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Washington's Kamren Curl (left) celebrates with teammate Jon Bostic
Photo:
Chris Szagola / AP
When you watch the Washington Football Team NFL coach Ron Rivera, he looks grim at first.
In fact, Rivera, 59, prefers to put on a mischievous grin when he pulls up the right corner of his mouth again.
He kept that in his coaching career, which is now more than 20 years old.
Last Monday morning you could only guess that grin behind the protective mask.
But it will have been there: With a record of seven wins and nine losses, Washington is only the third team in NFL history to move into the postseason with 16 games this season and a negative record.
Actually, the team has no place in the playoffs;
the other three teams in his division were even worse.
He doesn't want to apologize for winning, Rivera said at the press conference after the game against the Eagles.
Especially not if it would make it to the NFL playoffs.
“So many bad and hard things have happened in this world.
This is just a game, so we'll take it as it comes, ”he said.
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The fist on it: Ron Rivera has a high standing with his players
Photo: Mark Tenally / AP
Rivera knows what he's talking about.
It was only presented in Washington about a year ago, when the team was still called "Redskins".
A lot has happened since then.
Change of name to "Football Team"
For years Native Americans had fought against the name, which translates as "red skins."
Again and again, team owner Dan Snyder waved off: "Never" will he agree to a name change, he was quoted as saying.
The 55-year-old had to be threatened by sponsors with the termination of contracts before the team
announced the renaming
in July
.
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Chase Young (number 99) is one of the stars of the Washington Football Team
Photo: Scott Serio / imago images / ZUMA Wire
A historic step in which Rivera also played a role.
Since childhood, which took him to Washington as a soldier's son, among other places, he had been attracted to the team from the US capital.
He said it was hard for him to understand that the name was in some ways racist.
That has changed.
"My eyes are wide open," said Rivera, who was personally involved in the new name.
The "Washington Football Team" interim solution caused ridicule on social networks, but it is definitely no longer racist.
As the discussions about the new name had just settled, the next terrible news hit the football team:
In August
, a few weeks before the start of the season, the team announced that Rivera had been diagnosed with lymph node cancer.
After the diagnosis he was angry, he said, "It really annoyed me".
Rivera did not pause during chemotherapy and radiotherapy;
"It's important to go to work, that's what got me going," he said.
Cheers from the clinic staff
In October
, Rivera tweeted that he had successfully completed the treatments.
A video showed Rivera walking down a hospital corridor to ring a bell at the end that is reserved for recovered patients after their last treatment.
The staff cheered the coach, wearing shirts with the words "Rivera Strong" on them.
The Washington Football Team wrote on Twitter: "It's a slightly different Victory Monday."
Just one day earlier, Rivera and his team won their second win in the seventh game of the season.
Rivera's quarterback Alex Smith had made an equally remarkable comeback.
Smith broke his leg in late 2018;
he suffered an infection during the subsequent operation that nearly cost him his leg and even his life.
The US broadcaster ESPN accompanied Smith during regeneration, from the moment his leg no longer looked like a leg to the first running exercises with a rail frame that mended his bones and has since become a model of the Vince Lombardy Trophy, the super Bowl trophy, was converted.
After a total of 17 operations and 693 days, Smith
was back on the field for the first time
in October
.
There he ousted the talented but undisciplined Dwayne Haskins and led Washington from one win to the next.
As a starter, he got five wins from six games and was voted "Comeback Player of the Year";
suddenly Washington won again.
Don't bet against this team
Few could really explain it, apart from an excellent pass defense around super talent Chase Young, this team didn't seem ready for the playoffs, but as ESPN wrote: “Then it became clear: Don't bet against a team whose coach is during the season underwent cancer therapy and his quarterback was only able to run and play again after 17 operations. "
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Alex Smith (left) throws balls again in the NFL
Photo: Derik Hamilton / AP
On the last day of the regular season, Washington was only missing a win against the Philadelphia Eagles, who were already eliminated, to move into the playoffs.
And the Eagles did the football team a favor, in the crucial phase they changed their third quarterback, although the first two were not injured.
One loss of the ball by the ailing Smith chased the next, but Washington saved the victory over time.
More specifically, the Eagles saved victory for Washington over time.
Critics accuse the Eagles of deliberately losing, also known as "tanking" in order to achieve a better draft position.
Due to the defeat against Washington, the Eagles are sixth instead of ninth team in the draft in April.
In case of doubt, this can be decisive for promising college players.
Nowhere is it written that a somewhat queasy feeling shouldn't be part of the American Cinderella story.
It would get scary if Washington beats the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card game on Sunday morning (2.20 a.m., Stream: Dazn).
Even then, Rivera will certainly not apologize.
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