As a former NFL MVP, Super Bowl Champion, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, NFL Man of the Year, two-time Pro Bowler, and two-time CFL All-Star, Joe Theismann had a legendary pro football career.
While many fans look at NFL players as heroes, Theismann believes the real heroes are the men and women in the U.S. military. PFSN caught up with Theismann on Wednesday after he coached a flag football game for U.S. military members at the Naval Station Rota — the largest American military community in Spain.
Theismann spoke about the NFL Salute to Service Flag Football Experience presented by USAA, along with his advice for Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels, the Daniels-Robert Griffin III comparisons, Donald Trump’s request for the Commanders to name their stadium after him, whether the Cleveland Browns should start Shedeur Sanders, and more.
Former NFL MVP Joe Theismann Q&A
You have a relationship with Jayden Daniels, and you’ve spoken highly of him. He’s obviously hurt right now, and the Commanders’ season hasn’t gone according to plan. What advice would you give him?
Joe Theismann: “Just get healthy. I think it was a knee, and then it was the hamstring, and now it’s the elbow, and it seems one thing after another, after another. We all go through periods of time where we get injured, but there’s no hurry to get him back. There’s no rush to get him back. Marcus [Mariota] has done a solid job on the offensive side of the ball, and you can’t rush back… Terry [McLaurin] got back maybe a little bit quicker, and he’s out. I think it’s tough. You want to compete, you want to help your team, you want to be out there. But risking injury, especially so young in Jayden’s career, you don’t want any permanent injuries that affect him going forward because he’s such an exceptional talent.”
Some fans have compared Daniels and Robert Griffin III. Jayden’s mother even tweeted, asking fans to stop manifesting that. What do you think of those comparisons?
Theismann: “I think that’s a personal thing. I think Jayden’s mom is wonderful the way she’s approaching it, and I mean, you’re talking about different eras, different times, different decisions. It’s unfortunate that Robert got hurt, and it’s unfortunate that Jayden got hurt — that’s sort of the way I look at it.”
Donald Trump is reportedly asking the Commanders to name their new stadium after him, and his White House press secretary all but confirmed it, calling it a beautiful name since Trump made the stadium possible. A quote attributed to you circulated, saying you wouldn’t set foot in the stadium if it were named after Trump. I thought it seemed fake, and I couldn’t verify the source, so I wanted to give you a chance to comment on it.
Theismann: “It is fake. I never said that. Never said anything, never intimated anything of that nature. President Trump is our president. Whatever the ownership with the Commanders decides they want to do, they’ll do. As far as that goes, there have been two or three different things that have been attributed to me as quotes, and it’s all AI.
“But it isn’t just me. It’s Doug Williams [too]. They just make stuff up and they quote it, and you can’t really figure the source out, so you can’t really figure out what to do, and you just have to, like you say, you ask the question and I answer the question, and hopefully that’ll dispel all that stuff.”
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You obviously know what it takes to win the NFL MVP award. Who is your midseason pick for the MVP award?
Theismann: “Gosh, I mean we’ve got more than one candidate. That’s the thing. I think Matthew Stafford right now, as I look at the NFL, I think he would be the frontrunner. I think he’s playing exceptional football, and so that’s who I’ve looked at of late. And you never can count Patrick [Mahomes] out. He looms. There’s a big shadow that he casts with that particular award because he is so talented, he’s been able to do so many things, and they’ve had two weeks to get healthier. We saw what they did when they were healthy. Now, they get two weeks to get healthier, and Patrick is a big part of what they do.
“But I think with Matthew, here’s a guy who everybody wondered [about his health] — he could hardly even throw, the shoulder was an issue, [and then his back], and you look at the numbers he’s putting up! And the other thing is the Rams get people nicked up, but it’s only for a week or so. So, I mean, they miss a little bit of time, but they get ’em back and that’s the big thing.
