Santana Moss: Zorn was "a little out of his league"

As the Zorn Era continues to recede from memory like Mike Wise's hairline, several Redskins players have danced around the issue Zorn's D.C. legacy, talking about how much different/better/more professional this year's training camp has been while taking pains to say how much they liked Zorn as a guy. But it seems like each week, someone comes a little closer to finally blurting out the truth, in clear, unguarded, fully skinned language.

Santana Moss may have come the closest yet in a recent interview with Larry Michael. Long quote alert:

"Everywhere I've been, where we were successful -- even my early years here -- we were successful with a coach that came in and demanded respect," Moss said. "He demanded you take everything that you're doing seriously, and that's what I learned when I first got here from Coach Gibbs, he demanded that you go out there and be good. If you wasn't, he didn't want you on the field. And I sense that we have that again.

"I'm not trying to knock what Coach Zorn did, because I feel like he was a great guy, great coach. I felt like it was just a little out of his league with some of the guys that we had, and the control wasn't the same. I feel like with Coach Shanahan, the respect is already there from just knowing who he is. And then once he came in and said his first words, there was nothing else you could say but just, 'This guy means well, and the only way we're gonna be better is listen to what he has to say.'

"I think we all need a little pep talk here and there at times, but when you're a professional you should be able to do that to yourself. But for the ones that get complacent -- like we all do -- it's always great to have a coach like that to remind you why you're here....If you don't have [discipline], then you don't have nothing to really look forward to. I feel like everyone needs something to just make them remember that hey, just 'cause you done it, don't mean you can do it again, just 'cause you're doing it, don't mean you're gonna do it forever."

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(washingtonpost.com)