Things I’m Thankful For: Albert Haynesworth passing his conditioning test

Nothing has made me happier the past 24 hours than having Haynesworth finally pass this conditioning test and begin to get it out of the news cycle. While I’m not going to get into a blame game of he said-she said, and who is at fault for all of this circus, I’m just glad it is over. Because from watching on the news and reading online, one would have thought that Haynesworth was the only news worth NFL item not named Brett Favre.

While Haynesworth is big news, there are plenty of big name free agents holding out still, and other starters around the league who are having just a much trouble passing their conditioning tests (not to mention the Hall of Fame inductions, and the first preseason game tonight). Now hopefully the focus will begin to shift on them.

It does amaze me how Haynesworth is always considered a villain whereas a Chris Johnson, Brett Favre, Terrell Owens ect. get loved for their exploits on the field. At the end of the day Haynesworth was one of the Top 5 defensive tackles last season (after being the top guy the previous two years) so his on the field exploits match or exceed any other star player, yet he never gets that credit. All you hear is the negative side of Haynesworth, even though he is by far the most important player on the Redskins this season. And they can only succeed if he does what he needs to do. I’m glad this chapter in the saga is over, and hopefully the team, fans and media will allow Haynesworth to be Haynesworth and be a top notch DT.