Archuleta Wasn't the Mole

Since Archuleta has been universally "outed" as the mole for the November 26, 2006, Tom Friend insider story for ESPN.com now that he has been traded, I thought I should share some common sense with the Redskins Nation. I know, waste of time, but here it is anyway.

1) Tom Friend said the source had been with the team for years (Perhaps a smokescreeen by Friend?).

2) The source buried the Skins DB Coach, Steven Jackson (no relation to the talented one) in the article.

3) Shawn Springs has been outed by many insiders as the source.

4) Shawn Springs was hurt early in the season and basically came into a loser situation once he could play.

5) According to Kevin Shehan (spelling?) on the John Riggins Show today, Archuleta's agent buried Steven Jackson back in December 2006.

6) The source was/is unhappy about the state of affairs at Redskins Park.

Most Redskins fans, idiots that they are, assume Archuleta was the source. He wasn't. Shawn Springs was the source. This is clear.

The evidence against Archuleta is that a) He was pissed and b) His agent dissed Steven Jackson the Lesser in December. The following passage is instructive:

"Cause and effect" as Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82) said, "are two sides of one fact .. [like the] seed and fruit they can never be severed." Further, "the effect already blooms in the cause, the end pre-exists in the means, the fruit in the seed." So it follows that it is next to useless to deal with just the effect; at best one will get the briefest of relief. "The cause being taken away, the effect is removed." (Latin proverb.)

Cause can equal effect, but effect is rarely reliable when attempting to determine cause.

Archuleta is a hard-hitting SS who came into a bad situation in Washington. He's a killer, a headhunter, Rodney Harrison with less reknown. If you accept the Skins apologists' point of view, you must accept that Archuleta became upset more than 3 weeks after finding the bench, then sought out Tom Friend, or at least succumbed to his journalistic wiles, and spilled the beans. Then, later, his agent exacerbated the situation by dumping on Steven Jackson the Lesser to a radio producer. Seems unlikely, huh?

What actually happened? Shawn Springs, pissed off that he missed the early part of the season and had to come into a crappy scheme late in the season, a scheme that would diminish his importance late in his career, a player who had spent multiple seasons in D.C. and in fact grew up there, spoke to Redskins nut Tom Friend. Things got out of hand and Springs was destroyed in the locker room. Think it's a coincidence they went out and got Freddy "All Mouth No Game" Smoot?

Archuleta, who had been on the bench for over a month at that point, let his agent talk to the burgeoning John Riggins Show's producer. That show is owned and operated by Danny Snyder. Archuleta's agent did what any agent would do. He piled on the guy, Steven Jackson the Lesser, who was a reliable excuse for his client's dropoff in performance. Someone sold Steven Jackson the Lesser down the river, and Archuleta's agent wisely piled on. That's it. End of story. Archuleta had jackshit to do with the Friend article.

If you believe Archuleta had anything to do with the Friend article, you have to believe one of the following: a) Archuleta's an idiot; b) Archuleta planned to retire; c) Archuleta liked being known as a locker room cancer; d) Steven Jackson the Lesser is so little thought of that Archuleta could get away with it or e) Archuleta was so frustrated that he whined to the first person who'd listen.

It's great that Skins fans like to think that the cancer is gone. In truth, this is the culmination of yet another move that makes the Skins look like a horrible team to work/play for, but a great place to cash in as the career winds down. I can almost see Deion, Bruce Smith, Andre Carter, etc. etc. nodding as I type it.