Ol' Ricky's Redskins Tales - Richie Petitbon
Richie Petitbon was a great safety in his day, but was first a college track runner before shifting to football. If you saw “Bone” in his final coaching years, your first impression wasn’t speed, but toughness.
Petitbon was coach Joe Gibbs’ war chief of defense. He was the perfect No. 2 who could outfox anyone. That made him a textbook partner with Gibbs, who did the same. Essentially, the two could beat you with their players, then swap sides and beat you with your own players. They were great halftime adjusters. In recent years, I think Jay Gruden and Co. ate a couple hot dogs during intermission.
Petitbon loved horse racing. Spent Tuesday nights at Charles Town after game planning all day. Used to pool money from staff and sometimes delivered the profits on Wednesdays. Not all the time, though.
Petitbon won three Super Bowls as the defensive coordinator, yet never went for a head job. Certainly, there must have been chances. But when Gibbs left in March 1993, I think he was protecting Petitbon and his long-time staff by quitting when there was no easy replacement.
Gibbs strong-armed Cooke into giving Petitbon a two-year deal. Petitbon took the job, but I never sensed any passion during that season. Maybe it was because Petitbon knew the cupboard was bare. All those Super Bowl playmakers suddenly aged that season. Petitbon was left holding a bad of rocks.
That 4-12 season opened with a big bang, beating Dallas 35-16 on Monday Night Football. That was really the end of the era. The final win of the old guard. Afterwards, it went straight down. I don’t know how Petitbon even pulled off that win.
During the season, Petitbon would remind reporters the team was only 18 or so months from its last Super Bowl. Yet, it felt far away. Petitbon tolerated the press, but I think he saw us as a nuisance. But, Petitbon knew everyone for so long that he would tease late-arriving reporters who didn’t watch training camp practices and came to the end for questions. He’d say, “You got a woman stashed somewhere up here? If you came to practice you wouldn’t ask that question.”
The 3-0 loss to the New York Jets on Dec. 11 seemed the cruelest blow. It was the coldest game I ever attended. But then the Redskins beat Atlanta 30-17 the following week for Petitbon’s final victory. The Redskins lost to the Cowboys 38-3 the next week and Petitbon was so mad practices stretched past 5 p.m. It was so dark you couldn’t see anything.
After losing to Minnesota to end the season, Cooke fired Petitbon. But, he supposedly added an extra year’s severance on the condition Petitbon didn’t coach elsewhere. Sure enough, Bone never coached again. A young promising offensive coordinator that was part of two straight Super Bowl wins arrived soon. Nowadays, his son is the Redskins’ offensive coordinator.
Tomorrow, Ol’ Ricky remembers Scott Turner, the player.
Lots of stories in my book and these are the types of tales I’ll tell on my coming “Pizza and Pigskins Tours.”
Rick Snider is an award-winning sports writer who has covered Washington sports since 1978. He first wrote about the Redskins in 1983 before becoming a beat writer in 1993. Snider currently writes for several national and international publications and is a Washington tour guide. Follow Rick on Twitter at @Snide_Remarks.
