The Chronicles of Redskins Quarterbacks Part 2: Jeff George

Jeff George (00-01) “Anne Boleyn”
7 starts (1-6)
Completion % = 57.6% (136/236)
1557 yrds-7TD-9INT-71.6-18 sck-0 gwd

The hotter pick.  Dan Snyder’s first attempt at sabotaging a sure thing for something he felt to be more exotic and exciting.  If Brad Johnson was Catherine of Aragon, Jeff George was a perfect Anne Boelyn.  Jeff George came to Washington on the heels of a season where he replaced Randall Cunningham in Minnesota.  You know.  The guy the Vikings decided to keep over Brad Johnson not a season earlier.  George would replace Cunningham during the 1999 season and lead Minnesota to a second round playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl XXXIV champion Rams.  That was good enough for Snyder to sign him to a four year $14 million contract to be Brad Johnson’s back up, and in essence creating the first quarterback controversy of the Dan Snyder era.

George had been the sexy gunslinger Snyder wanted to put butts in the seats.  Brad Johnson may have won and brought relevance back to the Washington franchise, but he was too ho-hum in his approach for Snyder’s liking.  Snyder’s prayers were answered 9 games into the 2000 season when the injury bug finally caught up to Johnson, and Norv Turner was forced to start Dan Snyder’s hand-picked quarterback.  George did not play as well as Snyder would have hoped, except for an improbable Monday Night win over the defending Super Bowl Champion St. Louis Rams.  That would turn out to be George’s only win as a Redskins starter, and George would go 1-4 in the 2000 season with neither Johnson nor George looking particularly good and the Redskins finishing 8-8 after being 7-4 at one point in the season.

Exit Brad Johnson.  Enter Marty Schottenheimer.  The next season saw the Redskins open up 0-2 with George at the helm, and Marty Ball had seen enough.  Two games into the season and Jeff George was released from the team that had signed him only one year earlier.  George would fade into obscurity after his tenure with the Redskins, but he will be remembered for his incredible win over the Rams.  His only win with the Washington Redskins.