“I’ve said this time and time and again to people: the quarterback position is the single most dependent position on the field. I mean, if you don’t have the offensive line, which is the key, if your offensive line doesn’t block, you can’t do anything — you can’t run, you can’t throw. If your wide receivers don’t catch, you’ve got problems. If defenses don’t stop people… And for us in Washington, and this is why I think Dan [Quinn] has taken over and made a change to be able to call defensive signals, they just haven’t been able to stop people the way they have to if they’re going to win football games.”
Before the season, we talked about Shedeur Sanders. Now, there’s a ton of pressure on Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski to give Sanders a chance and start him over Dillon Gabriel. What do you make of the Browns’ QB controversy and people saying they should start Shedeur?
Theismann: “I think they want to evaluate Dillon. It’s tough to evaluate somebody in six to eight weeks. I’m guessing if they continue to struggle over the next two weeks, I’m going to venture a guess and say Shedeur will get on the field, but you still have to see what you’ve got. In Dillon’s case, what’s around him? I think they’re a pretty good defensive football team, but what’s around him? And so if you just give him this small sample size of work, you’re really not going to be able to make a true evaluation. Shedeur is not going anywhere. He’ll be there and he’ll continue to learn and work and get ready for when his opportunity comes, but I would be surprised if it would happen within the next couple of weeks, if it did.”
Do you think the fact that they haven’t gone to Sanders is a sign that something is going on behind the scenes? Is it possible the coaches aren’t seeing something from Sanders, or do you think they just want to give Gabriel a longer leash?
Theismann: “A longer look [for Gabriel]. I think that’s basically what they want to do. You’ve drafted both these kids, and you drafted Dillon higher than you did Shedeur, not that it mattered. Whatever they were going to do, they wound up with four of ’em on the roster. I just think this is [them saying], ‘We need to see more. We need to see more throws. We need to see more command of the game. We need to see what he looks like on the field. We need to see him in the huddle.’ Like I said, it’s a very short sample size right now, and so I think it just has to take a bit more time. It’s become obvious they’re really not going anywhere, but they can be a problem to some people going forward, for whomever they play on their schedule. I think it’s about the sample size.”
You just coached a flag football game for the military at the Naval Station Rota in Spain. How was the game, and what has it been like interacting with the military members?
Theismann: “This is quite an incredible experience that we’re on right now. I’ve always respected all the military, every aspect of it, but USAA is the official Salute to Service partner of the NFL, and just giving me a chance to come over here and spend some time with the troops, I mean, it was a great experience. We had 50 players broken up into four teams, and you could see the competitive nature. The base here at Rota has Air Force, Navy, and Marines, and every now and then they’d yell, ‘Marine, move over!’ It was just a bunch of fun.
“I mean, honor through action is really what USAA is all about, and that’s what this was. But to get a chance to go out on the ship, the USS Bulkeley, was just an unbelievable experience. I’ve been on carriers, I’ve been on submarines, but to be able to go out on a destroyer and see the helicopters and talk to the commanding officers and talk to the soldiers that are here, the members of the Navy that are here, [it’s great] to be able to just see the pride that they have in putting that uniform on and defending our country.”
Can you speak about your partnership with USAA and why it’s important to you?
Theismann: “Because I have such great respect for the military, and the USAA does the same thing. It respects those that have served, family members that have served. My dad served in the Army. I have a niece and a nephew that were Navy Annapolis grads, so the service to me is something special. And I tell people all the time, ‘When you see someone in uniform, just walk up and say thank you.’ People look at us as athletes and they tend to come up and call us heroes, which is very nice and appreciated. But the fact of the matter is we go to work every day and we’re coming home, guaranteed. These men and women that put this uniform on that are deployed around the world, there’s no guarantees.
“They’re in the middle of defending our country. They’re in the middle of defending the rights that we have here, and they do it without question. It isn’t like they wonder, ‘Well, should I go?’ No, they just do it and to me, they deserve a tremendous amount of respect. They’re the heroes, really, I think, of society.”