MikeBrownSucks.com: Shayne Graham Available

This was yet another kickoff that had very little return.

The Washington Redskins duel of the kicking Grahams, which was supposed to provide some special-teams drama throughout the preseason, lasted all of one game thanks to a sudden wild streak from one of the games most reliable veterans.

Shayne Graham was cut by the Redskins on Sunday, two days after he shanked a 29-yard field-goal attempt and also missed a 49-yarder in Fridays 16-7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The move leaves the incumbent Graham Gano, who ranked last in field-goal accuracy in the N.F.L. last season, as the only kicker in training camp. Gano hit from 32, 34 and 45 yards against the Steelers.

We havent solved our kicking issue, the special-teams coach Danny Smith said. He had a good game at 3 for 3 with a guy that wasnt very productive. We made a decision to let that guy go. We did find out coming out of that game that Shayne Graham wasnt the guy. We didnt prove the point that were solid at kicker yet.

Graham would have been a good bet to win the job at the start of camp. His 86 percent field-goal success rate makes him the third-most accurate kicker in N.F.L. history. He went 12 for 12 last year, and 2 for 2 in the playoffs, with New England.

But he never found his rhythm with the Redskins. He got a late start because of the rule that kept veteran free agents off the field in the early days after the lockout, and because the holder Sav Rocca had to wait several days for a visa to return to the United States from Australia.

I know that Im better than I was today, Graham said after Fridays game. I proved it for years, and I just didnt do it today. Im trying to win a job, and it just didnt go down the way I wanted it to.

Gano was the epitome of a hit-or-miss commodity last year in his first full N.F.L. season. He made only 24 of 35 field-goal attempts for a 6-10 team that played a lot of close games nine decided by 3 points or fewer. He made overtime game-winners against Green Bay, Tennessee and Jacksonville.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/sports/football/redskins-cut-veteran-kicker-shayne-graham.html

I decided to plug his name in to see what he was up to. While he was never good under pressure with the Bengals, his skills seem to be deteriorating. Washington sounds like they are worse off in at least one area than the Bengals - kicker.

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"With a quarterback greener than a first year, a hovering ghost, and a magic wand of an offense handed down from the founding fathers of the franchise, Jay Gruden is a fiery, passionate underdog in the Harry Potter mold." Geoff Hobson July 15, 2011

Brown on being back to work: "We're like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Shayne Graham Available

The Washington Redskins duel of the kicking Grahams, which was supposed to provide some special-teams drama throughout the preseason, lasted all of one game thanks to a sudden wild streak from one of the games most reliable veterans.

Re: Shayne Graham Available