When the Washington Redskins finally win a football game -- such as Sunday's 23-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks -- why does the victory feel so bitter?
There is the football, of course -- the inconsistent, mediocre play of the Redskins throughout much of the game, saved only by more inconsistent, more mediocre play by the Seahawks.
But there may be something more going on here when it comes to rooting for the Washington Redskins. Do you actually like the players you are rooting for?
Are the 2011 Redskins the least likable squad this franchise has fielded in a long time?
There will always be the 2000 Washington Redskins -- the all-star collection of mercenaries -- with Deion Sanders cashing a paycheck and Bruce Smith selling tokens toward his sack record.
Any team that has quarterback Jeff George on its roster always will be memorably unlikable.
This 2011 team, though, is giving that unit a run for its money.
Tell me, did you feel good about rooting for the Redskins when Fred Davis -- who jumps up and gives the first-down wave in every meaningless situation -- throws the ball at a Seattle player Sunday and costs his team 15 yards?
Did you feel good when Davis, on a team that had won three games and lost six straight, acted as if he were Martin Scorsese with a camera after catching a touchdown pass Sunday in Seattle?
Did you feel good watching DeAngelo Hall and Trent Williams -- who seems to risk getting tossed out nearly every week lately -- woofing and mouthing off throughout the game? Or were you worried about Hall's state of mind, as apparently the rest of the NFL had been last week?
Did you feel good watching Jabar Gaffney put a hand to his ears in response to Seattle fans after catching a pass deep in Washington territory, as if this were some sort of accomplishment that warranted taunting?
Did you feel good the week before when Gaffney tweeted that some Dallas Cowboys fan should kill himself? (OK, maybe some of you liked that.)
Taunting and self-adulation are an epidemic in today's NFL. Look at Bills receiver Stevie Johnson's mocking of Jets receiver Plaxico Burress after a touchdown reception, which cost his team 15 yards in a loss to New York. It's hardly just a problem for the Redskins.
But it seems particularly distasteful on a team that has done nothing to warrant such displays. Hall, Gaffney, Davis and the 2011 Redskins have done little to call attention to themselves other than lose.
Add to that mix coach Mike Shan?ahan, who's not particularly warm or fuzzy, and you have a team that makes it hard for its fans to embrace even when it wins.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of "The Sports Fix" from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at tloverro@washingtonexaminer.com.
