It’s almost July and the Commanders have not signed a veteran free agent whose stock has lowered following the June 1 annual cuts.
The ownership of the Commanders has not yet been settled officially, which apparently has put the team on hold to make free agent signing move.
When George Allen was head coach and general manager (1971-1977) he would stop at nothing to sign a player whenever he could. He was even worse when it came to trading for aging veterans. But that story is for another day.
Way back in 1976, Allen was anxious in June. You see, Allen’s teams had made the playoffs (only four from the conference qualified in those days) each of his first four seasons in Washington (1971-1974).
But in June of 1976, Allen had much to make him nervous. The 1975 team was his first to not make the playoffs, finishing 8-6. Sonny Jurgensen had retired following the 1974 season and Billy Kilmer was now age 36 and on the decline.
Allen had Joe Theismann who was only age 26, but Allen didn’t like Joe’s style and was content to keep Theismann inexperienced for as long as he could.
On this date in 1976, a bloodied and broken-nosed Billy Kilmer rallied the Redskins to a last-minute win over the Giants. pic.twitter.com/7UbbJKbgVv
— Quirky Research (@QuirkyResearch) September 12, 2022
Larry Brown who had been one of the few to have rushed for 5,000 yards in five NFL seasons had been run into the ground and so banged up he was not expected back in 1976. Brown did return but only gained 56 yards in 20 carries and retired following the season.
Allen had Mike Thomas who had rushed for 919 yards as a rookie in 1975. But Moses Denson provided little hope for the future. So Allen went out and signed a free agent running back in June.
Allen had it all figured out, as he planned on making the running back his fullback. Allen would use him as a fullback for short yardage gains and also to block for Thomas.This fullback started all 14 games in that 1976 season, carrying the ball only 162 times for 572 yards (3.5 ypa).
But the fullback did block well for the halfback, Thomas. Thomas enjoyed his best career season in 1976 gaining 1,101 yards on 254 carries (4.3 ypa) and 5 touchdowns.
George Allen was a great defensive coach, but sometimes his ideas for the offense left players and coaches scratching their heads. Allen continued to start Billy Kilmer as much as he could in 1976. Kilmer was given 9 starts and struggled so at times that Allen gave Theismann the other five starts.
Yet, amazingly the team finished 10-4 earning a wild card playoff birth.
What’s that?
You say, I forgot to provide you the name of the fullback whom Allen had signed in June?
Oh, sorry about that.
John Riggins.
