The Mask of Mike Shanahan

In the legend of the Trojan War told by Homer in the Iliad, Agamemnon was a king attempting to bring Helen back to Greece. To accomplish this, a thousand ships were launched with all of Greece’s heroes. Among the heroes was a nearly invincible warrior named Achilles. Achilles was invincible except for a spot on his heel. He decided to live a short life with great glory rather than a very long life of no note. This fit in perfectly with Agamemnon’s megalomania. What does this have to do with current events?

Shanahan has a nearly invincible warrior in Robert Griffin III, whose “Achilles Heel” is his injured right knee. This was evidenced by the Washington Redskins playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The entire Redskins offense seems to be built around the Greek Army during the Trojan War.

You have Mike Shanahan cast as Agamemnon and Robert Griffin III as Achilles. Agamemnon also had a reliable tank of a warrior named Ajax. The Redskins have the convenience of a new burgeoning superstar in running back Alfred Morris. Like Ajax, Morris will not be the successor to the mantle of Robert Griffin III when Griffin is gone.

Kings like Shanahan traditionally favor the crafty backup. Agamemnon turned to Odysseus in the absence of Achilles. A dead Achilles was used as a symbol to reach to heights of greater victory. In this case, Shanahan took his Achilles, Ajax and Odysseus all in the same draft. The final piece to the puzzle being backup quarterback Kirk Cousins, or Odysseus, who Shanahan will use for eventual victory and the Super Bowl.

The unfortunate truth is that once Cousins wins the war, he will be forced to roam the NFL landscape for years before being able to return home. In this case, Cousins’ true kingdom would probably be in Detroit with the Lions.

There is also a character in the legend named Cassandra. Cassandra was cursed to tell the truth about the future, yet have no one believe anything she said. If everything follows according to form, then this article will serve as your Cassandra prophecy. It will happen, but you will not believe it until after it does happen.

Shanahan will ride Robert Griffin III until he breaks. Rather than feature Alfred Morris as a star, Shanahan will move on to Kirk Cousins. Shanahan will win with Cousins, only to dispatch him soon after victory. Cousins will then wander the NFL landscape until he winds up in Detroit establishing a kingdom before retirement. Griffin and Morris will be memories at that point. The first book has already been written. We will see if the rest follows suit. At least, Shanahan gets to conquer Troy through trickery and sacrificing his own men one more time.