Washington's Jason Hatcher came out of Sunday's 44-16 loss to the Panthers suggesting that the Redskins have received their share of unfavorable calls this season for a specific reason: Their name.
"I'm not saying this out of character to get fined, but it is what it is," Hatcher said, per The Washington Post. "I don't know if it's about the name or what, but at the same time, we play football, too. We work our butt off, too. Don't single us out. At the end of the day, it's the name. Don't worry about the name -- (we're) players and we work our butt off, too."
Hatcher, though, was upset to see cornerback Chris Culliver's 75-yard pick six on Sunday called back because of an unnecessary roughness flag. Culliver was penalized because officials judged that he leveled Carolina tight end Greg Olsen with a helmet-to-helmet shot before snatching the football.
"Hell of a football play by Cully -- made the tackle and made the interception," Hatcher said. "But the game is in the hands of the refs."
Said Hatcher: "I'm just frustrated with it. We shouldn't have to be punished for that. It's been every game, calls after calls that should've been made in our favor, but it goes to them. It's just not right. We in the league, too. We're National Football players. We got a team, too. We go out there, and we sweat and work hard too. I don't give a crap about the name. We are players. We've got feelings, too, and we want to win, too."
Hatcher's frustration is understandable after a terrible loss, but his reasoning doesn't add up. There's no evidence to suggest that Washington has been targeted this season by the NFL's flock of zebras.
