The Redskins Portal - ESPN 980

The Redskins have not been good enough on the field, and of course that has led to a lot of frustration and angst (rightfully so) amongst the fan base.

Darrel Young, a bright piece of the complex burgundy and gold puzzle moving forward, found out the hard way on Christmas Eve. It was a beyond frustrating experience.

One week before, Young, scored a rushing touchdown that stuck (at that time) a dagger in the back of the team he grew up rooting for (New York Giants), in their sparkling new digs.

Everything was  mostly great, but six days later - he was unfairly scorned and shredded by ridiculous, angry, testosterone filled, drunk idiots on twitter.

Young was the guilty party on a offsides call that extended a Minnesota Vikings drive, that led to a key touchdown and then was called for another penalty later in the game that wiped out a Brandon Banks reverse touchdown.

The Redskins lost, certainly an inexcusable loss, and Young was theoretically responsible for a swing of 14 points. I get it that he did not have his best day, but to be forced to shutdown your twitter account because fans and critics were so out of control, was insanity.

This post-game video interview from the Redskins locker room,  lets you hear from DY in his own words, on the two mistakes, http://bit.ly/xzhWGS.

I know it hurt DY, but I can speak personally on this - it bothered me a lot to see it - because I know what kind of guy Darrel Young is. I know what kind of football player and more importantly, what kind of human being he is. 

One of the great things about my job - is I get to humanize athletes. Sometimes, they are jerks & make stupid mistakes. Sometimes, they make mistakes that are part of being a human being. I know -- I make one at least every five minutes or so, and so do you.

That is unless your name is "Mr. Perfect" - no not the late, great WWE legend Curt Hennig - but you get my point.Young has progressed from the linebacker meetings the very first day of Camp Shanahan to a starting fullback two years in to his NFL career. He is sneaky quick for a guy his size, can catch the ball and while he is still learning how to be a great blocker in the zone scheme, he is always getting better. He's also a special teams demon, always flying around and sticking his nose in - right where it belongs.

2011 was a tough year for the Redskins (5-11) and for Young, who played in 13 games, because of injuries. Young,  suffered a concussion in Seattle at the end of November, and didn't get to play against the New York Jets (the other hometown team) the week after - and games that are broadcast in the Big Apple are still very important to the Amityville, New York native.

 
Yes, in case you didn't know - he is from the town that gave the movie industry some film strip (Amityville Horror series) gore.

Young is a proud, intelligent, well spoken, high character young man. There is no horror to fear when it comes to DY.  His family is supportive, he is well liked and he will have a long career ahead of him.

His family and where he came from, is another reason why that Giants game, and the touchdown -- to go along with the victory was important to him.

Sadly, some of that good karma was ruined the next week. Good people get past it and recover. They keep trying to get better, and get motivated - instead of ruined.

They go back to their roots, and draw on what has never let them down. In Young's case - that's family. One family member that he is extremely proud of is his brother, Sergeant David Young. A member of the United States Army, currently based in Ft. Hood, Texas.

Our ESPN 980 & Washington Times Redskins Insider Rich Campbell did an excellent profile of the strong relationship between the two, last year http://bit.ly/nwQY4S during training camp.

His brother, is why Young boarded a flight on Wednesday to spend the next week in three different parts of the world. No - he is not on vacation -- he is  a part of the 2012 NFL Player Military Tour visiting Honduras, Greenland and El Salvador, visiting with the men and women that are deployed in military bases around the world.

On the tour, Drayton Florence, a cornerback with the Bills and James Lee, an offensive tackle from Tampa Bay are joining Young. They are scheduled to watch Super Bowl XLVI in Honduras with members of our military.

Young told me last week as he was getting prepared to leave, that he and the other players would be "working out with them," meaning the troops that are stationed, and he was looking forward to a little role reversal.

"I'll get a chance to be Mike Shanahan for a day." Young said the players will get to run some drills and toss a football around, and planned to "run some zone-action."

Young, the Giants fan as a kid, turned Redskins player and New York rival, will watch Big Blue take on the New England Patriots and while he doesn't REALLY want to see a NFC East team win a Super Bowl (unless it is the Redskins), Young says he can take some solace in what may happen -- "I would like to see an NFC East team, that's a confidence builder."

He'd also like to win and play in a Super Bowl one day (hardly a surprise) and maybe one day, his brother, Sergeant Young, who is "getting ready to go back to Afghanistan" will be able to make a special visit to see him, just like Young is making this week to the men and women who proudly defend our country.

In case you were wondering, DY's twitter account is and has been up and running (@DarrelYoung) and it was fun to see him man the front desk at Redskins Park last week, while "Miss B.J." was at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

Good thing for him, and for everyone in Redskins nation; I don't think Mike Shanahan will be asking him to do that, anytime soon.

Chris Russell -- RussellC@Redskins.com -- www.twitter.com/russellmania980  --www.facebook.com (Chris Russell)