Do You Remember Back in Old D.C. – Part 3

July 18, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

One of the more interesting seasons in the NFL and Washington football history happened 36 years ago and that was the 1987 season.

In 1987, Washington was having a quarterback controversy, with Jay Schroeder and Doug Williams battling for the starting position and there was no love lost between the two players. The big news in the 1987 season was the 24-day strike by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA).

It was the second season in five years that featured a player’s strike, the first one being in 1982. Unlike the first strike, the owners decided to continue the season with replacement players. Week 3 games were cancelled and weeks 4, 5 and 6 featured players who had been cut in the preseason, played in the now defunct USFL, or even never played at the professional level before. Bobby Beathard and staff had prepped for this scenario and were in contact with players who they considered a fit for Washington’s schemes.

Only two teams, Washington and Philadelphia, had no players that crossed the picket line to play in those three weeks. The ESPN film series 30 for 30 had a great piece called Year of the Scab, which is available to subscribers on the ESPN+ streaming service. Hollywood also jumped into the mix with the 2000 film, The Replacements, featuring Gene Hackman as the coach and Keanu Reeves as legendary quarterback Shane Falco. It can be found for free on the streaming service Tubi if you have not seen it. The movie is loosely based on the Washington replacement team and the Schroeder-Williams controversy.

During the replacement games, the Redskins went 3-0 and the Cowboys 2-1 while the Giants and Eagles went winless. The best part of strike was the Monday night matchup between the Redskins and the Cowboys. The deal was done and players would be returning for the week 7 games, but a large number of Cowboys crossed the line to play in that week 6 game since it was a division game that could mean a lot to determine who made the playoffs at the end of the season. The Redskins replacements beat the Cowboys team 13-7 while the regular team gathered and watched from home. Even better was the Cowboys team unity was fractured by the players crossing the picket lines and they only won two games over the next eight weeks. The Redskins ended up being the only NFC East team with a winning record that season.

In fifteen regular season games, the Redskins started three different players at quarterback with a total of four taking snaps. Ed Ruppert started all three replacement games in which Washington won, however he was injured early in the Dallas game and was replaced by Tony Robinson. Schroeder started 10 games and Washington won eight of those games; however, Williams came in to relieve him, winning several of them.

The first game of the season, Schroeder inured his shoulder about four minutes into the game. Williams then came on to throw two touchdown passes to Art Monk, leading Washington to a 34-24 victory. Williams started the next game, with Schroeder out, but lost by a point to the Falcons because of a missed extra point by Ali Haji-Sheikh, who replaced an injured Jess Atkinson. In fact, the Redskins lost both regular season games that Williams started. Coach Joe Gibbs, being a “pattern” person (Gibbs never liked the term superstitious), kept starting Schroeder when he got healthy and used Williams in relief. Neither player cared for the situation.

Besides Ruppert and Robinson, some of the key players who few remember now are:

• Wide receiver Anthony Allen set a single-game franchise record of 255 receiving yards, in the St. Louis Cardinals, on seven catches with three touchdowns of 34 yards, 88 yards (also longest touchdown catch in the league for the season) and 48 yards. He finished with 13 catches for 337 yards for a whopping 25.9 average per catch.
• Wide receiver Derrick Sheppard was primarily used as a punt returner. He averaged 24.3 yards per return on 6 returns for 146 yards.
• Ted Wilson played both wide receiver and punt returner, with 5 catches for 112 yards and one touchdown in the New York Giants game plus 6 punt returns for 143 yards for 17.9 average per return. He also ran the ball twice, scoring in the Dallas game on a 16-yard run.
• Running back Lionel Vital rushed 80 times for 346 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 115.3 yards per game over three games.
• Linebacker Bobby Curtis had three fumble recoveries and one sack in 3 games.
• Defensive tackle Dan Benish, who had played in 52 games for the Falcons from 1983 to 1986, had two sacks.
• Ted Karras Jr., son of former Bears player Ted Karras Sr. and nephew of Hall of Famer Alex Karras, had a sack also.

When the regular players returned in week 7, the replacement players were quickly forgotten. Washington went 7-3 in their remaining games to finish 11-4 with the third seed in the playoffs behind the 13-2 49ers and 11-4 Bears. The NFC playoffs featured a number of upsets. The Vikings beat the fourth seeded Saints in the Wildcard game and the number one seed 49ers in the divisional round.

After Schroeder played dismally in the week 16 game against the Vikings, Williams was named the starter for the playoffs. The Redskins then upset the Bears at Soldier Field which featured one of more iconic plays in Redskins playoff history. In the third quarter, Gibbs put Darrell Green in as a punt returner to try and change the momentum in the game. Green returned the punt 52 yards for a touchdown, leaping over a Bears player, tearing rib cartilage in the process and finished the return holding his side (check the video out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZNrRSE0q-c&ab_channel=videoeditor). That was the score that gave Washington the lead for good.

The next week, while playing hurt, Green defended a pass with little time remaining, breaking up a Wade Wilson throw at the goal line to seal the victory in the NFC Championship game.

Washington went on to play number one AFC seed Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl and defeat them in best offensive display in a Super Bowl at that time. The second quarter outburst was the best quarter of football I have seen a professional team play in a big game. Allen was on the roster during the playoffs and caught one pass for 9 yards in the NFC Championship game.  For that he earned a Super Bowl ring, but the rest of the replacement players faded from the collective memory.

But everyone loves a good story with a happy ending. After the attention brought by the Year of the Scab film in 2017, Washington owner Dan Snyder held a celebration at Redskins Park in 2018 where replacement players from that team were awarded Super Bowl rings to recognize their contributions.

Yes, for once, Snyder did the right thing.

 

Sources: pro-football-reference.com, Washington Post Archives