Redskins safety Dashon Goldson: 'I want to show I can still play'1h ago ESPN
John Keim, ESPN Staff Writer ASHBURN, Va. -- The goal is simple, one the Washington Redskins predict he will do and one Dashon Goldson knows he can do. There will be skeptics, probably chief among them the team that traded him this spring. It's natural to wonder: What does Goldson have left? He's 30 years old; he's also coming off a tough season in Tampa Bay."I want to show I can still play. Nothing has changed about me; my game is still the same," Goldson said earlier this summer.Safety Dashon Goldson, who is entering his ninth season in the league, says he aims to make the Redskins better on defense. The Redskins need for that to be the case. That would solve a problem that has existed for nearly a decade, ever since Sean Taylor was murdered in 2007. They've landed safeties past their prime, whether O.J. Atogwe or Madieu Williams or Ryan Clark. Goldson needs to show he's not out of his prime, but there was a reason the Bucs unloaded him (they would have had to pay him a base salary of $7.5 million this season, which didn't help his staying power). Here's my scouting report from after the Redskins obtained him.For Goldson, the change was welcomed. He reunited with the general manager, Scot McCloughan, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2007 draft in San Francisco. Goldson developed into a two-time Pro Bowler before signing with the Bucs before the 2013 season.Goldson was not crazy about playing in the Tampa 2 scheme. Indeed, his lack of fit in that scheme under coach Lovie Smith was among the reasons why the Bucs traded him."Everyone knows I'm an aggressive player," he said. "I like to be in the mix, to have gap responsibilities and all that extra stuff. I like to get my hands dirty. I like to be in the mix a little more often than I was in a Tampa 2."It was different. Last year was a little different based on some of the things I was used to and more how I felt."Goldson said a toe injury suffered in the fourth game last season bothered him all year. Then he said with the six penalties for unnecessary roughness in 2013 "they tried to make me out of the game a little bit." He's been fined $252,500 since the start of the 2012 season for illegal hits. Last season, Goldson committed one penalty for illegal contact. He intercepted one pass in two seasons with Tampa.The hope for Washington is that he gets his game back. The coaches, privately and publicly, have been excited about having Goldson around."He's an experienced guy. He's tough. He had some great seasons at San Francisco, went to Tampa Bay, might have been a little disappointing down there, I don't know," Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. "But based on his tape and his career production, we thought it was worth it to go try to get him. Brings more experience, toughness to the secondary that we need."Others have used the word swagger to describe what he brings."They're talking about my vocal presence, my presence on the field, my demeanor when I'm out there," Goldson said. "I'm calling out stuff, the way I move. Little things like that. I'm not a robot. [Defensive coordinator Joe Barry] lets me play. He trusts me enough to make the plays I'm calling out. It's just more about my presence back there and making plays and seeing things before it happens."While Goldson initially said he wants to show he can still play, he also doesn't want to just have that mindset. He knows the Redskins want him to be a leader in the secondary. They had a strong leader last season in Clark, but he was 35 and soon-to-be retired."It's more that I want everyone around me to be good as a team," Goldson said. "Be good as a defense, just get everyone on the same page and playing with one mind, one goal. Nothing has changed with me. I'm not thinking about myself."
