Inadvertently, Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett might have given away a glimpse at his team's offseason plans at quarterback.
Meet Rod Denny, who earlier this month was in Hampton Roads, Va., for his 16-year-old daughter's volleyball tournament. During a stay at a local hotel, Denny spotted Haslett during breakfast. As a lifelong Redskins fan, Denny couldn't let such an opportunity pass without at least saying hello.
The innocuous greeting eventually turned into a meeting of two football minds, during which Haslett apparently divulged the team's offseason philosophy. It just happens that Denny has his own fan blog devoted to the Redskins under the nom de plume of "Rodskins" and later wrote a fan post detailing his conversation with Haslett.
Denny's scoops included how the Redskins aren't particularly interested in free agent-to-be quarterback Matt Flynn, are looking into acquiring Peyton Manning and would seriously consider a trade with the St. Louis Rams to move up to the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Naturally, a post this juicy caught the attention of team beat writers. The Washington Times contacted Haslett, who told the newspaper that "this must be a joke."
The Washington Post also called, and Haslett again rejected the notion that he had inside knowledge of the team's plans at quarterback.
"I don't know what our plans are," Haslett said. "I worry about the D."
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This all came as a surprise to Denny, who insisted he wasn't trying to play "gotcha journalism."
"When I saw it was getting this much publicity I felt bad, and my wife got on me about it too," Denny told WLZL-FM last week, via The Post. "I had no intention of going undercover or getting him in trouble or anything like that."
Denny, a pastor from Charlotte, N.C., added that he wasn't bothered by Haslett's denial.
"If that were me and I found out some guy had put it out on the airwaves, I would probably deny it too," he said. "Basically all it was was two guys talking football, and I really had no idea that it would be this big."
