Len Pasquarelli Is A Stupid F***

Maybe Daniel Snyder kicked his dog once. Or perhaps Stephen Davis hit on his daughter. And I suppose it's possible George Preston Marshall once had beef with his grandfather. Because if not, it becomes impossible to fathom why Len Pasquarelli has so much hatred for the Washington Redskins.
It's not like Pasquarelli is an NFL owner frustrated with Snyder or a coach who resents the $2.1 million Gregg Williams is getting paid. Pasquarelli never played professional football so he can't harbor any resentment over getting cut or passed-over by the organization. And unless he really, really likes Jeff Gordon's #24 car, there's no way Len can hate Joe Gibbs, who by all accounts is one of the most gracious, good-hearted men in sports.
Yet Pasquarelli continues to dump on the Redskins at every possibility, even going so far as to create a story out of thin air, as he did yesterday.
On Saturday Joe Gibbs mentioned the Redskins were looking to trade Patrick Ramsey thus confirming a story that had already been confirmed by dozens of sources over the past two seasons. That this wasn't a big deal was lost on Pasquarelli who breathlessly led his ESPN.com story:

In one of the NFL's worst-kept secrets, Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs has acknowledged that the team is trying to trade former first-round quarterback Patrick Ramsey, and has granted permission to the one-time starter and his agent to seek potential trade suitors as well.

How was the Redskins desire to unload Patrick Ramsey a secret? Ramsey has been on the trade block since he was drafted. During training camp and in the middle of the season the 'Skins made overtures to other teams about him. In no possible way was Ramsey's impending departure from Washington a secret. Len Pasquarelli just wants you to think so because it makes the Redskins look like an inept, bumbling franchise if you do.
The only news yesterday was that Joe Gibbs publicly announced the Redskins were seeking to trade Ramsey. This non-story was buried on page E3 of the Washington Post, yet was given top-headline treatment yesterday on ESPN.com, probably because Pasquarelli's name was attached to the byline.
Again, the 'Skins looking to get rid of Ramsey wasn't big news because: a) everyone knew this months ago, and, b) everyone knew this months ago. Tomorrow, Len Pasquarelli is writing an exclusive story set to announce the breakup of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey.

Second, until the last few days, the Redskins were still seeking a second- or third-round pick in return for Ramsey, league sources said. And while that may have been a viable price tag three months ago, a buyer's market and Washington's ham-handed handling of Ramsey have probably reduced his value in the eyes of some teams interested in acquiring the four-year veteran.

This is a news article. However ham-handed Ramsey might have been handed, it's not Pasquarelli's place to insert editorial comments into this story. Every time Pasquarelli does this he loses any shred of credibility he's still hanging on to.
Pasquarelli also seems to believe that the concept of a person or organization lowering its asking price after testing the market and realizing its original price might have been too high is something exclusive to Redskins Park. Does Pasquarelli not understand the art of negotiation? Is he somehow related to Isiah Thomas?

A year or two ago, when it became obvious that Gibbs' staff wasn't enamored of Ramsey, the Redskins would almost certainly have commanded a higher price for the former Tulane star. But Washington failed to pull the trigger on a deal when Sexton could have brought them several suitors.

