Washington Redskins Football Team

All over the NFL on Friday, coaches and executives reached for the familiar, snapping up free agents the way they might grab for a comfortable pair of blue jeans. There were reunions in Kansas City, Denver, Minnesota and with the New York Jets. Each of those teams brought in seasoned veterans who know the system and can help teach it to younger players. Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, also reached for the familiar: his checkbook.

On a Saturday night in New York, the sports world vilifies Serena Williams for raining threats upon a line judge. Yet a day later across the river, the same sports world celebrates a team whose nickname is considered a threat to an entire ethnic group. Redskins. A pro football season begins with two noted players banished to the sidelines for "conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and confidence in, the National Football League." Yet that same league supports a team whose entire identity is forged through a symbol of detrimental conduct known as racism.

The Washington Redskins fired defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and offensive coordinator Al Saunders on Saturday, promoted Greg Blache to lead the team's defense and announced that a head coach would probably not be in place for at least another week. The Redskins also formally announced the hiring of Jim Zorn, who agreed to a three-year deal on Friday to be offensive coordinator.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- In the first game of their championship defense, the New York Giants reemerged looking not like a one-year-wonder the season after the miracle, but much like the solid team that shocked the football world seven months ago. Their offense dominated the first 28 minutes, their defense was suffocating from start to finish and they beat the Washington Redskins, 16-7, Thursday night in the season opener at Giants Stadium.

Washington Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder strolled the sidelines at his team's training camp like the boss at a company picnic. As floodlights bathed the field one recent night and the sticky summer air cooled, he chatted with coaches and team executives. When star receiver Santana Moss jogged off for some water, Snyder shook his hand. But when the scrimmage heated up, so did Snyder.

PHILADELPHIA -- Remember when the quest for quarterback supremacy in the NFC East was a three-way battle among Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb, Dallas' Tony Romo and the New York Giants' Eli Manning? Well, make room for Jason Campbell. The third-year Washington quarterback, making only his third NFL start, outplayed McNabb and -- with the help of a stout defense -- held on for a 20-12 victory at Lincoln Financial Field.

MIAMI -- Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor remained in critical condition in a Miami hospital Monday night after being shot early in the morning in his Miami home.

MIAMI -- As the pro football world mourned Tuesday's death of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor from a bizarre nocturnal shooting a day earlier, homicide investigators combed through the NFL star's troubled past and searched for a killer for whom they have neither a motive nor a description. Taylor, 24, never regained consciousness after being airlifted Monday from his walled and gated home where an intruder had burst in at 1:45 a.m. and shot him.

WASHINGTON -- Linemen crouched, linebackers barked, cornerbacks shifted. But something was wrong. For their defense's first play from scrimmage Sunday, the Washington Redskins fielded only 10 men. They were one man short. Sean Taylor was missing, and he hadn't been replaced. In tribute to their fallen teammate, shot and killed last week in his suburban Miami home, the Redskins lined up without him at safety -- indeed, without anyone. Reed Doughty, for one, wasn't worried.

An attorney for the 17-year-old accused gunman in the killing of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor wants to work with prosecutors to resolve the case. Sawyer Smith, who along with his father Wilbur is representing Eric Rivera, said Wednesday in Miami that his client was admitting no wrongdoing yet.