryland, named Neal Olkewicz. Olkewicz ended up playing 11 years for Washington, including two Super Bowls.

Fans who remember the glory decade from 1982-1992 know the names like The Hogs, The Posse, and The Fun Bunch. In 1979, the leading wide receivers were Danny Buggs, John McDaniel and Ricky Thompson. At this point most of the readers will be scratching the heads saying “Who?”.

Buggs, from West Virginia University, had the best nickname, “Lightning”, and was drafted by the Giants in the third round in 1975. He did nothing with them, was waived in 1976 and signed by the Redskins. The 1979 season was his best in the NFL, with 47 catches for 631 yards and 1 touchdown, was also his last. He was traded to the Buccaneers in the offseason but was waived. At that point he becomes a bar trivia question:

What Washington wide receiver played for Bobby Bowen in college and won a Grey Cup with Warren Moon in 1980?

McDaniel, who played four years with the Bengals prior to the Redskins, also had the best years of his seven-year career with Washington in 1978 and 1979. The 1980 season was his last with the team and the NFL. Thompson would make it through Joe Gibbs’ first year in 1981 before moving on and out the NFL the next season. The three players combined statistics while in Washington were as follows:

Name	Years in WSH	Rec	Yards	Yds/Rcv	TDs
Danny Buggs	4	110	1,572	14.3	4
John McDaniel	3	73	1,088	14.9	6
Ricky Thompson	4	95	1,454	15.3	14

Remember that Monk fellow that was drafted in 1980? In his 1984 All-Pro season, he had 106 receptions for 1,372 yards and 7 touchdowns. That’s the difference between a stud wide receiver and a journeyman wide receiver. One year of production can equal someone’s career totals.

The 1979 roster included many players who played on the 1982 Super Bowl team, such as Perry Brooks, Dave Butz, Clarence Harmon, Joe Lavender, Mark Moseley, Mark Murphy, Tony Peters, John Riggins, George Starke, and Joe Theismann.

That 1979 team finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs because of a loss in the last game of the season. That matchup featured one of the all-time classic Redskins-Cowboys games. Played in Dallas.  In that game, Riggins had a fourth quarter 66 yard touchdown run in which he outran the Cowboys defense down the sideline for the score. That touchdown gave the Redskins a 34-21 lead deep into the fourth quarter and the apparent playoff berth over the Cowboys. One problem though was that Washington nemesis Roger Staubach was quarterbacking the Cowboys. He led the team to two late touchdowns while scrambling around to avoid Washington’s pass rush. The Redskins lost 35-34 and missed the playoffs, crushing many Washington fans hopes and dreams.

The 1980 season that led to Pardee’s firing was a strange one. Riggins demanded to have his $300,000 a year contract renegotiated but the team refused, so Riggins left training camp and the team placed him on the retired list. Which leads to the next bar trivia question:

Who replaced John Riggins as the primary running back for Washington in the 1980 season?

The answer is former 49ers first round pick from Alabama, Wilbur Jackson. He spent three seasons with the Redskins, but he only saw extensive action in the 1980 season, during which he gained 708 yards on 176 attempts, and three rushing touchdowns. Harmon also has his best career year, rushing for 484 yards, 54 passes for 534 yards, and 8 total touchdowns.

However, the team finished 6-10, and that was the end of the Pardee era. Everyone should be familiar with the rest of the story: Cooke hired little known San Diego offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs and the best glory years of the Redskins occurred since Sammy Baugh was leading the team in the 1930’s and 40’s.

If you want to win a bar bet against a fellow Washington football fan, you have now two great questions to go with.

Sources: pro-football-reference.com