Notice the phrases Pasquarelli uses in this paragraph, "almost certainly" and "could have brought." This is vintage Pasquarelli: Using qualifiers to lay out his own agenda.
Pasquarelli has no proof Ramsey "almost certainly would have commended a higher price" a year or two ago, but he'd like you to believe it. The Redskins were certainly asking for more back then, but they didn't get it. (The Bears wouldn't even part with a first-round pick for Ramsey back in 2002, though, when he had yet to take an NFL snap, so it's not like teams were throwing first-round picks around like the Vikings circa 1989.)
Pasquarelli likely hasn't even entertained the possibility that Ramsey's stock has gone down because Ramsey has struggled on the field. It has to be the organization's fault.
Also, in the last sentence Pasquarelli writes, "Washington failed to pull the trigger... when Sexton could have brought them several suitors." Wait, I'm confused, Len. What did the Redskins fail to pull the trigger on. A trade or the possibility of Sexton bringing them several suitors? As Sleeping Beauty well knows, a suitor is merely a courter, not someone with whom a deal has been made.
To my knowledge, and apparently Pasquarelli's as well since he didn't mention it, Sexton merely had a list of teams who were interested in Ramsey on a superficial level and had yet to make a solid offer to the Redskins. This is vastly different than Pasquarelli's pseudo-assertion that teams were lining up for Ramsey and the Redskins brushed them off.
But let's give Pasquarelli the undeserved benefit of the doubt and say that the Redskins did indeed turn down, say, a second-round pick for Ramsey last offseason. If they had (which they didn't), there's still one little problem with Pasquarelli's criticism of the move: IT WAS THE RIGHT CHOICE.
When Brunell was named the starter there was some chatter that Ramsey would be released or traded. That was crazy-talk because it would foolish to assume Brunell would take every meaningful snap over the course of the season. NFL quarterbacks are like Faberge eggs, it was only natural to assume Brunell would get hurt at some point. And he did, in the Redskins pivotal Christmas Eve win over the Giants.
In that game, Brunell rolled his knee in the second quarter and Ramsey replaced him, performing well to help keep the Redskins in the lead and in position to control their playoff destiny. It's impossible to say what Tim Hasselbeck or Jason Campbell would have done had they been the Redskins backup, but the fact remains Ramsey was good enough to win the game. Without him, it's quite possible Washington would never have made the playoffs and advanced to the divisional round. And, in my book, that's worth 32 picks in any draft.

Gibbs sold Ramsey on the notion that he would compete for the starting job, then went out and invested a 2005 first-round pick on Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell.

First of all, Joe Gibbs didn't have to sell Patrick Ramsey on anything. Ramsey was under contract and was in no position to force a trade. Secondly, Ramsey was the starting quarterback to open the season even though everybody could see Mark Brunell was the better QB in the preseason. (Did Len Pasquarelli forget about this nugget of info? Or does he just care not to remember?)
Ramsey got hurt in the opening game against the Bears and Brunell led the team to victory. The veteran started on Monday night in week 2 against Dallas and for 56 minutes it appeared Gibbs had made the wrong choice. Brunell was erratic, looked lost and the Redskins offense was pitiful.
But the second Santana Moss caught the go-ahead touchdown pass from Brunell to complete a furious Washington comeback, the Washington Redskins had their starting quarterback for 2005.
Patrick Ramsey was given every chance to succeed as Redskins quarterback and he failed at every turn. Ramsey's turn was up. He had blown it. When you don't give anything, you shouldn't expect anything in return.
As for the Campbell drafting, I'm continually amazed by analysts criticizing teams for having the foresight to, gasp, draft for the future. When the Saints picked Deuce McCallister even with Ricky Williams on their roster, everyone questioned it. Same thing when the Chiefs had Priest Holmes yet took Larry Johnson anyway. Brunell is old, Ramsey is terrible. What did Pasquarelli want the Redskins to do, draft the ghost of Red Grange so no position player would have their feelings hurt?

Ramsey started the '05 season opener, was pulled in favor of Mark Brunell at halftime, and didn't log another start the rest of the season. The poor handling of the situation probably means that Washington will have to settle for far less now in any Ramsey trade. Even at a reduced rate the Redskins likely have to deal Ramsey or release him, since he has finally become alarmed by his status.

Erroneous! ERRONEOUS! Erroneous on both accounts! That first sentence is just a flat-out lie. I missed it the first time I read this article, but there it is in all of its fallacious black and white. Man, Len's in Jayson Blair/James Frey territory here.
Patrick Ramsey wasn't pulled in favor of Mark Brunell at halftime, he was injured four minutes into the second quarter and was replaced. At halftime Redskins trainer Bubba Tyer seemed ambivalent about Ramsey's return, which was enough for Gibbs who decided to go with Brunell. It's one thing when I thought Pasquarelli was just stupid. Now he's incompetent and stupid which is sort of like mixing liquor and beer on an empty stomach.
The next sentence is more of the same from Pasquarelli, taking editorial jabs at the team and dabbling in half-truths with little factual basis.
Yesterday my buddy Jaffe said Pasquarelli's hatred of the Redskins was "really getting out of hand. Really."
Really.

"Len Pasquarelli Is A Stupid F***" is a frequent feature on this site.