1996 Washington Redskins season

The 1996 season was the Washington Redskins' 65th in the National Football League, and their 61st since the franchise moved to Washington, D.C. It was their last season playing at RFK Stadium, where they had played since 1961. They began the season aiming to improve on their 6–10 record from the year before, but after winning seven of their first eight games, they managed just two victories in the second half of the season and finished with a 9–7 record. By virtue of their inferior intra-conference record (6–6) compared to the Minnesota Vikings (8–4), the Redskins became the first team in NFL history to start the season 7–1 and not make the playoffs (this was later matched by the 2012 Chicago Bears).^[1]

1996 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Jack Kent Cooke
President	John Kent Cooke
General manager	Charley Casserly
Head coach	Norv Turner
Offensive coordinator	Norv Turner
Defensive coordinator	Ron Lynn
Home stadium	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	3rd NFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	QB Gus Frerotte CB Darrell Green LB Ken Harvey RB Terry Allen P Matt Turk
← 1995 Redskins seasons 1997 →

Although the Redskins' offense was eighth in the league in scoring, their defense surrendered 2,275 rushing yards, the most in the NFL that year.^[2] Statistics site Football Outsiders calculated that the team had the worst run defense they had ever tracked.^[3] At the end of the season, in a 37–10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, past and present Redskins greats were honored at halftime.^[4]

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1996 NFL draft

1996 Washington Redskins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	30	Andre Johnson	Offensive tackle	Penn State
4	102	Stephen Davis *	Running back	Auburn
5	138	Leomont Evans	Safety	Clemson
6	174	Kelvin Kinney	Defensive end	Virginia State
7	215	Jeremy Asher	Linebacker	Oregon
7	250	DeAndre Maxwell	Wide receiver	San Diego State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[5]

Personnel

Staff

1996 Washington Redskins staff

Front office Chairman of the Board/COO – Jack Kent Cooke Executive Vice President – John Kent Cooke General Manager – Charley Casserly Assistant General Manager – Bobby Mitchell Director of College Scouting – George Saimes Head coaches Head Coach – Norv Turner Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Cam Cameron Running Backs – Bobby Jackson Wide Receivers – Terry Robiskie Tight Ends – Russ Grimm Offensive Line – Jim Hanifan

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ron Lynn Defensive Line – Bob Karmelowicz Linebackers – Mike Haluchak Defensive Backs – Tom Hayes Assistant Secondary – Ray Horton Special teams coaches Special Teams – Pete Rodriguez Strength and conditioning Strength – Dan Riley Conditioning Director – Jason Arapoff

Roster

1996 Washington Redskins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Gus Frerotte 10 Trent Green  5 Heath Shuler Running backs (RB) 21 Terry Allen 35 William Bell 47 Larry Bowie FB 48 Stephen Davis 20 Marc Logan FB 30 Brian Mitchell Wide receivers (WR) 83 Flipper Anderson 80 Bill Brooks 85 Henry Ellard 86 Leslie Shepherd 82 Michael Westbrook Tight ends (TE) 84 Jamie Asher 87 Harold Bishop 89 Scott Galbraith 88 James Jenkins

Offensive linemen (OL) 73 Darryl Ashmore T 75 Bob Dahl G 69 Andre Johnson T 77 Tre' Johnson G 68 Joe Patton T 67 Shar Pourdanesh T 59 Chris Sedoris C 76 Ed Simmons T 55 Jeff Uhlenhake C Defensive linemen (DL) 72 Romeo Bandison DT 90 Troy Barnett DE 95 William Gaines DT 94 Sean Gilbert DT 78 Ryan Kuehl DT 92 Dexter Nottage DE 96 Rich Owens DE 98 Tony Woods DE

Linebackers (LB) 58 Patrise Alexander MLB 50 Darrick Brownlow MLB 54 Al Catanho OLB 57 Ken Harvey OLB 53 Marvcus Patton OLB 99 Rod Stephens MLB Defensive backs (DB) 23 Tomur Barnes CB 25 Tom Carter CB 35 Leomont Evans FS 28 Darrell Green CB 31 Darryl Pounds CB 24 Stanley Richard FS 27 Keith Taylor SS 29 Scott Turner CB 45 Brian Walker SS Special teams (ST) 16 Scott Blanton K 64 Trevor Matich LS  1 Matt Turk P

Practice squad 56 Jeremy Asher LB 62 Mark Lee DE (PS/I) 13 Deandre Maxwell WR 46 Ed Smith TE 22 Eric Sutton CB Reserve 93 Marc Boutte DT (IR) 92 Brannon Kennedy WR (IR) 70 Kelvin Kinney DE (IR) 38 Darryl Morrison S (IR) 26 Muhammad Oliver CB (IR) 97 Sterling Palmer DE (IR) 52 Cory Raymer C (NF-Inj.) 71 Matt Reem T (IR) 74 Brian Thure T (IR) 91 Matt Vanderbeek LB (IR) 53 active, 11 inactive, 4 practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 1	Philadelphia Eagles	L 14–17	0–1	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	53,415
2	September 8	Chicago Bears	W 10–3	1–1	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	52,711
3	September 15	at New York Giants	W 31–10	2–1	Giants Stadium	71,693
4	September 22	at St. Louis Rams	W 17–10	3–1	Trans World Dome	62,303
5	September 29	New York Jets	W 31–16	4–1	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	52,068
6	Bye
7	October 13	at New England Patriots	W 27–22	5–1	Foxboro Stadium	59,638
8	October 20	New York Giants	W 31–21	6–1	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	52,684
9	October 27	Indianapolis Colts	W 31–16	7–1	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	54,254
10	November 3	at Buffalo Bills	L 38–13	7–2	Rich Stadium	78,002
11	November 10	Arizona Cardinals	L 37–34 (OT)	7–3	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	51,929
12	November 17	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 26–21	8–3	Veterans Stadium	66,834
13	November 24	San Francisco 49ers	L 19–16	8–4	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	54,235
14	November 28	at Dallas Cowboys	L 21–10	8–5	Texas Stadium	64,955
15	December 8	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 24–10	8–6	Houlihan's Stadium	44,733
16	December 15	at Arizona Cardinals	L 27–26	8–7	Sun Devil Stadium	34,260
17	December 22	Dallas Cowboys	W 37–10	9–7	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	56,454

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(3) Dallas Cowboys	10	6	0	.625	286	250	L1
(5) Philadelphia Eagles	10	6	0	.625	363	341	W2
Washington Redskins	9	7	0	.563	364	312	W1
Arizona Cardinals	7	9	0	.438	300	397	L1
New York Giants	6	10	0	.375	242	297	L2

Awards and records

• Darrell Green, Walter Payton Man of the Year Award