Since it’s not football season and there’s no Redskins football on TV, let’s assume that everyone’s attention has turned, at least for the next three weeks, to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Call it crazy but March Madness is a force to be reckoned with at this time of year because of all the pageantry surrounding nail-biting finishes, Cinderella stories and upsets galore.
The bottom line is that the tournament is arguably one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year, other than the Super Bowl, and captivates audiences across the Nation.
Why try to fight it? Plus, Redskins players seem to be having some fun with the tournament so why can’t we?
Under further review, a total of 20 Redskins players attended schools that were part of the original field of 68 when the tournament kicked off.
Michigan State- QB Kirk Cousins; California- LS Nick Sundberg; Missouri- DT Dominique Hamilton; Temple – G Pat Boyle; Miami – WR Leonard Hankerson, FS Brandon Meriweather, WR Santana Moss; Kansas St – LB Rob Jackson; Illinois – T Tony Pashos; Colorado – OT Tyler Polumbus; Florida – G Maurice Hurt; Oklahoma- G Chris Chester, Trent Williams; UCLA- K Kai Forbath, TE Logan Paulsen; Villanova – FB Darrel Young; Syracuse – FS Tanard Jackson; Ohio State – DE Doug Worthington; Arizona – LB Ricky Elmore; Kansas – WR Dezmon Briscoe
The untold story is that seven of those schools have advanced to the Sweet 16 meaning that Redskins players have some sort of attachment or representation to almost half of the schools still standing. That being said, there may be some inter-squad battles going on at Redskins Park this week since we’re sure school spirit will be abound.
And if there are shots taken at teammates via Twitter (all in good fun of course) then no fear because we’ll be sure to monitor the situation closely so that we can report back to the fans! The fun part for sure will be watching to see how it all transpires over the next few weeks.
As far as the Redskins players competing in our Redskins Bracket Challenge are concerned, well it hasn’t exactly all been rainbows and roses for their brackets. We have over 3,365 total entries in our Washington Redskins Bracket Challenge on ESPN.com and below is where YOUR Redskins currently rank!
- QB Robert Griffin III – 121st Place
- LB Ryan Kerrigan – 245th Place
- WR Leonard Hankerson – 1,020th Place
- CB Josh Wilson – 1,951st Place
- TE Niles Paul – 2,197th Place
For Griffin III and Kerrigan, there’s still an outside chance at making a late run. However, for Wilson, Paul and Hankerson, it may be time to say better luck next year.
If we go by Josh Wilson’s Instagram account (joshwilson26) and Infographic (above), even he acknowledges that his bracket has been busted!
But don’t worry Josh, you’re not alone! In fact, zero perfect brackets remain out of 8.15 million brackets filled out via ESPN.com’s annual Men’s Tournament Challenge. Yes, Zero, and only 0.4% (30,093) brackets correctly picked FGCU & LaSalle to reach the Sweet 16. All we can say to that is better luck next year.
Ryan Kerrigan was another one of the five players who decided to test his knowledge of basketball and compete against Redskins fans in the Redskins Bracket Challenge. If you check the standings, he’s not in bad shape and last week tweeted about his desire to see a #16 seed upset a #1 seed.
I really wish this would be the year a 16 seed wins a game #MarchMadness—
Ryan Kerrigan (@RyanKerrigan91) March 21, 2013
Sorry Ryan, not this year, but after a first round scare from #16 Southern, Gonzaga did go down to #9 seeded Wichita State – a historically admirable foe come tournament time.
The five players above aren’t the only Redskins players following the tournament. WR Dezmon Briscoe retweeted Cincinnati Bengals CB Brandon Ghee sharing a feeling which most of us can probably relate.
R.I.P NCAA Bracket—
Brandon Ghee (@BGhee) March 23, 2013
All of that said, it still all boils down to YOU the fans! Remember that there is still an autographed Robert Griffin III jersey up for grabs so make sure to follow all of the Redskins Bracket Madness including updated standings at www.redskins.com/brackets. Click here for more on the official rules and how to win.
Also, don’t forget to cast your vote for the best Redskins player bracket! We have already created the tweets, all you have to do is click “vote”.
Thanks Redskins fans for your continued support. Hail to the Redskins!
